Silver Lake Daily Newsletter.com

No One Said Too Beautiful to Set Up or to Shop:
Beautiful Day for Yard & Craft Sale so

reasons sought for light participation

The successful Yard & Craft Sale on the Greenway last year seemed to be reason enough to establish the second Saturday of August as a means to eliminate confusion and have a memorable annual date to help folks make their plans. Unfortunately the world is rapidly changing making dependability and tradition antiquated--or at least for a notable segment of society.

In attempting to understand what happened to a greater degree, the SLNewsletter began asking the question, "What do you think might be the reason for today's light attendance for both sellers and buyers?" SLN never made it to "The Top 10" reasons or even "The Top 5" reasons, we heard only a few ideas repeated several times.

A self-acknowledged potential buyer said, "I didn't know about it until today." Another heard about it "a little too late" [to change plans.] One responder said that she hadn't heard anything on her usual Country station, although she said she heard another person said it was on the "Tradio" show on WCJW.

I spoke with the Chair of the SLI Program Committee this morning who said they always send publicity to CJ Country (WCJW), Perry Herald, and Silver Lake Newsletter. When asked about the Perry Shopper, she said she preferred not to comment. Perhaps that's because there were only enough copies in the Shopper Distribution Box outside the SLI office for about half to two-thirds of the residents during the busiest and highest attendance months of July and August. Even after many requests for more, the problem continued for years.

Even though the SLNewsletter gets most of its news from news services, I always read the Perry Herald because I enjoy its small town flavor and reflections. Its coverage is excellent and for a print newspaper, it is popularly priced at $1.25/weekly or one can save by utilizing the $49 subscription. I have to assume the price does not pay all the bills nor can it allow for a profit. You can thank the advertisers for the possibility of profit! Call LS Press for more info (237-6310).

All of this to say that there is not one medium preferred by all Wyoming County residents from which to get their news. Therefore, communications volunteers must try harder to mail, email, or hand deliver news announcements to as many of the existing publications as possible in order to fully cover our area. Don't assume that one print or one online medium will accomplish it.

It is also advisable to (1) send it out early, (2) send a reminder, and (3) possibly send a second reminder at the final publication deadline. (It's the old Squeaky Wheel syndrome.) Hopefully they will publish (or announce) the reminder each time since it is easy for readers to overlook (or remember) a single publicized announcement in today's very busy world.