When I purchased my first home in Holland, I was floored by the number of newspaper boxes lined along the street adorned with the logo of The Sentinel.
The idea of showing pride for our community paper stuck with me. Years ago, when I started working for The Sentinel as a business reporter, I was thrilled to rummage through our “morgue,” a collection of bound archive books, old invoices, broken technology, press stamps and merchandise featuring that decades-old logo.
It’s no secret that many local papers have been acquired by larger organizations. The Sentinel was purchased by Gatehouse and then, following a merger of the two companies, Gannett. Last year, Gannett rebranded to USA Today Co. — a decision that greatly excited our readers and reporters.
We’ve long been able to purchase merchandise featuring the USA TODAY logo and branding, but one of the most exciting initiatives I’ve seen as editor of The Sentinel came when designers recently unveiled an entire line of local pride items in advance of Tulip Time 2026.
Those items include hoodies, shirts, hats, car magnets, pins, tote bags, mugs, tumblers, bandanas, notebooks and notepads, stickers, playing cards, patches, a welcome mat and even a teddy bear sporting a Sentinel t-shirt. There are, of course, tulips abound.
This local pride collection is one of the first ever for USA TODAY Co. — and we couldn’t be more excited to share these designs with you. If you’re a loyal reader, a new reader, or just want to support the local journalism cause, we recommend visiting usatodaystore.com/local-pride/local-newsroom-collections to check out the merch.
Enjoy!
— Cassandra Lybrink is the local editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at clybrink@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Are you a reader of The Sentinel? Show off your pride with new merch!
Reporting by Cassandra Lybrink, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
