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Community Corner

Summit Patch's Interim Editor

John De Bellis will lead Summit Patch.

Dear Readers,

I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is John De Bellis. I will be serving as the interim editor of the Summit Patch.

If you are an avid Patch reader (and who wound't be) you may recognize my byline on several Patch sites - Berkeley Heights-Mountainside, New Providence, Madison, Warren, Bridgewater, Hillsborough, Scotch Plains-Fanwood and more. I have written for the Patch and other hyperlocal sites for over a year.

Find out what's happening in Summitwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I have covered a plethora of issues and subject matters at the hyperlocal level, involving boards of education, town councils, zoning and planning boards, business features, sports, fundraisers and personality profiles to name a few. 

Prior to writing for hyperlocal sites, I held senior marketing and communications roles in Fortune 100 multinational corporations and started my own marketing firm, 80/20 Communications.

Find out what's happening in Summitwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Earlier in my career, I spent eight years in Tokyo, Japan, as a journalist writing for an English-language daily newspaper on a host of subjects including sports, business, education, food, music, electronics and technology. Many of my "local" stories were carried by global wire services, reaching audiences worldwide. 

While in Japan, I also wrote for USA Today, Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated and ABC News.com and covered the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

I am a native of New Providence and played football at New Providence High School, incidentally, with John Liberato, the Summit Hilltoppers football coach, under Frank Bottone. I have excellent relationships with various Summit officials.

As with all Patch editors, I am always in search of worthy content to put on the Patch. Feel free to suggest story ideas that will make the Summit Patch a central information exchange and meeting place for the entire community. 

I can be reached at jdbonpath@gmail.com or by phone at: 908-448-2370. 

Yours in great hyperlocal news coverage,

John De Bellis

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