Fall Marks 8-Year Anniversary For Crystal Lake-Cary Patch

Thank you, Crystal Lake-Cary Patch readers, for taking time in your busy days to spend a few moments with Patch. We appreciate your visits and contributions, and we want you to know we take nothing for granted here. Thank you for helping us to grow and thrive this year.

Almost eight years ago, on Sept. 29, 2010, Crystal Lake Patch launched. A couple weeks later, on Oct. 7, 2010, Cary Patch launched. Eventually, the two sites would merge into one to become Crystal Lake-Cary Patch. We've come a long way over the years, and you're a big reason why.

In August, Crystal Lake-Cary Patch recorded 64,113 visitors. Our visitors hail from Crystal Lake and Cary for sure, but many residents of neighboring towns also land on site from time to time, too.

Here are some of the most-read articles on Crystal Lake-Cary Patch so far this month:

• Winner Picked in McHenry VFW Queen Of Hearts Drawing
• Pedestrian Crossing Randall Road Hit by 2 Cars, Killed: Police
• Young Woman Hit By Lightning: 'She Is A Living Miracle'
• Man Who Killed Wife, Left Body In House For 2 Days Convicted
• Crystal Lake PD Warns Of ATM Skimming

Got a news tip? I'm Amie Rowland, your local editor. I live in the area with family and am just as curious as you are about changes being made in and around town, matters of public safety that affect our community and also, of course, love to share the good news about the many great people making amazing contributions to the towns we call home. I've enjoyed reporting on news of interest to local residents for nearly a decade and look forward to doing so in the years to come. You can send news tips to me via email at amie.schaenzer@patch.com.

Our readers also love Crystal Lake-Cary Patch's calendar of events — more than 1,400 visits were made to our calendar in August. If you would like to post your upcoming event to the calendar, you can easily to sign up for a free user profile. As a Patch user, you can post articles, events, jobs, and announcements. And the "rules of Patch" are easy to follow: "no abusive content, no commercial spam, keep it local, and be awesome."

What else is new? So far this year, 459 new email subscribers have joined Crystal Lake-Cary Patch, bringing our readership list to nearly 3,000 subscribers. (Wait? You don't get our email? Click here and we'll hook you up.) And 519 Crystal Lake and Cary lovers joined our Facebook page this year, too. If you haven't liked our page yet, please give it a try. If you're already on the page, please share with a friend. We'd love to reach 6,000 fans by the end of 2018.

If you own a local business and are interested in getting your message on Crystal Lake-Cary Patch or our nearby Patches, please visit the page and tell us what you need. One of our sales reps will be in touch.

Here's another fun fact about Patch: Did you know that Patch is among the 100 most trafficked websites in the United States? Patch ranks 91st on the most viewed websites in the country, according to Alexa. Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Patch is part of a broad network, with more than six dozen Patches in Illinois and more than 1,200 across the United States. That's a lot of local news!

Many news websites are limiting access to free articles, but Patch articles and events by our journalists and our users are always free to view.

We're thrilled you've made Crystal Lake-Cary Patch a part of your life. Thank you so much for your support and readership.

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Photo caption: Three Oaks Recreation Area/Photo credit: Amie Rowland