Looks Like We're...Leader-Less

 Sad day...No, the local newspaper is not going under, but we've decided to stop our subscription. I have mixed feelings about it. As you can see, the paper's only $1.50 per issue and they print The Leader once a week, but it does cost to have it delivered, and by delivered, I mean by the US Postal Service, not by a boy on a bicycle chucking editions and hoping they hit the front porch.

Times have certainly changed.

We decided to subscribe when we first moved in. We thought it would help us get a feel and flavor for the community. And, in many ways, it has. I've learned much about the local sports teams at Bear River High School--Go Bears!--like for example, they have the best girls lacrosse team in the state, and they are competitive in other sports, too.

The paper has brought us news concerning the multiple tax increases coming our way and the latest in local politics. There's a community input section, a place for obituaries, and a TV guide. I didn't know they printed TV guides anymore, but, well...there you go.

I don't know if it's seasonable, but the past couple of editions of The Leader have been scaled down to four pages...front page, inside front, inside back, and back page. There is no inserted pages...just four.

As I write this, I'm watching a Christmas movie that was filmed twenty years ago. Newspapers play a pivotal role forwarding the story. There's even a scene where a boy on his bike is throwing papers onto lawns. Newspapers were so central in our access to information back then. It's amazing how in only a decade or so, we've completely changed. 

Since we've recently made the decision to stop the paper, we may change our mind depending on if we miss it or not. I'm not saying, it'll never happen, but we may have subscribed to our last paper.

Sad day.

"The Leader"...Reminding Me Of What Once Was

 There's so much of Tremonton that reminds me of where we used to live, where we moved from, only...from a town from twenty or so years ago.

It's quite amazing, and even a little bit spooky.

Last week we had to pick up some mail so we ventured out to visit the local post office. The resemblance was uncanny--I swear, it even smelled like Farmington's. But, what really hit home was when I picked up a copy of Tremonton's local paper, The Leader. It was like going back in time.

Farmington didn't have a local paper, per se, but we did have the Davis County Clipper. I even wrote for the paper on several occasions. When I read the headlines of The Leader, it was small-town. It had news about local people, local sports, and even obituaries of those living in this small town. The Davis County Clipper was like that, too. And, I'll bet, both papers have undergone a metamorphosis over the past decade or so. I'm sure The Leader used to be bigger, used to be one of the only places that had classifieds, or that you could get details of the latest city council meeting (if you weren't lucky enough to be there in person...). 

Point is, I've seen the Davis County Clipper go from a somewhat decent-sized publication to what it is today...only a few pages in length. When I saw The Leader, unfortunately, I saw the same thing...something that used to be bigger.

We're planning on subscribing to The Leader. It costs like $60 a year. That's something from the past, too. Even though we could probably get the same news after a few internet searches, there's something that connects a reader to a newspaper. It's tangible, real. I have the advantage (or disadvantage...) of seeing Farmington change, grow, evolve. If we stick around Tremonton long enough, I'm sure I'm going to see the same thing happen here. It's not necessarily a bad thing...it just is.

And The Leader reminded me of how things used to be.