We’ve recently discovered a massive collection of old film negatives from decades of reporting we’ve done here. We’re slowly working to digitize them. You’ll see some Christmas moments pulled from this archive shared across the bottom of this newspaper. 

Sprinkled among the photos of parades and community dinners, firemen’s balls and ribbon-cutting ceremonies, are photos of the Dickson family. My family. Rosaleen and David, Heather and Ross, Leslie, David Jr., Andrew, Charles, and I’m sure many more to come. A baby’s playpen jammed between two desks here at the Printshop; Rosaleen behind the wheel of a ‘Santa’s Printshop’ float in a local parade; a family dog growing up over the years. 

Also among these negatives are photos of the people who have signed up to work for this business, a couple of whom are still with us today (shoutout to Kathy, Dave and Deb). There are photos of staff working, sure, but also of the parties, and Christmas group photos taken outside our building here on Centre Street, just like this year’s photo (below). 

These photos usually come at the end of a roll of a film – a sort of afterthought, an attempt to use up the last frames so the roll could be developed. 

But they are evidence of the people who have worked behind the scenes for years, giving so much to keep this business alive and making sure this community has a source of local news. 

This last year was a big one for us here at THE EQUITY. We kicked things off with an announcement of an ownership transition that saw Jon Stewart take the reins here after some 75 years of Dicksons running the show. 

We then faced false rumours that we were going out of print (thank you, CTV News). To be clear – we are in fact still printing this newspaper. We have not stopped printing it, and have no plans to do so. 

But for this to remain true for decades to come, we need your support. 

It’s no secret that local news businesses across the country are having a hard time. 

Some 2.5 million Canadians now live in a postal code with only one or no local news outlets. That is seven per cent of Canadians, up from three per cent from 15 years ago. This is especially true in rural communities. 

There are a whole slew of reasons why a newspaper might stop printing or close altogether, despite its deep commitment to the community it represents. 

I won’t bore you with them here, but I do know that our continued ability to report and share important stories about what is happening here in the Pontiac depends on you, our readers. 

We’ve grown a lot this year. The newspaper itself has gotten bigger, but we’ve also expanded the ways we try to get you the information we report about this place through channels other than the paper. Some of you read our weekly Friday news roundup. Others read a few stories online. This is all part of the work we’re doing to get you the stories you want to be reading, in the way that works best for you.

But to remain relevant to you, we need you to tell us what you care about. We want to know, in fact we need to know, what we are to you, and what you would like us to continue being. 

Why do you subscribe, or make a point of picking up a copy from the newsstand every week? What are the first stories you read when the newspaper shows up at your door? Do you flip through to find familiar faces, perhaps to cut out and stick on the fridge? Do you go straight to the letters section, or perhaps the social notes, to hear from your neighbours on what’s going on in their worlds? Do you look for news about your municipal council, or MRC updates? 

What do we cover too much, and what are we not getting to? Where are the holes in what we bring you every week? Where are our blindspots? Would you listen to a local podcast? If so, who would you want to hear from? 

Please share your thoughts on any and all of the above questions in our survey at www.theequity.ca/survey, or in the printed version on the last page of this paper. It won’t take long, and your feedback is so valuable to us. 

Thank you to all our readers for your ongoing support over the years. It’s because of you we’re still here.