138 years, and we haven’t run out of things to write about yet
October 3, 2022, 1:10 pm
Kevin Weedmark
Not everyone pays close attention to those numbers across the top of the front page every week.
If you are one of the few who do, you will have notice that they changed from Volume 138, Number 52 to Volume 139, Number 1.
That means we have completed our 138th year and have started our 139th year since we started publishing on October 2, 1884.
Just to put it in perspective, the World-Spectator was around for 21 years before Saskatchewan became a province in 1905.
The World-Spectator had been around for 28 years when the Saskatchewan Legislature opened.
The World-Spectator was around for 29 years before Henry Ford started mass producing vehicles.
The World-Spectator had been published every week for 55 years before the Second World War broke out.
When I first came to Moosomin in 1988, I was moving from the city and I was worried that in a small community I might start to run out of things to write about after a few weeks. 34 years later, and 138 years after this publication was founded, we haven’t run out of things to write about yet.
As a matter of fact, every story we do seems to lead to two more story ideas, and the list just keeps getting longer.
I love all the types of stories we cover. The article we did a couple of weeks back on Merle Malin donating his hydraulic lift to Levi Jamieson after seeing Levi in the paper was heartwarming. The article last week on Scott Williamson, originally from Rocanville, leading the Queen’s Funeral Procession, was inspiring. Look at the stories we have in this week’s newspaper—an Esterhazy mine rescue team is second best in the world at an international competition. An all-women mine rescue team that also did very well at that international competition included one woman from the Rocanville mine and one from the Esterhazy mine. I wish I could write three pages about all of them, because it’s fascinating hearing about what goes into a mine rescue competition. What else do we have in this week’s paper? The news that the community of Moosomin is so supportive that Moosomin Tim Hortons sold more Smile Cookies than ever before, more than $29,000 worth—and more than any other Tim Hortons location in Saskatchewan. We also have an interview with Jeremy Harrison, the province’s Minister of Trade and Export development, about the fact that Saskatchewan just recorded its biggest quarterly population growth since those statistics started being collected in 1971. Stories like that, and the stories of development coming to our area, and the stories of local people achieving great things, makes me want to say that it’s an exciting time to be running a newspaper in our little corner of the world, but I have been saying that for the last 34 years! It’s always exciting telling those stories.
That same community support that you see with the Smile Cookie campaign is why our little newspaper, after 138 years, continues to grow. With the support of our community, our advertisers, and our readers, and the hard work of our employees, we continue to grow each year.
It’s incredibly busy running a newspaper, especially when we have so many great stories to tell.
Last week we put out a 64 page paper, including our September Ag News. This week we have a 64 page paper including our Get Involved section. Next week will be our Women in Business section along with the regular paper, the next week will be our Small Business Week section, then it will be our fall Mining Energy and Manufacturing section and then we begin our $15,000 Christmas giveaway.
I believe there is a bright future for journalism as long as people are willing to put in the work (and journalism is a lot of work when it’s done right) and as long as those people doing the work truly care.
I believe there is a hunger for real, honest journalism. People want to know what’s going on in their communities.
People care about local journalism. So, while the World-Spectator is 138 years old, I am sure it has a very bright future!
We’re here because we care about covering and connecting our communities. Let us know what we’re doing well, and what we can improve on, let us know what you would like to see in the paper, and we look forward to serving you for another 138 years!
