That being said, the next two sentences might raise a few suspicions and eyebrows. The news pages you hold in your hands contain the last inserted issue of the Grand Traverse Herald. Starting next Wednesday, the Herald will no longer be published in the same manner since its debut issue on May 15, 1996.
Before 13,000 some hands pick up the phone, hold that thought — and relax those eyebrows.
First the good news: The Grand Traverse Herald is here to stay. Beginning February 20th, the Grand Traverse Herald will be published every Wednesday in the Record-Eagle as a section devoted to community news. Next comes the better news: www.gtherald.com. A revamped and expanded Grand Traverse Herald Web site will serve as a complete online source for news that matters most to readers. Of course the best news is that some things never change; the Herald is, and will remain, "your community weekly” publication.
On second thought, one thing will go by the wayside as soon as possible — the mugshot that accompanies this column. It makes my driver's license photo look like a Glamor Shots studio portrait.
Now before you dismiss all of this as "less is more” candy bar packaging, let me assure you that the Herald is more than a redesigned foil wrapper. Each week readers can expect a publication packed with community events, school functions, sport scores or even a feature story on your next door neighbor. Our focus will remain on the issues, trends and profiles important to the Traverse City community and surrounding townships.
In order to enhance our coverage, the Grand Traverse Herald Web site — www.gtherald.com — will not just be about an online community, but your community.
Unlike Web sites where you warp a celebrity's face or play with virtual sand, www.gtherald.com won't leave you with "that was 20 minutes of my life I can never get back” regrets. The Herald Web site will feature stories and photos of people, places and events that will be akin to online refrigerator journalism. Also posted on the Web site will be school-related articles, community forum columns, student and service news, youth recreation sports results and expanded tctv2 listings — just to name a few things.
In the weeks to come, the Herald Web site will also offer Web-only photographs, multi-media feature presentations and a weekly Web exclusive story.
Now I would be remiss if I didn't clarify one thing — the Grand Traverse Herald really didn't debut on May 15, 1996. It actually started two years before Abraham Lincoln began his first term as president. Nov. 3, 1858, saw the first edition of the Grand Traverse Herald, a weekly four-column folio. That issue — interestingly enough — contained the average annual expenditures under United States presidents Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Tyler, Polk and Fillmore right across from a Shakespearean sonnet.
In fact, the Traverse City Record-Eagle can trace its ancestry back to that first newspaper.
Much has changed since Morgan Bates published that inaugural issue of the Grand Traverse Herald nearly 150 years ago. After all, Mr. Bates never had to concern himself with Web site traffic, newsprint costs (just chop down another white pine) or media mergers. Then again in my tenure as editor of the Herald, I've never had to use hot lead to correct a printing mistake.
More than a century later, however, one thing remains the same: you the reader. We want the Grand Traverse Herald to be your newspaper. So within these pages and online you'll find news that matters most; whether across Grand Traverse, around the neighborhood, down the street, or just out your back door.
While they say never say never, especially when it comes to change, I can guarantee you'll never see the words "new improved chicken flavor” and Grand Traverse Herald used in the same sentence. Well at least not in bold letters across page 1.
Grand Traverse Herald editor Garret Leiva can be reached at 933-1416 or e-mail gleiva@gtherald.com