We held our first planning meeting in mid-June. Brainstormed themes, stories, and other ideas. We didn't create a storyline, but identified people and places to go to for a first phase of reporting. Subsequent meetings drew from that reporting to arrive at specific story assignments. The special section would require the earliest deadlines -- mid-August for reporters to turn in stories. The section was scheduled to run pre-print on Sept. 6 for insertion in the Sept. 11 edition.

The Page One story would come last, by staffing necessity and to allow the reporter to draw from the reporting in the special section. We agreed on the theme for a Page One essay, "How is life in Kitsap County changed a year after 9/11?" We brainstormed photo ideas that would produce a thematic image.

We identified the Kitsap County Fair in late August as one potential source for a photo that could capture everyday people in everyday life in a way that gives subtle witness to the mood of daily life a year later. The result was the image you see on your front page.

The essay was written by reporter Marietta Nelson. With story and photo positioned on page, a group of about eight of us brainstormed headlines for about an hour. We put the two finalists on the page with various font and style treatments before settling on the final version.