A time to reflect

As I look back to 2014, I can honestly say that I’m proud of what we, at the Seeker, have accomplished.

I think the past year has been a pivotal one for us as we’ve proved ourselves to be a serious contender in Cornwall’s media base and have become one of the most visited news source on the web. We’ve received accolades for our coverage of the elections and have been told by a lot of you that you come to us first for news. That’s not saying we’re better than anybody else, we’re just different. We’ve come to harbour a friendship with our competition and quite frankly, I think it’s awesome. Competition is always healthy; It means we work harder for you.

But of course, without your readership, none of this would matter.

When a year ago, I first started writing this weekly editorial, I was expecting to waste my time doing something nobody would read. I knew I could write fairly well even if my mother tongue is French, but still, I wondered… Would I find a voice that would keep the public’s attention? Would people even care about what I thought or what I had to say? As I began to get feedback from you and realized that you actually enjoyed my self-described rants, I started to speak more openly about matters of public interest. These topics may not be totally local, but they do affect our every day lives. After all, global issues affect us nationally and, in turn, locally.

Over the upcoming year, I will continue to speak up about what I believe in. I hope this will create healthy discussions on, as well as off, the internet.

A time to give thanks

There are quite a few people I need to thank, for our success, people who have shown immense support, have worked hard and received very little in return.

First and foremost, my partners, Mai-Liis Renaud and Jason Setnyk.

There are no words to express the gratitude I have for Jason. I created the website and with his help, made sure it looked good and was functional, but if Jason wasn’t here, it wouldn’t amount to much. He is the main factor behind our website’s success. Every day, he promptly posts anything that comes in, writes stories, shares them on social media, tags people when he can, ensures all articles contain photos and are prepped for search engines to pick up… He even corrects my work at time as I tend to forget to put pics or titles. He relentlessly makes sure we have a product we can be proud of. He has done all this from behind the curtains, without much acknowledgement AND while holding a full time job. I’m his #1 fan.

Mai-Liis makes sure the paper is artistically designed and looks nothing like the others. She gives the unique flair contained in our pages. She juggles her graphic design business, being a mom of 3, a step-mom of 2, a grandma of 2 and supports her partner in his DJ business. She keeps me calm when I’m stressed out, she’s always here to hear me vent. I truly am thankful for her friendship.

To all our contributors and all our advertisers, this paper would not last without your interesting columns, articles, pictures, ads and other content. Thank you for believing in us enough to invest time and/or money in the Seeker. We are looking forward to another successful year with you.

SIIRI and OLAF Reiman, Mai-Liis’ parents, are next on my list. They are our delivery team. They target more than 55 drop off locations every single week! They are like Energizer bunnies. And to think they are over 80! Thank you Siiri and Olaf for all you do for us.

To the rest of the delivery team, the door to door crew, specifically Mateo Lucio, Jarrett Massia, Joshua McMichael, Patrick M , Charlene, Mike, thank you for doing a hard job that nobody else wants to do! 😉

And of course, we want to thank our very patient families...

John, you are my rock. You really are the only reason I can do what I do. Without your support, without you and the kids, this really means nothing.

And now, a time to rest

It’s time for us to take a short break. We will be off duty for 2 weeks, although stories will still be posted to our website daily, but our print edition will be back on Friday, January 10, 2015. Happy Holidays to all! May 2015 bring you love, health, wealth, happiness and all of your heart’s desires.