Welcome to this week’s editorial, The 100th edition of the Beagle Weekender. !!!! One hundred weeks ago I made the commitment to publish a Friday edition of the Beagle Weekender as a mailout free to subscribers that offered an overview of what was happening around the Shire over the weekend from general community stories to cinema, arts and music. In time the Beagle Gig Guide grew and is now the go to Gig Guide for the shire promoting all of our venues, local bands and events. Added to this came the weekly cinema guides that have been generously provided to us courtesy of the Narooma Kinema and Perry Street Cinemas and added to by local Film groups who all contribute to providing film to the warp and weft of our local community. Local galleries soon learnt about the Beagle and the Beagle Weekender so we were able to expand yet again and promote upcoming exhibitions and celebrate the rich talent that we have on the coast. The Beagle has also been incredibly fortunate to win the favour of exceptional writers like Robert Macklin and Trevor Moore who share their observations of life with Beagle readers. The Beagle Weekender has also become a treasure trove of local history reflecting the passionate love of the region held by historians such as Norm Moore, Laurelle Pacey, Kim Odgers and the many contributors we have enjoyed reading over the last 100 editions. On average the Beagle Weekender is twenty five or so pages designed for weekend reading to keep the thousands of our readers included in what is happening around the shire. Yes, thousands. Back in 2016 when the Beagle was first thought of on a far off beach in Sri Lanka I didn’t dream that the number of Beagle readers would swell to over 13,000 scattered around the planet. On line as I am typing are Beagle readers in Norway, USA, Japan, the Philippines, Canada and France. The Beagle and the Beagle Weekender are available, free, online and 24/7 and is enjoyed by many of our non resident ratepayers to keep up to date as well. To make it all happen though is a solid commitment on my part made possible by the wonderful support the Beagle receives from our advertisers and donors who keep the good ship Beagle afloat. Then there are the many contributors, the ones who represent clubs, groups, charities, organisations—all wanting to see their news published and to celebrate what they do or announce what they want to do. From jumble sales to Federal media releases and all stops in between the Beagle has been able to provide a community service and hopefully give the community the voice they need in local politics as well. So for the last one hundred weeks, without fail, with just a laptop and a wifi signal I have been able to meet the commitment I set myself way back when of creating a community focussed ‘newspaper’ that belongs to the community and reflects and celebrates our rich and diverse community. One that hopefully informs, includes and encourages and one that gives voice. Thank you to everyone who has bought the Beagle Weekender to this day. until next… lei
