To the Residents of Queenstown

Lake County Mail, Issue 1, 29 May 1947, Page 1

To the Residents of Queenstown

With this, the first issue of the Lake County Mail, we extend to our Readers a very warm welcome to our columns. They will, we hope, be of service and Enjoyment to the community of Queenstown and Lakes Districts. The service rendered to the business and residential community of Queenstown by the late Wakaiip Mail was. without doubt, of verjr great value. The aim of the publishers of the Lake County Mail will be to at least equal, if not better, this service. Marked change in size and typography between the old and the new will be observed, and these changes, we believe, are for the better. It is not the intention of the publishers of the new Mail to confine the journal to the bare recording of local events only. We aim, in time, to give you a journal which will, with the incorporation of story, article and feature, be of value apart from its news service.

The support tendered by local and national advertisers has been heartwarming, and to them the publishers and people of this district owe a great deal as without their assistance this publication would not have been possible. The columns of the Mail are open to all, and the policy of the paper will show no favour to either one section or the other. The progress and advancement of Queenstown and District will be its main concern, and with this in view we invite readers to use these columns to express their views. The publishers reserve the right to refuse for publication any matter they may consider unfit for publication. We look forward to a long and happy association with you, and will welcome your criticism to make the Lake County Mail more worthy of a grand Town and District. \

{Mayor of Queenstown)

The enterprising Publishers of the new Journal, the Lake County Mail, have been courteous enough to ask me, in my capacity as Mayor, to write a few lines on the venture, to be included in their first issue. I do so gladly, as I consider that a regular weekly journal circulating in any district is of vital importance to the community life and progress of that district. How else can interest be fully maintained in the activities and progress* and how else can the milestones of progress be chronicled? This District has been fortunately

served for about eighty years by a journal that kept the people well informed of all steps in the path of progress that have brought Queenstown to its present status as the leading Tourist Resort in the South Island. The cessation of publication of that journal was a, retrograde step that in time would have seriously hampered our steady progress; so it behoves all who have a genuine interest in our welfare to help this new venture to the best of their ability. Every observant thinker in our midst will agree that Queenstown has a great future as a Tourist and Holiday Resort. The speed of that progress is largely in the hands of the local residents and business people. Accommodation to house the people, and service and civility when here, are the two essential requisites. Hotel and boarding house accommodation is limited, but is likely to improve when building conditions ease up. In the meantime, the establishment and improvement of our Borough Camping Ground does help the position—perhaps more than some realise.

The long view of this matter has been taken by the Queenstown Borough Council in improvements effected last year; and with the inclusion of the old Recreation Ground will accommodate even more of the people from all over New Zealand who so eagerly look forward to their annual holidays spent in sunny and beautiful Queenstown. Sporting events, and the faithful, accurate and timely reports of the fixtures, keep a district alive and add interest to life. The establishment of the new Sports Ground that was used for the first time so recently will, I feel sure, kindle much more enthusiasm in all sporting fixtures. It is much nearer to the town than the old ground, has a natural amphitheatre all round so that as many spectators as wish can get a good view of all that is going on; but above all it has a much warmer and more sunny aspect than the old ground; and not so prone to frosts. A local journal to keep the public well informed as to what is going on, is all that is now required to give the sporting life of this district a new lease of life. Suggestions for a new Pavilion and Community Centre are in mind, and will soon be put before the public for their consideration. Among the modern facilities requisite to the comfort and convenience of any community a local Journal has its place. In Queenstown we have electric light, a modern sewerage system, fairly good roads, a new and up-to-date maternity home, as well as a public hospital in the district. The Tourist Park, in its unique setting, equipped with bowling greens, tennis courts, and croquet lawn, and the ponds that are utilised in, the winter for skating, all add attraction to the Town, and explain the wonderful popularity that Queenstown enjoys. Thus I feel sure that in selecting Queenstown for their new journalistic enterprise, the sponsors of the Lake County Mail are not making any mistake. I would like to conclude by congratulating them on their farsightedness and, in wishing them well, I commend the venture to all citizens of the town, suggesting that they extend to the new Journal and the Publishers their wholehearted support. W. A. ANDERSON, Mayor .