In praise of slowness

With this issue Le Tour completes its 25th volume. The first edition in the Fall of 1983 contained 12 pages in black and white only. This issue boasts 52 pages of which 16 are in colour. Since the paper is funded exclusively by the sale of advertising, its content determines the space available for articles.

The growth in the number of pages has progressed by little steps. Advertisers had to see results before allotting a more important part of their publicity budget to a small town paper. For this to occur, the paper had to be read and only the content could ensure the paper’s success.

The evolution has been slow from 1983 to 2008, even if cosmetic changes along the way made it seem like major changes were being made. After a few years, the original paper was transformed from the 12-¼" x 14" format to an 8-½" x 11" magazine printed on white offset paper. The most recent changes occurred in1998 when the paper took on the present trimmed format of 10-½" x 14" containing colour process pages.

The type of content has changed very little: nature, culture, history, tourism activities, calendar... However, the paper has adapted to the geography of the tourism product by focusing its content on a larger area, mostly Dunham and Frelighsburg. The distribution has also grown but the principal has remained essentially the same. The paper is distributed by post to residents (5000) and through several business outlets and tourism offices of the surrounding municipalities and at the two main exits of Autoroute 10 (2000 or 3000 according to seasonal needs). Since December, Le Tour is available on the web to readers from around the world!

The number of contributors per issue has climbed from half a dozen to over forty. And the success of Le Tour belongs mostly to them because their knowledge and their vision touch its readers and satisfy their needs. Nonetheless, without the support of businesses the exercise would be futile. And, without your patronage of their businesses... well, it goes without saying. Le Tour thanks you for recognising and supporting them as much as you can.

Even if the world spins fast, Le Tour incites you to a maximum slow-down to fully embrace the values that are wrapped in slowness.

Happy and slow reading!