Well, here it is - the latest edition of Flagstaff Tea Party. I think you will agree that this is one of our best issues ever. Never mind that it is only our second issue. 

People who saw the first edition have been asking me, "How's it going?" 

"It's going" I say with a grin. Then, if time permits, I give them a few details about developments at Flagstaff Tea Party. It will suffice to say that the reaction to the first edition has been overwhelmingly positive. If we had a dollar for every kind word people have said about Flagstaff Tea Party - well, we would be on much more solid financial footing. Unfortunately, many of the people who are the most excited about Flagstaff Tea Party are also the same people who can least afford to make a tax-deductible donation - or at least that's how it seems. This is not to say that we have received no support. A number of people have made generous donations, and we are eternally grateful for this. But the number of people who have made donations to date has fallen short of what we had hoped for. 

Nonetheless, we are committed to this project and intent on continuing to publish - regardless of whether or not we have any money to do so. Of course, good intentions, like kind words, only go so far. Money may not really make the world go 'round, but I have it on good authority that money makes the presses go 'round. 

So please, if you're at all excited about Flagstaff Tea Party, now is the time to make a donation. Even if you're not at all excited about Flagstaff Tea Party, now is the time to make a donation. 

Why the urgency? Well first of all, we urgently need the money. And, whether you know it or not, you urgently need Flagstaff Tea Party. With your tax-deductible donation of $25 or more, you will receive the next 12 issues of Flagstaff Tea Party by mail. And, if you donate $50 or more during September, Flagstaff Tea Party will receive a second donation from an anonymous donor equal to half of your donation. So your donation of $50 results in a donation of $75. The anonymous donor has agreed to make up to $1,000 in matching donations. For more information about making a donation, please see the back cover. 

Of course, it takes more than money to publish a progressive nonprofit newspaper. For instance, it takes board meetings in which the pros and cons of running advertisements for adult-oriented businesses are debated. (If you're curious to know how that discussion ended, see the ads in this issue.) We are also discovering that to publish a newspaper like this takes costly consultations with lawyers, lengthy letters to the IRS, and serious discussions about libel law - among other things. 

One of the other things it takes to publish Flagstaff Tea Party is strong legs. I found this out when I started delivering the first issue of Flagstaff Tea Party. In the spirit of protecting the environment, Lisa (my wife and publisher) and I resolved to deliver all 5,000 copies of the first edition using only our bicycles. To make the task easier, we borrowed a custom-built trailer from Absolute Bikes. We soon discovered that the trailer, which is normally used to haul cardboard boxes to Norton Recycling, was both bigger and heavier than it needed to be for our purposes. The trailer weighed a whopping 75 pounds - and that was before we loaded it with 120 pounds of newspapers and 20 pounds worth of newspaper racks. 

While I towed the trailer behind my bike, Lisa carried a couple bundles of newspapers in a special container mounted to the back of her bike. We chose our delivery route carefully, trying to drop off as much of our load as possible before tackling any major hills. It was slow and strenuous going. It took us the better part of two days to finish dropping off stacks of newspapers at 140 businesses across the city. 

This month we will deliver 7,000 newspapers by bicycle. Though things might go a little faster if we used our pick-up truck, we believe that there are some things that are more important than speed. This time we plan to use a 30-pound trailer that we have purchased for the purpose. So if you see a cyclist straining to pull a red and yellow baby trailer up a hill, please don't give him (or her) any grief. It's probably not that he is woefully out of shape. Chances are that he is pulling a heavy load of newspapers. If you are going to give him anything, give him room. And if you're not in too much of a hurry, you might even pull over and write him a check.

Dan Frazier is an eight-year resident of Flagstaff. Prior to launching Flagstaff Tea Party, he worked at the Arizona Daily Sun as an editor. He is the husband of Lisa Rayner, the publisher of Flagstaff Tea Party.