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www.wn3.ca 100% Niagara owned & operated.
Proudly serving Grimsby, Lincoln, West Lincoln & Winona
Circ: 28,066
EDITORIAL
Welcome to a new era
Tasty treats
The baked goods table at Elcho Road United Church in West Lincoln was ready for attendees at Saturday’s Christmas Penny & Bake Sale. Karen Irwin, right, was among those helping serve. To allow for social distancing, activities were split into two rooms this year. Williscraft - Photo
NewsNow transitions to Canada Post circ By Joanne McDonald NewsNow Effective this week, NewsNow will be delivered via Canada Post to all of Niagara West. “This is a major shift and a major commitment to our readers and advertisers, but one
which we think makes business sense given all that is going on around us,” said NewsNow publisher Mike Williscraft. The move was necessitated with Deliveries Unlimited shuttering its business after serving the area for more than 30 years.
“We were initially going down a road of planning a transition for carriers and drivers so we would absorb their distribution system, but it dissolved on us after 10 days of work on it. Necessity being the mother of See DELIVERY, Page 6
After 35 years-plus in the publishing game and nearly 27 serving the good people of Niagara West, one thing learned has been - as in life - expect the unexpected. Now, there are varying degrees of pain inflicted by unexpected turns of events, but this one – which finds us changing our circulation system from a commercial carrier to Canada Post – is about as major as it gets. The whys and wherefores on how we got here are completely irrelevant at this point, so let’s look forward to what this change means for our dedicated readers and extremely supportive advertisers who remain the reason we are still here after starting up as a monthly publication in 2012. Our distribution quality has been an ongoing concern for many reasons. Our system has always been much stronger than our corporate competitor and now there is really no comparison at all. The strengths of this week’s change are apparent: • Our circulation rises by nearly 3,000 to 28,066; • All papers will go direct into mailboxes and super boxes in all homes, condos, apartments and businesses; • There will be NO MORE plastic bags at the end of driveways, on lawns or in ditches, and; • There will be NO MORE papers blowing through neighbourhoods or down rural roads. With these benefits come considerably higher cost, but you get what you pay for and that is true for our new distributor. It is also true for the quality of the 100 per cent local content in NewsNow week in, week out. And now, every address in Niagara West will receive this newspaper as we endeavour to struggle through these massively difficult economic times. Our struggle is no different than any other small business or entrepreneurial venture. Nobody realizes more than our team that all Niagara West businesses are in the same boat and we all need to row in the same direction if we are to survive. For readers, long-standing and first-time recipients (condos and apartments we could not get into before), we hope you enjoy our offering of hyperlocal content, photos, council coverage, community events and more. You are the reason we are here and we look forward to serving you for decades. M.W.