Consistency is good and dependable. Ask any farmer who’s having a bad year, and he’ll tell you consistency is king. But we do love spontaneity…just in doses, of course, because too much spontaneity can quickly turn into its evil doppelganger, Chaos. Tornados are spontaneous, for example, but we don’t like them very much, especially the aforementioned farmer. It can almost be said that people prefer “planned spontaneity.”
Planned spontaneity is probably the best way I can describe the Sun Day’s run, from beginning to now. Every expansion or growth you’ve seen in the paper was planned. It was just a matter of when and to what degree. We’ve kept things controlled, we’ve had room to breathe, and we’ve warded off that twisted-sister Chaos with ease and had fun producing the most effective newspaper that speaks specifically to your community to ever hit Sun City turf.
That trend continues as I announce the next great change for the Sun Day. Starting with this edition, the Sun Day is going weekly and now publishes every Thursday! You can almost hear the applause of mailbox doors clapping all over Sun City, can’t you?
As I mentioned above, going weekly was a planned event. It was just a matter of when. Since the weeks before the Sun Day first published in April of 2010, when I was touring Sun City, promoting the Sun Day, I was asked when will the paper go weekly. My original estimation was one year, give or take.
Going weekly is the largest expansion the Sun Day has seen and has taken monumental planning, so much it would be fruitless to get into here because I couldn’t come close to reaching the depth of that well in the space of one column. There are so many people to thank, so many to credit, so many working together, and not the least of which you, Sun Day reader, that anything I said would flat-out sound mundane. But I will say our weekly expansion is an endeavor tirelessly shouldered almost entirely by Sun Day staff and contributors, whom the expansion wouldn’t be possible without. Their belief in keeping the Sun Day a beating rhythm in the community is what gives this paper life.
Since the Sun Day started, I can’t express my personal thanks enough to its readers. When it comes down to it, you are the reason for the Sun Day’s successes and expansions. My staff and I can work as much as we want, but if the Sun Day wasn’t received by you every edition, then it would be nowhere. Advertisers can come into the Sun Day as much as they want, but without your participation and patronage, the Sun Day would be nowhere. Thank you, Sun Day reader, for your consistent commitment (and for all your submissions and story ideas, which is what keeps the Sun Day consistent, dependable, and, of course, spontaneous). If anyone’s ever wondered if the Sun City community is a spontaneous one, all they need to do is look at the Sun Day, because we don’t plan the editions, you do. You make the news, and “news” by its very nature is spontaneous. It’s just up to us to catch it and organize it into a palatable form, planned spontaneity at its finest.
I also can’t express my thanks enough to Sun Day advertisers. They are the fuel of this publication, and they are the reason we are able to keep the Sun Day free to the readers. My oldest brother and I are fairly different people. And whether it’s spoken between us or not, we don’t see all things the same, but we do agree on one thing: news should be free to its readers. It’s news, it’s important, it’s information. (Last time I checked, I think we might even have an amendment that covers this, wink-wink.) Many of our loyal advertisers agree, and their support of the Sun Day is another way to express their support of the Sun City and Edgewater communities. They see their presence in the Sun Day as going beyond monetary value. Remember, the Sun Day is nothing in itself. It is a conduit that connects people to people, businesses to businesses, businesses to people, and so on. It’s a meeting place where everyone can say, “Hey, we’re all here for each other. Let’s support one another.”
The key word in that last line is “support.” No matter how it’s assessed, the Sun Day’s expansion to a weekly format couldn’t be done without a support system that extends beyond these pages and its readers. It’s the support of an entire community working together. So with that, thank you!
Important Changes
The Sun Day’s weekly expansion comes with numerous and important changes, which are outlined below. So as the computer voice says: Please listen carefully, as the following message has changed.
Management:
Mason Souza is the Sun Day’s new Managing Editor. You have all seen his byline in the paper since pretty much its beginning, and I’ve commented on/praised his work in the past, so I’ll keep his introduction brief. Mason has been with the paper since, I think, edition three. His talents as a writer are fully apparent, and his talent for newspapers in general will be noticeable under his new direction. Mason’s contact info is listed on Page 2. I’m still accessible for any reason, of course, but all editorial questions/comments should be directed to Mason.
Publication Cycle:
As mentioned, the Sun Day will publish every Thursday. But it will remain a biweekly publication in the Edgewater community for now, which is why you won’t find The Edge section in this edition. The Edge will resume with our June 21 edition.
Page count:
The first thing you’re going to notice about this edition is it’s smaller. This is a planned change produced by the paper’s new weekly status. As we have doubled the amount of times the paper will publish in a month, we have opened up more room for ads and content, which means that the content and ads are spread out now. Many of the advertisers you are used to seeing in every edition are now on new advertising schedules, which may account for their absence in certain editions. As for content, because we publish faster, we don’t need to pack everything into every edition. The major benefit here is editorial content is now timelier.
Columns:
Just as in page count, you’ll notice our columns have thinned, too. No worries. The columnists didn’t run for the low-rolling hills of our biweekly-weekly format and say forget the Sun Day altogether. They have, however, been dispersed throughout the month. All columns will still run twice a month on regular intervals. It just depends on what edition they’re in.
Happy Trails:
I think by now it’s obvious to Sun Day readers that my Happy Trails editorial on Page 2 is an antidotal chronicling of my life (on the run from my family). Unfortunately for the familial outlaw I might be, my life is just not interesting enough to fill a weekly spot in the Sun Day. That said, Mason and I will alternate editorial space on Page 2 every edition: This week Chris, next week Mason, and so on.
Deadlines:
Running a weekly paper is a tough business that depends on, let’s hear it everyone, consistency. Organization is key. All Editorial and Classifieds deadlines are 5 p.m. the Thursday the week BEFORE publication.
Submissions:
As stated in the Page Count section of this notice, we can run submissions on a timelier basis and with more frequency, so please keep those coming.
Upcoming Changes:
I’m going to say that the Sun Day is settling out for now and needs some room to fit into this new weekly format, so there will be no more big changes in the near future. However, you can expect the Sun Day to continue to grow, reform itself, and keeping nudging into the most perfect newspaper it can be for your community. Besides, we have to leave some room for spontaneity!
As always, thank you for reading and being a part of the Sun Day!
Chris La Pelusa
Executive Editor
