Beth's Ponderings
15 years...WOW!
I have a small
confession to make...while I am a voracious reader of books and magazines, and
while I know there is a wealth of interesting information published on
newsprint, I am not really a newspaper reader or fan. I will skim though the headlines of the Red
Deer Advocate, and breeze through the Bashaw Star, and occasionally I will even
read an article, but by and large, if there is something of interest, usually
someone else has to point it out to me before I’ll read it.
So, in a way it is
not only ironic that I have published a newspaper for 15 years, but that I was
even given the opportunity in the first place, AND that I accepted it!
In December of 2001,
as I had some free time opening up in my life, I offered to help Linda Van
Ringen - editor of the newspaper which was then called Chautauqua News. She countered with the offer for me to take
over the newspaper. Definitely NOT what
I had in mind at all. She gave me a week
to think about it, and I hung up the phone and started dancing around the room
in excitement. I had no idea why the
idea appealed to me, how I was going to accomplish it, or what the future had
in store, and I had a short deadline to get my first issue of The Chautauqua
out in mid-January 2002.
Fifteen years later
I still can’t really say why the paper appeals to me so much, only that it is a
not only a unique creative outlet, but also a creative challenge as I strive to
make it something that even I would enjoy reading, and I hope that you enjoy
too.
And to add to the
challenge there are still some days when I have no idea how I will accomplish
getting an issue together and distributed - whether it’s been due to
technological troubles, quickly learning a new skill, or my health situation, I
could not have managed without my friends and various helpers through the years.
Lastly, I don’t
know what the future has in store, but I hope to be around as long as I can. I sincerely thank you all for your support - without
your submissions, and willingness to continue reading The Chautauqua ,I wouldn’t
be able to keep doing this. Thank you so
much!
Beth
Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua21/home/January%2020%2C%202017%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1
