Editor’s note: The following was the first editorial ever written for the St. John Valley Times when the paper was founded in 1957. It was written by the founders, Joseph Falter and Emile Genest, and published in the first edition on Oct. 2, 1957.
We’re Happy, Proud
We’re happy and proud also. Happy that today marks the birth of the St. John Valley Times. Proud that we can help serve a need in the Valley. The two go hand in hand. For the happiness that has resulted in producing the first issue of The Valley Times can only last among newspapermen as long as the paper is serving a useful purpose to the readers in the area it covers.
This means performing a public service to residents of the St. John Valley. And such public service will always be the foundation of The Valley Times’ existence.
For this reason — no paper to perform the service the residents of the Valley deserve — The Valley Times was founded. And such will always be the goal of this publication.
The Valley Times will always be a weekly newspaper, published every Wednesday at 372 East Main Street, Madawaska. The area it will serve starts at Van Buren on the east to St. Francis at the west and as far south as Eagle Lake.
We feel this area needs its own newspaper to carry on the views and news of the people living here. We feel that a weekly paper — such as The Valley Times — is the best medium to do the job.
And we also feel that the weekly newspaper is — and will become in the Valley — an indispensable voice to this community. It knits together the people who live in this market area. It is the public record which notes the births and deaths of citizens — and most every accomplishment between those two points, the beginning and the end.
For with no local newspaper, there is no voice to reflect community pride. No voice or leadership in community projects.
We’re happy and proud to provide that voice and the service a paper can provide here.
–And Thankful
And we’re thankful. Thankful to the already many friends of the paper who were only too willing to help in starting this publication. And much support was needed from Valley residents before this issue could hit the streets.
The problems of setting up shop to produce a paper are many. So many, in fact, that without assistance from the area the paper serves, the job becomes almost overwhelming.
But the help and support came to The Valley Times from many residents throughout the Valley. And we’re thankful for their aid.
We feel these persons saw the need for starting a Valley paper. That they are proud of their community and want this feeling reflected in their local paper.
We won’t let them down.
The Publishers
