July 31, 2019
“There’s a lot happening out here but no one wants to cover it. Would you be interested in starting a newspaper?” And that’s how The Four-Town Journal came to be. A group of six or seven of us were standing in a corner of the Bredenbury Hall in the early part of 1981. We were there for a Lions Club function but some of the folks who were there decided to use the occasion to throw the idea of a new newspaper at me. The group included Trent Fieseler, Mervin Kendel, Gil Boyle and Harvey Sveinbjornson.
Having stepped down as Publisher of The Yorkton Enterprise to take a shot at being a freelance writer, they thought I might be looking for something a little more steady ie. a weekly community newspaper job. And here we are, 1,822 editions of the paper later, preparing to turn the reins over to a new publisher, paving the way for my eventual retirement.
This is an appropriate time for me to say some long overdue thank you’s. First, thank you to my family: my right hand for much of this adventure, Lynda, our two daughters Krystal and Julia and our terrific grandkids, Ivy, Jeorgia and Will. Living with a newspaper editor/publisher is not an easy undertaking, but it seems like we’ve survived it all. Now we find out if they can stand to have me around all the time!
Thank you to the terrific people who have worked with us over the past 38 years, beginning with our first co-workers, Heather Polowich and Doreen Ingjaldson in Langenburg and Debbie Hussey (then Debbie Olm) in Churchbridge. We struck it lucky having them with us as we struggled through our first few years.We were equally lucky to wind up with Verna Brenner in charge of our subscriptions in our final few years.
Our luck persisted throughout thanks to, in no particular order, Cindy Basken, Shawna Polsom (then McGillivray), Elsie McGillivray, Margaret Nicholson, Susan Schenk, Nita Schmidt (Burke), Judy Hildebrandt, Pamela Rathgeber, Jill Faul, Twila Laxdal, Katie Vickers, “Gabby” Desnoyers, Connie Sakundiak, Charity Peterson, Karen McCannell, Valerie Entz, Krystal and Julia Johnston, Michelle Dressler and my brother Dave. What’s great to remember is that, with the exception of brother Dave, who wound up getting fired (long story), all of those folks wound up being good friends whose friendships we still treasure.
Thank you to our correspondents whose job can be a thankless task while still being of great value to their respective communities. Leading the way is Marie Yanke in Churchbridge whose materials I’ve been editing going back to our days with The Enterprise. For this paper she was joined by Linda Gander in Spy Hill, Derwood Andrews in MacNutt and our group correspondents, The Busy Bees in Bredenbury and the Laketown Leaders in Saltcoats. Thanks very much for your dedication and work.
Thank you to our advertisers through the years. Advertising is the financial lifeblood of a newspaper and we have been very fortunate to have received strong support from our local businesses.
Special thanks to the Thorsness and McIntyre families of Saltcoats. The late Wilf Thorsness and Tom McIntyre placed a very much appreciated fullpage ad for Thorsness Hardware in our first edition on October 7, 1981, and if you check out page 3 of this week’s edition Mike McIntyre has an ad for Thorsness Appliance and Bedstore there. Special thanks to Dave Schappert, his son Warren and now granddaughter Aubrey of Langenburg Motors and Paragon Sales for being very regular advertisers. Thanks to the Churchbridge Credit Union’s sponsorship of The Credit Union Corner, countless groups have been able to publicize their upcoming events for most of the past 38 years. Other very loyal advertisers whose support we have valued included the Churchbridge Co-op (now Legacy Co-op), the late Larry Wallace of Wallace Enterprises, the Schapperts at Langenburg Bumper to Bumper, Pharmasave and….well we could go on. Needless to say,thanks to you all for chosing your local newspaper to advertise in, and we hope you will continue to support the new Four-Town Journal.
Thank you to you, our readers. Unlike other media these days you have had to reach into your pocket, wallet or purse to pay for your annual subscription or weekly copy of The Four-Town Journal. And every time you renewed or picked up a copy, we renewed our commitment to earn the trust you placed in us to continue doing our job as best we could. As well you warmly welcomed us into your meetings, your special events, your school and sporting activities, and even your homes. And with very few exceptions you welcomed us with genuine appreciation and friendship, which went a long way on those cold winter nights to making this challenging business of producing a newspaper worthwhile.
Most of all, thanks for being who you are. The job of a community newspaper is to reflect back to the communities it serves what those communities are all about, and who they’re all about. Consistently what we’ve reflected back have been positive stories, providing glimpses into what’s good in people. We aren’t mired in the muck the national and social media are so focused on. Instead we have been able to produce countless stories of accomplishments, both big and small, and people working together to make their communities better and stronger. We’re very lucky to live where we are and hopefully we’ve conveyed that fact through the past 38 years.
Finally, thanks to all of you who have stopped by, sent cards, or called us, to congratulate Lynda and I on our impending retirement. We have been completely blown away by your generous wishes and thoughts. We could never thank you enough for allowing us to be part of your lives for the past 38 years.
