EDITOR’S BIT First, The Good News... It’s great to be able to report that The Villagers could be in safe hands in a few years’ time when the ‘Young Writer’ of the year will be able to take over! Connor Ramsay Clapham (see photo, right) won this award at the Community Newspaper Awards in March for his account of being Aladdin in our December edition. A well deserved award - opening up another career if he decides not to ‘tread the boards’(or ski... or play rugby for Scotland...). It was interesting at the Awards Ceremony to discuss with other papers how everyone was approaching the problems caused by the endless recession and the challenges of new methods of communication. Some issues were universal in that everyone seems to be looking for more helpers, particularly to replace people who had been doing tasks for a long period. Cutting back the number of issues was a solution several had adopted and The Villagers, coming out 11 times a year, was the most regular; some are only quarterly or even twice a year. This was one factor we discussed at our own committee meeting and, at the moment, we felt that part of the role of the paper is to publicise events each month - and to report back on things that have just taken place. With fewer issues coming out we would lose these important features and the immediacy we currently have. So we will attempt to continue on a monthly basis whenever possible. Another issue that arose was the fact that some do not ‘do news’ - a concept for a newspaper I personally found rather extraordinary. Again we discussed this and decided that we wish to continue debating/reporting on issues which are currently affecting our communities both on local and national levels. Please feel free to send in all your own opinions. Now, The Bad News... The Villagers is also one of the cheapest papers: on which topic, regretfully, we have decided we will have to increase the price - to 50p - as of next month. We really hope you will all continue JJ supporting us.
Weather
Report
The following readings were taken at ‘Bramblings’, Auchtubh, Balquhidder for the month of FEBRUARY 2013 Average max. temp. 6.6 ºC 43.8 ºF Actual max. temp. 14.1 57.0 Average min. temp. 2.1 35.0 Actual min. temp. -5.7 21.0 Rainfall: 8.6 cms 3.4 ins Strongest wind gust 42 mph on 15 February
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Well done, Aladdin... er... Connor! Connor Ramsay-Clapham receives his award for Community Newspaper Young Writer of the Year
REMEMBER... Advertising must be paid up before publication. This also applies to adverts on a 6 month discount which are coming up for renewal. We are sending out invoices a month ahead to give people plenty of time to pay - but if no payment is received by Deadline Day (21st) then the advert will have to be removed. Sorry!
Congratulations to Ruaridh Leishman who was selected for Scotland’s Under 20 squad for the recent 6 Nations Tournament. Their opening game was against England - always a challenging match - and one in which Ruaridh was fully involved. Ruaridh is now hoping he will be included in the squad to take part in the World Cup in France later in the year. We wish him every success and hope for more photos - and an interview - in the future.