Today’s issue marks the beginning of the Dolphin’s 18th year in print and traditionally I make a few remarks on this date, so here goes…
The past year has been somewhat difficult. Two of our regular writers passed away: Bob Jamison, who wrote feature articles on a variety of subjects, and most recently, Capt. Bob Hill, whose “Port O’Connor Fishing Report” appeared in most every issue. We will miss Mr. Jamison’s musings, and Capt. Bob, who was a friend and help to us for many years.
Another feature, “Now and Then”, will no longer appear since J. Phillip Ellenberger resigned his position at the Calhoun County Historical Society. We are hoping that he will still write articles for us from time to time. Thomas Spychalski is still writing “Fish Out of Water”, but since he has moved out of our area, we no longer have a reporter for Port Lavaca.
Launching into the Age of the Internet a couple years ago expanded our reach. We have readers from all over the country, and other countries, as well. We have been able to connect some of our readers with long-lost friends and relatives and answer questions about our area from people who saw us on the Internet. On the negative side: being able to type in “www.thedolphintalk.com” has meant the number of subscribers to our printed paper has diminished.
What’s most different this year is the publication of Dolphin Talk on a monthly, rather than bi-monthly, basis. I thought this change would leave me a little more time to take care of personal business, but things haven’t changed much. It’s still a pretty big job for one little, old lady. Just when I begin to get discouraged, someone will tell me how much they enjoy this little paper. That gets me going again.
If you are still enjoying reading Dolphin Talk, or if you’re one of those locals who hardly ever read this paper but are proud that we have one, I will humble myself by telling you that another reason for lowering the number of issues per year is financial. Putting out one issue usually costs well over $1,000. Our only income is from advertisers, therefore I encourage our readers to patronize those who advertise with us and let them know you saw their ads in Dolphin Talk.
If you are computer-oriented, please share some of the www.thedolphintalk.com articles with those you think might be interested. And, please “Like” us on Facebook.
If you have any comments or suggestions for Dolphin Talk, please let me know. Thank you for reading Dolphin Talk!
Joyce Rhyne, Editor/Publisher
