by Angela Sanford
A year ago, I noticed an advertisement in Pam’s Web seeking a new owner for the newsletter. With very little hesitation I immediately decided I was not going to allow this opportunity to pass me by once again.
Shelli Singer first crafted Shelli’s Web and when she decided to step away I was interested in stepping into the role but the timing as not right as I was mother to very young children and had a full time teaching position. Then Eric White and Lisa Goodwin took the opportunity and made a few changes over their term with publishing Lisa’s Web. When their reign ended , Robbie Burns and Pam Hale met the task and the bi-weekly publication became Pam’s Web. However, when they were ready to allow the web to change hands, I contact Robbie immediately in hopes of taking on the publication as I didn’t want to miss the chance.
In the process of taking over the community staple, it was clear that a few changes were still necessary. First, the use of Canada Post for distribution was, unfortunately, an inhibiting factor to making the newsletter a success. Second, was a name – under no circumstances would I have considered calling this publication by the manner of it’s predecessors and use “Ange’s Web.” Lastly, knowing the audience for print is dwindling there needed to be a digital component and so the High Tides Bulletin website was launched. Over the course of the past twelve months several other changes ensued, some of my own fruition and some at the suggestion of the bulletin’s readers.
Here I stand, just outside the anniversary month of High Tides Bulletin completely in awe of what the bulletin has become. I’ve often spoke of a means for communicating with the community a calendar of events for the greater Hants North area. While a monthly calendar is published, is not yet an exhaustive compilation but it continues to grow.
The opportunity to write weekly has been rewarding and to have a team of steady volunteers to also share their compositions gives me great pride. Like most crafts/hobbies, one never gets back the monetary value of the time put in and this venture is no different. I take no direct pay for running the bulletin and make every effort to run it as cheaply as possible to maintain accessibility for everyone.
With my personal retirement from teaching on the horizon, the bulletin has given me one focus to carry into my retirement whiles till providing me a rewarding hobby to entertain my days. Perhaps another opportunity will present itself to coincide with this to consume my hours of retirement, but nothing has presented itself of late. So, until it does, I’ll focus on coaching in my day-to-day role and return to evenings of designing, composing, and publishing the bulletin in my spare time.
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