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Page 2, Thursday, December 23rd, 1971, WHITBY FREE PRESS From The People Who Put It Together E ditoria Comiment On a muggy afternoon in June, a small1 group of tired people got togehter to put o u t a "s t r i1cet ly-Whi tby "newspaper, named by a banker in Ajax who believed in us, "THE WHITBY FREE PRESS". The first six editions of the 'Whitby F r ee Press' were published from an Osh awa apa r tment, once every two w e e ks, a good thing too as ail ads and he ad lines were labouriously letra-set by hand. Nu fairytale beginning Because ofWhi tby 's unfortunate his- t o r y in n e w spaper , the 'Free Press' di dn t exactly have a fairytale begin- ning. T h e outiook was di s cou r a g i n g. "You're not going to make it, no one el se ever did.I" "Why don't you write mostly a b o u t t hings that happen in Oshawa?; Whitby's just small potatoes. " Discouraging Sta tem ents like thesemost es- p e c i aily the latter, could plummet our hearts to the bottoms of our shoes, both in the advertising and the editorial end. As ide from ail this, at least four o t h e r newspapers delivered to Whitby doorsteps al 1 claimed to be the "Whitby" paper. But the 'Free Press' still wanted to be the "Whitby" paper. After six months in business, we've managed t o1ick some of our problems. VV e don't have to set headlines and ads by hand anymore because we now have a h e a di ner. Al so we were lucky enough to find a home in the "castile", the for- mer Hatch Estate which dates back from the 1870's. There was a time when the telephone rang so seldomly, one ring would have everybody running. Now the telephone rings - constantly. But we still hear about Whitby being "small potatoes", from advertisers out- side the municiþality who feel that it's not worth attempting to draw in Whitby shoppers, and worse stili, from Whitby bu s i nessmen who feel that their shop- pers come mostly from outside the com- munity. We still hear that news in Whitby is not so exciting. One leading politician t h i n k s , and has stated to us verbally t h at Whitby doesn't need a newspaper, it has the "Toronto Star". W i t h t h e advent of the coming new y e a r, we at the "Whitby Free Press" are coming on with a certain acceptance so t h a t these things a r e not quite the source of frustration they once were. You se e, the people who don't care about Whitby, don't matter to us. The people who matter The Brooklin father of a carrier boy who de i i vers the "Free Press" on his son's bicycle when it rains, the 6-year- old who sent us a somewhat smudged and ch a r m ing Christmas message because sheworriedthe newspaper wasn't going totake time off to enjoy Christmas day, the p e o p le who call in to tel1 us we're doing a good job because they think it might encourage us, the paper boy cal- l e d in to tell us he had two papers left over after del1 ivering his route, and couldwepleasehelphimfigureout which two houses on Anderson Street didn't get t h e i r p apers this week, and each and everypersonwhosat down to write us a 1 letter over the past six months, these are the people who do count, and who make the "Whitby Free Press" worth put- ting together. To you, from the people who put it to- g et her, thank you for letting us be the "Whitby" paper. To every advertiser, $l. 25 or $125, thankyou for your vote of confidence in us. To each and every carrier of the "Whitby FreePress", all 30 of you, our sincere appreciation, because we're convinced we have the best lot. If Whitby is sm all1 potatoes and you are the k i n d of people who 1live there, we're moreconvinced now than when we set out that Whitby is where we want to be. So to e v e r y one lucky enough to be l iving in the wonderful town calledWhi tby - anespeciallyMerryChristmas from the "\/oice of the County Town"! On Holiday With the permission of its advertisers, the 'Whitby Free Press' is on one weeks ho 1iday between the week of December 23 rd and 30th. Although we will not be publishing as usual on Thursday, Dec- e m b e r 3Oth, there wili be someone at t h e 'F r e e Press' during that week to answer telephone call s for photo engage- ments and news tips. The 'Free Press' wil I publ ish again on Thursday, January 3rd. IN DECEMBER - by Debby Wolters, a 'Free Press' Carrier In the merry month of December, The birth of Christ we all remember. Children shouting in the snow, Dancing happily to and fro. The presents are all under the tree, It is a pretty sight to see! Letting out all our happy joys, As the children play with their toys. All the belis are swiftly ringing, Singing Christmas carols ail the night. I say - 'it is a pretty sight. " Our Cover