The new owners of The Villager, Jiun and Mikaila asked me if I’d like to write an article – some history of the magazine and some memories.
The history:
The opportunity to publish a local magazine presented itself in 2012 after we learned the Washago area publication was getting ready to close. Without it, there would be no local news and no vehicle local businesses could use to reach their market.
Before the first Villager was published, we met with and got support from local businesses, community leaders, non-profit organizations, politicians at all levels, and professionals who might contribute strong stories. Concurrent to this work, we enlisted the help of a designer to create ‘the package’ and began the process of collecting interesting and relevant editorial pieces.
We launched The Villager in March of 2013. To us it looked terrific and read like a dream! Thankfully, the readers agreed. It wasn’t long before they were telling us ‘We read The Villager every month – cover to cover.’ That’s all I needed to know to be inspired and to continue to provide our community with the best I could for a community I love – for every one of the 113 issues over the past 10+ years.
The memories:
It’s all about the people. Those who have served. Those who have volunteered. And those who have participated so enthusiastically.
Readers will remember with me: the sparkle of lights of the first Washago nighttime Christmas parade; the intense pleasure of witnessing the return and growth in numbers of ‘our swans’; too many losses including past Fire Chief Eric Dowell, and Donald Westcott, extraordinary community volunteer; the massive ongoing effort of the Couchiching Conservancy to help save our biodiversity; the monthly look at wonders in nature by reader favourite Ron Reid; the selfless volunteerism and contribution to the community of Washago Lions, Washago Art Club, Ramona Agricultural Society.
There are countless more memories within the pages of The Villager. The people who created those memories, who inspired the stories are the history to me. They are The Villager.
I feel such great pride that The Villager will live on through new owners. Kind, compassionate, bright and sincere people, Jiun and Makaila will move The Villager on to new and exciting heights.
