I can’t believe it’s been a year already! Wow, the time sure has flown by.
This time last year I was sitting at a desk in Black Press’ national sales office, sweating how the inaugural issue of the North Delta Reporter would be received.
I needn’t have worried. The community has been incredible in welcoming the paper into their homes and their hearts, and for that I am truly grateful. You’ve stuck with us as we’ve learned and grown, and thanks to your support we were able to expand our editorial team, bringing on board crack reporter Grace Kennedy.
It was quite the year in news, both at home and abroad. Looking back at our first issue, published almost exactly a year ago today (July 7, 2016), there are a number of stories that we ran that are still relevant today.
Our first cover story was the Burns Bog fire, which we look at one year later in this issue. The fire burned for a week and took the coordinated efforts of fire crews from Delta, Surrey, New Westminster, Richmond, Metro Vancouver, the B.C. Wildfire Service and even some as far away as Hope and Squamish to contain and eventually put out.
We also ran stories about the George Massey Tunnel replacement, Delta council considering a possible casino in Ladner, breaking ground on Reach Child and Youth Development Society’s new child development centre, the Tour de Delta, local skateboarder Ryan Decenzo winning gold at the X Games, and many others.
Not a bad first effort.
Since then, we’ve worked hard to bring you the best of what North Delta has to offer. We’ve learned what’s important to you and done our best to bring it to you every week. But there’s always room for improvement, and with your help we aim to make Year Two even better than this one.
Let us know what you’d like to see in the Reporter. Know someone deserves recognition for their hard work in the community? See something wrong that you think others should be aware of? We want to hear from you!
Call, email or message us on social media with your story ideas, community events, letters to the editor, photos of the week, works of art, sports achievements…whatever you’d like North Delta to know about.
You can also help by spreading the word about the paper. Let people know about the good work that we do. Visit our website northdeltareporter.com for even more great content from across the Lower Mainland and B.C. Like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with breaking news and share stories with your friends.
As I wrote in this column one year ago, the North Delta Reporter is as much yours as it is mine — perhaps even more so — and it should reflect the issues and ideas that you, the good people of North Delta, care most about. We can’t do it without you.
Thanks again for reading and helping us get where we are today, and keep you eyes peeled for some exciting new features in the coming weeks.
James Smith
Editor, North Delta Reporter