At this age, in the sunset of my years, one would think that I would take more time to relax and enjoy my rocking chair (yes, I actually have a rocky chair and it is the most comfortable place to sit in the whole house). But no, I must have pushed the wrong button on my personal time machine and time warped into a part of my life, when I was consumed with earning a living as a commercial artist. Although I now paint and write, hobbies of sorts, for a great deal of enjoyment, I've always been fascinated by puzzles, like crosswords for instance, something for my wee brain to play with, like a dog and its bone. Besides self-publishing a couple of books recently, on a two day whim, I put an 8 page mini-newspaper of sorts together called The Messenger and had it directly distributed by Canada Post to approximately 400 homes. Of course, to publish such an endeavour does cost money and I was prepared to fund the first edition entirely on my own. But hey, before I knew it, 10 advertisers paid for spots and I had to increase the number of pages to 12. Besides the fact that over the years, I always enjoyed designing ads, posters and brochures, etc., since my wife Sarah wanted to let people know about her wee, little cafe out in the boonies of Fosterville and we were going to distribute some posters to let people know about it, I thought a little monthly periodical just might be the ticket, and so far, it's been a good idea. Not only are we able to let people know what we are up to, they are able to do the same for not very much money.
Since June is notable for celebrating fathers on Father's Day, and not really having anything to promote that day, I quickly wrote an article about my dad. I wrote the short article (about 400 words), not to just advertise the fact that Father's Day is in June but also as an example of a memorable person that someone else might know and would think it would be interesting enough for other people to read about. As editor, I'm looking to fill a certain amount of the pages with interesting content; short stories, poetry, photos, artwork, recipes and community events etc., not just advertising, because then just like many other advertising flyers, unless I am searching for a certain thing to purchase; it immediately becomes a source of starting a fire in the winter to keep us warm. One person already told me that she read the entire Messenger and really enjoyed it, so with that response and others, I feel this little periodical could become a good thing, which people will look forward to receiving once a month. 
My wife Sarah is also a big part of The Messenger and without her help, especially in the advertising department, I doubt that I could keep this little periodical going on a monthly basis. Like me, she is an avid writer and especially enjoys writing poetry. Like I said earlier, The Messenger was put together in a rush, so to help fill some of the content, she wrote this short poem, also as an example for what other people might like to submit.
The photo on the front page was submitted by Mike Saunders, a well known retired photographer who resides with his wife Judy, an avid artist, on the shores of East Grand Lake during the summer months. Because the population in the Fosterville vicinity drops quite dramatically when the harsh winter storms begin approaching, I'm considering only publishing The Messenger bi-monthly during the winter time-period. However, that being said, we may still continue to keep it a monthly source of reading because we are considering establishing a larger distributing route into Meductic and possibly Debec. Also, The Messenger can be found in different locations in Woodstock, such as the Woodstock Farmer's Market and O'Toole's Gallery in Grafton.
We look forward to hearing any comments about The Messenger and receiving submissions for publication. To see the complete first issue of The Messenger, just click on this link - cheers, eh!
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