Three years ago today, The Millstone launched in a very simple format. It was conceived as a public service to the residents of Mississippi Mills whom we felt were underserved by media. The idea for the Millstone was conceived at the Barley Mow and the original founders included Edith Cody-Rice, Val Sears, Noreen Young, Bruce Kingsley, Trish Dyer, John Fowler and Sam Cooley.
We did no advertising, just word of mouth and over a few months we attracted good writers: Neil Carleton, Bill Chapman, Theresa Peluso, Noreen Young, Gay Cook, Trish Dyer and Arnie Francis. We had a founding photographer in John Fowler who donated his professional time, and an amazing quiz master in former CBC executive Diana Filer.
As time went on, we were approached by co-editor Brent Eades, a specialist in websites who volunteered his services and moved the site to WordPress, which is used by most professional publications. The visuals improved dramatically.
Over the last three years, we have acquired more excellent writers, Brian Barth, Don Cook, and photographers, Brent Eades and recently Cheryl Baxter. We have also had occasional submissions form Jenny Kingsley, Erica Eades and Rosalyn Stevens, who have since moved on to further their careers. A talented student Julia Langlois joined the staff for her ADHS work experience last year.
We have evolved into a citizen reporting newspaper, receiving stories from you. We have covered the Enerdu story with vigour pursuing our goal of being a true forum for this community. We don’t get every story but not for lack of trying.
The Millstone is entirely staffed by volunteers. We now have between 9,000 and 10,000 regular readers. We appear to have filled a niche in the community and we are grateful to the residents of Mississippi Mills and beyond for supporting us. Thank you all.
