The special edition is the paper's first extra printed since the 911 attacks.
SPRINGFIELD – Springfield native Maureen O’Connell bought four copies of The Republican’s Tornado Extra on Tuesday and returned to the newspaper’s front counter Wednesday morning to purchase several more.
O’Connell, who lives in Chicopee, said she bought the historic “extras” to send to her children and grandchildren in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. “They are really into the tornado,” she said.
O’Connell said she was heartened to see the printed copies of the extra, “especially because we are all not computer literate yet,” she said with a smile. “The coverage has been great.”
Limited copies of the Tornado Extra, put out by The Republican on June 2, are available at the front counter of the newspaper’s 1860 Main St. offices for 75 cents each. The front counter is staffed Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The special edition, the first “ extra” printed since the 911 attacks, contains stories and 60 photos of the deadly storm. Many of the pictures were shot just moments after the tornado slammed into the area on the afternoon of June 1.
“Hundreds of people have shown up at the newspaper’s front desk over the past few days to pick up a copy of the extra edition we put out on the June 1 tornado. One woman bought 10 copies to mail to friends and relatives across the country,” said The Republican Executive Editor Wayne Phaneuf.
Robert Jordan, who is visiting the region, said he bought a copy to send to a friend who collects newspapers with extraordinary headlines.
Jordan, who lives in Interlachen, Fla., said he could not recall the last time that he saw a newspaper put out an extra. “That makes it even more collectible,” he said.
Phaneuf described the extra as “piece of history. The last Extra we published was 10 years ago on 911. They are a rarity and will be kept for generation,” he said, adding that the Tornado Extra will be for sale “until we run out, which will be soon.”