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125th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, October 1, 1991 - 33 ~ Publishers record history of Port Perry MR. SAMUEL FARMER From Page 30 was responsible for sales and promotion of the Star's busy printing department. Other family members who worked at the Port Perry Star during this period were Archie Farmer, who joined the firm in about 1950 to operate the presses and Clive Boyd (son of Irving and Marion Boyd). Longtime employee George R. Davey contined to work for the family as assist- ant in the printing depart- ment for many years, retir- ing in 1958 after about 50 years with the Star. Bruce Beare, who began working for Sam Farmer as a young man in 1937 contin- ued working for the Star as a linotype operator and print- er until 1974. PORT PERRY STAR'S 50th ANNIVERSARY The Port Perry Star cele- brated its' 50th Anniversary in September 1957 with a special Historical and me- morial edition being pub- lished. Although the paper experienced slow growth during the time following Mr. Farmer's death, circula- tion of the paper reached an all-time high of 1,200 copies per week. The Farmer family con- tinued to operate the news- paper until September 1963 when the Port Perry Star was once again sold and changed ownership. New owners of the Star at this time were Per and Leila Hvidsten, who also owned the Uxbridge Times- Journal. The Hvidsten's had been in the newspaper busi- ness in Uxbridge since they purchased that paper from Harold Cave in 1953. Mr. Hvidsten's back- ground in printing and newspapers goes back to his homeland Norway where his father and grandfather before him had owned and operated a daily newspaper. One of the first things Mr. Hvidsten's did after ac- quiring the Star, was to hire" William Harrison, a former employee of the newspaper who was working in Co- bourg at the time. Mr. Harri- son was appointed editor of the Star with Mr. Hvidsten assuming the role of publish- er. Within months of pur- chasing the Port Perry Star, Per Hvidsten began to mod- ernize the entire plant. Be- tween the years 1963 and 1967, the shop (located at 235 Queen Street was completely renovated and all the old machinery was replaced with modern equipment. The last letterset news- paper was published at the Star office on June 8, 1967. On June 15, 1967 a whole new method of printing came about with the Star changing its printing meth- od from the old "hot metal type" to offset printing and the paper was downsized from a large format (known as broadsheet) to a tabloid newspaper. With the introduction of 'offset printing' at the Port Perry Star, the old cast iron flatbed press which had churned out the paper for over 50 years was delegated to printing auction sale bills. And it was only a few years later it was smashed into pieces and sold for scrap metal. IRVING & MARION BOYD During the first few years of offset production, the Star was printed at Web Offset in Toronto. When Ux- bridge Printing Company purchased a web offset press in the 1970's, the Star moved its printing contract to Ux- bridge as it was much closer. Two weeks after printing the first issue offset, Mr. Hvid- sten's son Peter joined the staff, after working for a web printing company and a pro- fessional photographer in To- ronto for two years. of the Star on a part-time basis. He passed away in his 73 year on May 27, 1985, following a short illness. Between January 1976 and January 1991 the Port Perry Star underwent many expan- sions and renovations. The of- fices were renovated and en- larged on two occassions, allowing for a larger and brighter office product divi- sion. In 1978, the Star once again changed printers, and MR. PER HVIDSTEN Further modernization came about in 1971 with the purchase of the Star's first computerized typesetter. This piece of equipment all but eliminated the need for the faithful old linotype as it in- creased efficiency and speed, allowing the Star to move its publication day from Thurs- day afternoon to Wednesday morning. In 1975 Mr. Hvidsten sold the printing division of the Port Perry Star and concentrat- ed all of his efforts on the newspaper. Mr. Henry Jans- sen, who purchased the print- ing department continued to work out of the Star office for five years before moving Port Perry Printing to a new build- ing on North Street. STAR CHANGES HANDS After publishing the Star for 13 years, Per Hvidsten re- tired and sold the company to his son Peter in January 1976. At the time of his retirement, he had seen the newspaper ex- pand from a circulation of 1,200 to an all-time high of 4,000 subscribers. During the next eight years, Mr. Hvidsten continued to contribute to the production began to print in Bowmanville at the Canadian Statesman of- fices, operated by the James family. It was at this time the publication date was changed from Wednesday to Tuesday mornings. During the 1980's equim- pent was constantly modern- ized and at present all the typesetting, advertising, and bookkeeping is done by use of computers. In 1988 the Star intro- duced the latest typesetting equipment, known as "desk- top publishing," This system allowed editorial and news re- porters to typeset their own copy on computers and print it out on bond paper through a high quality laser-writer, ready for paste-up. Typesetting proceedures continue to improve with new programs and graphics and the Star now produces about two thirds of its copy, and all advertising by way of desk- top publishing systems. In July 1990, Mr. Hvidsten began construction of a new building for the Port Perry Star on Mary Street, directly south of the Post Office. The new Please Turn to page 34