400 Bulletins

Ruapehu Bulletin, 20 August 1991, Page 15

400 Bulletins

B Y ROBERT MILNE

,, EDITOR/

PUBLISHER

I came to Ohakune almost the same week that the Waimarino Bulletin started, back in May 1983. A season on the slopes of Turoa drew me here and the plan was to head off in another direction for another adventure after the snow melted. But I found the community had a hold on me. Having been brought up in Wellington the advantages of living in a small rural town were clear and friends from the city visited often enough to remind us of the things we weren't missing. Having been hooked by the community spirit it seems appropriate to have become part of the Bulletin , whose number-one function is to be a link in the community chain. I remember being fascinated and quietly amused by this little 'rag' called the Bulletin. It was easy to call it cute, comparing it to city papers. But I soon found that every week I had to have a copy to keep up with what had been happening, what was important to the area, and what was comming up. I believe the Bulletin has done that through all 400 issues since it started. Many people may feel the Bulletin has had a chequered career but this is not true of the newspaper itself. It grew steadily under the guidance of John and Johan Sandford. It picked up from the vast experience of the community newspaper world that the next owner, John Woods brought. And even through the following 12 months when it was governed by a receiver it learned valuable survival lessons. Through that rocky period the Bulletin remained strong. Even at the time of the collapse of John Wood's company when his other publishing ventures ran off the rails, the Bulletin was doing well. The Bulletin has stayed around because of the support it has received from you, the community - advertisers and readers alike. I believe it is still here because it does a good job as a small rural community newspaper. That's not to say it can't improve or do without more advertising support. If you have gripes, if you are a reader or an advertiser, we want to know about it. Thank you for your support during the past 400 weeks - see you for another 400!