30th Anniversary
by Bob Waite
I can’t believe it. Thirty years ago, the Fall 1992 issue of Bucks County Magazine (then Bucks County Town & Country Living) made its way to newsstands and homes throughout Bucks County and the surrounding areas. My brother Bill and his wife Vicky, experienced publishers of lifestyle magazines, wanted to publish a magazine that focused on where they lived and what they loved—Bucks County.
Bucks County Magazine would be different in style and content than the countless magazines Bill saw on the newsstands, and that he had published himself. There were enough magazines that focused on entertainment, fashion and timely articles. Bucks County Magazine would be a magazine for people who appreciate the history, small towns, homes, furniture, gardens, crafts, antiques, food, art and the rolling countryside of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
I joined the magazine while the Winter 1992 issue was being put together. Together Bill, Vicky and I continued to improve the magazine. Bill already decided that in every issue, we would feature a beautiful Bucks County house. At first, we had our talented architectural photographer, Randl Bye, only shoot Bucks County farmhouses that dated to the Colonial, Revolutionary and Federal periods, but soon we were doing articles about Victorians, new reproductions and even a few contemporary houses. Our focus on a house would include the exterior, gardens and interior furnishing and décor.
In addition to houses, we did stories on the towns of Bucks County, the farms, gardens, antiques, restaurants, art, crafts, food, recreation, charitable organizations, and profiles of people. We expanded to do stories on health-related topics, real estate, education and even shopping. Also, since the beginning, we included a Calendar that presents events, places to go and things to do.
For the Fall 1993 issue we put a painting by David Frame on our cover. Since then, we have what we call an artist-in-residence who provides us with a painting for the cover. Our current artist-in-residence is Jennifer Hansen Rolli, who has been painting our covers since 2016. Altogether we have had three artists-in-residence: David Frame, James Redding and Jennifer Hansen Rolli. This has added to the collectability of our magazine—some of our subscribers have full collections going back to our first issue.
There are too many wonderful writers, photographers, artists, designers and others who have helped us continue to publish Bucks County Magazine. We are indebted to them all. And we are especially grateful for the continued support we get from the people of Bucks County, who have accepted and supported us as the magazine that understands what we call the “Bucks County Way of life.” Thank you all for giving us this honor of making us Bucks County’s signature magazine.