by Vicki Skinner

Gwen O’Neill. Photo: Vicki Skinner.

July 1, 2010 — How did CoastViews Magazine start? The idea for this wonderful publication was conceived in La Honda in 1990. Three business owners — Gwen O’Neill, who owned a graphic design business, and Paula Dennis and Nancy Hewitt, who owned La Honda Creations right next door — were talking about how to promote their businesses and toyed with the idea of a newsletter or something like that. Dennis remarks today, “I think it was really Nancy’s idea; she was really good at the marketing. It was probably something like ‘How can we get the word out about La Honda Creations and all the things we do around here? We sure could use a newspaper that focused on La Honda, Pescadero and this area, instead of like the Review, which does the Half Moon Bay area. Hey Gwen, any ideas?’ And Gwen took it from there.”

“Yes,” O’Neill says, “we started the business to promote local businesses.” O’Neill adds that she remembers Hewitt saying, “If you put it together, I’ll sell some ads to pay for the printing.” O’Neill laughs, “We began it by the seat of our pants. Before I knew it, it had started.”

O’Neill’s grandsons, Robert and Michael, now ages 16 and 20, on past covers.

The first version was a 4-page tabloid newspaper called Views from the South Coast. It started the same year that the Pescadero Arts and Fun Festival began. Several years later it turned into an 8 ½-by-11-inch publication with a readership of 8,500-9,000, and it was renamed CoastViews Magazine.

O’Neill, a New Jersey transplant, was a La Honda resident for eight years. She said, “The most pleasurable thing about the early years, for me, is I had a real sense of helping the South Coast with more visibility. It was really gratifying to tell everyone what a great place La Honda Elementary School was and about all the resources in Pescadero. I used to love to cover the La Honda Music Festival, which Paula Dennis and Nancy Hewitt ran for many years.”

When O’Neill looks back over the last 20 years, she is amazed by the many changes. She feels the most important issues she put out were the bilingual issues. She explains, “We would have one or two articles printed in Spanish and English side by side. It a great compliment to me that those issues were used at the library to help Project Read tutors teach English as a Second Language. … It eventually got too expensive, but I’d still like to bring that back.” She also especially liked the “important trend” series, which included job profiles.

Gwen O’Neill has worn many hats. In 1983 she moved to Half Moon Bay from Verona, New Jersey where she was a preschool music teacher running her own school. She became the music director for Holy Family Episcopal Church in 1985, and had a graphic arts company serving small businesses when she moved to La Honda in 1989.

Having been a writer for CoastViews from the very beginning, I watched O’Neill’s beautiful grandchildren grow up on the pages of CoastViews. I asked her about her all-time favorite cover. Of course, it included her grandsons, Michael and Robert; they were shown jumping off of the hay bales at Dominic Muzzi’s ranch in San Gregorio in an October issue. Robert and Michael, who are now 16 and 20, were featured on covers and elsewhere throughout the magazine over the past 20 years.

Gail Chalois, ad executive for CoastViews in the early years, reminisces too. She says, “The best part for me was learning every nook and cranny of the coastal area and getting to know people and their businesses. Getting to know background details about each person/business in order to create realistic advertising for them was great fun.”

Janet Periat, who still writes a column in CoastViews, started writing for the magazine in 1999. She remembers that she “sent an essay to Gwen and she offered me a monthly column. My first paying writing gig. And yes, it was always my column.”

When I asked Janet about any fun highlights she might remember she said, “Fun moments… hmmmm. Maybe not fun moments, but memorable. My best quote from a reader was some guy who called me a ‘tightly wound harridan.’ (I had to look it up, means ‘a vicious, scolding woman.’) And he also called me a ‘short-fused head job.’ Which is a much more accurate description. I love that letter.” She added, “And I would like to thank Gwen for giving me such a great opportunity. She’s the best!”