CHICOPEE – The year was 1927, when Babe Ruth was hitting 60 home runs for the New York Yankees and Charles Lindbergh was ushering in the age of transatlantic flight.

In the ethnic community of Chicopee, something else of note was occurring. A new weekly was being launched.

Nearly a century later, the publication lives on. After a three-year hiatus, The Chicopee Herald is being launched again with editorial content by Reminder Publishing LLC, and distribution handled cooperatively between the Reminder and The Republican of Springfield.

The daily newspaper will insert the Chicopee Herald into all of its Thursday editions which go to Chicopee subscribers. The Reminder will handle free distribution to homes of non-subscribers, with availability also at racks and newsstands - and newstand availability at outlets in neighboring Springfield and Holyoke as well.

Just about every home in Chicopee will receive the Chicopee Herald. It’s a brand new era for one the city's oldest, most recognizable institutions – but what about the old days?

“The Chicopee Herald was started by Leon Szetela Sr., in 1927,” retired teacher and noted Chicopee historian Stephen Jendrysik said. “Its early years were really as a response to the Springfield newspapers and served as a political arm for Mayor Anthony Stonina.

One of Chicopee’s legendary political names, Stonina served as the city's mayor in two separate stints in the 1930s.

The Chicopee Herald was later purchased by Chicopee National Printing Company and its co-owners, John Kobak and John Dziedzic. The paper utilized a tabloid format, though in 1948, a large, broadsheet edition was printed to honor the 100th anniversary of Chicopee's 1848 incorporation as a town.

Chicopee officially became a city in 1890. For much of the 20th Century, its character and politics were defined by distinct ethnic populations with large Polish and French communities, and a notable Irish lineage as well.

Chicopee National Printing sustained the Chicopee Herald until 1973, when it was purchased by Star Press of Holyoke. Its new owners were the brother combination of Stanley and Walter Walczak, and they maintained the local flavor in a city that had begun to change.

Westover Air Force was a major active military facility; it was deactivated in the early 1970s but remains an important reserve base and industrial center today. Typical of other cities, the city's retail base had begun to shift from Chicopee Center to Memorial Drive – and gradually, the population was becoming more ethnically diverse as well, though its traditional communities are still vital and vibrant to this day.

In 1976, the newpaper was purchased by Ron Chimelis, a Chicopee resident. At the time of purchase, Chimelis was 20 and believed to be the youngest publisher of a daily or weekly newspaper in the United States.

In 1983, Chimelis sold the Chicopee Herald to a partnership headed by local businessman Domer Ringuette. A local chiropractor, John Maslar, played a crucial role in keeping the newspaper alive as its new proprietor in the early 1990s.

Reminder Publications purchased the Chicopee Herald in 1998. Placement under the Reminder’s umbrella of print products gave the Herald stability into the 21st Century. Eventually, more change occurred.

For a time, the “Chicopee” part of the title was dropped and the name “Herald” stood alone. The Chicopee label was restored until 2016, when the publication's 89-year run essentially ended with its absorption into East Longmeadow-based Reminder Publications.

But the Chicopee Herald is coming back after the Republican Company - an adversary nearly 100 years ago - purchased Reminder Publications and will make the weekly an insert. The Reminder staff will continue to produce all independent, fresh copy and supervise distribution to all non-subscribers of The Republican.

Managing Editor G. Michael Dobbs will continue to oversee editorial content, as he began doing for the Chicopee Herald in 1999. Even Dobbs is predated by one staff member, though.

Lifelong Chicopee resident Nancy Banning has handled clerical, administrative and secretarial duties since 1970, the year she graduated from Chicopee High School. Her Chicopee Herald career has spanned seven ownerships and nearly 50 years, and it's only appropriate – and good business – that she remains an active part of this new era.

Dobbs calls the Chicopee Herald “a heritage newspaper.” That is true. It has endured changes in ownership, strategy and the city and region it serves. Long after Babe Ruth and Charles Lindbergh made global news, a new and exciting era begins for one of Chicopee’s oldest and dearest friends, again bringing local news to its readers.