Bournes turn over the "reigns"

The first headline, "Bournes Take Pathfinder Reigns," announcing our ownership in the Nov. 29, 2012 issue had an error in the headline. Literally, four words into our journalism careers and we already printed a mistake.

Nathan, a custom cabinet maker, and Andi, a wildland firefighter in the summer and substitute teacher/bus driver in the winter, turned journalists had many in the community baffled. But we knew many of you and we launched on this new adventure together. 

We made mistakes. Some were entertaining, some just errors and other mistakes we still regret. However our readers sharpened us. You corrected the information, you gave us constructive criticism and you wrote letters to the editor calling us out. 

We listened. Your comments shaped the paper whether we agreed with them or not.

For nearly 10 years this community helped us make this little weekly paper into one of the most successful newspapers in the state with strong readership and good advertising support. We never could have done this without everyone's support.

Now the community has the opportunity to shape and mold the Pathfinder with a new editor and keep it as one of Montana's best weekly newspapers.

Vince Lovato comes with a tremendous amount of experience - a 40-year journalism career working from big newsrooms like the L.A. Times to owning and operating his own micro-newspapers. He knows the ins and outs of the newspaper business and the technology to support it. However, he doesn't know the community like we did when we started.

You helped us learn how to become better journalists and we are confident Vince can learn the community with your support. Introduce yourself, share story ideas, send press releases and letters, call and correct information if needed and guide him to help him understand what is important to you and the community. He is a wealth of knowledge, loves to share stories and is excited to become a member of our valleys.

Ponderosa Publications brings with it more resources to better serve our readership and advertisers. 

We did it all. While that sounds noble, it meant long hours, little sleep and never getting away from email or the phone for more than 24 hours in succession for nearly 10 years. That took its toll on us. 

With more resources, employees specialize in their field. Vince can focus on producing the best content for the paper. The new ad and subscription manager Alize Kaden will work directly with advertisers and subscribers. Additional staff handles ad design and invoicing.

This week, you'll notice the paper has a taller format and the price increased to $1.50. 

In our nearly 10 years, we changed printers and page sizes twice and dreaded it both times. For more than a year, we explored ways of improving the print quality including switching to the larger format or changing presses. However because the Pathfinder was a small, independent paper, our options were limited and cost prohibitive.

With the change, Ponderosa Publications now has several papers printed at one press in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, making shipping affordable. The larger paper format is easier for the press to control the quality and the Pathfinder is now full color.

We know there will be bumps in the road but we hope you will be as patient with Ponderosa Publications and Vince as you have been with us. We are excited for the energy, enthusiasm and fresh perspective they bring to the Pathfinder.

We thank you all for your support! The Pathfinder would not be where it is today without our amazing staff, reporters, past interns and every one of you. While we are "retiring" from the Pathfinder, we are far from retirement. We look forward to continuing to live and work in Seeley Lake and remain active members of the community.