EDITORIAL:
What a year!
And if you're reading this you've survived ... and maybe even had a Midweek delivery! That's something we're working on, although our distributor is always looking for people to get out for a walk and deliver papers. If that sounds like you, drop an email enquiry to deliverer.enquiries@ovato.co.nz
Welcome to the last Front Bit for 2020 in the last Midweek of the year.
This is the edition in which the Midweek editor thanks everyone who helped with the paper, in whatever capacity.
To the contributors, I owe a debt of thanks. Mike and Joan Street — thank you for a decade of Street View. Your arts and travel stories contributed a great deal to Midweek. To Gareth Carter, Shirley-Joy Barrow, David Scoullar, Margi Keys and Robin Williamson, all the Conservation Comment people, Carla Donson, Carla Langmead, Sandra Rickey and the crew at Volunteer Whanganui, Nadine Rayner, Lin Ferguson, Fred Frederikse, Angela Hewson, Greg Bell, Christopher Cape, Ken Chernoff, Kat Schroyens, Andy McGechan, Kathy Cunningham, Stewart Gray, Henry Newrick, JB Phillips, the team at Sport Whanganui, thank you all ... and I bet I've missed someone. If I have, it was not intentional, but I apologise.
To Professor Terry Cunniffe, thank you for your friendship, support and generosity.
Patrick Drabczynski, thanks for the great story on Ross Mitchell-Anyon.
And Lin Ferguson: you are missed as Mame but your Whanganui Opera Week stories are pure gold.
My thanks to those who have supplied books for review and prizes for giveaways.
My gratitude goes to all the people who allowed their stories to be told and their photos to be taken. It's never easy, wondering how your story will be told, or how you will look on the page, so I hope you're okay with my interpretation of you and what you do. I have tried very hard to keep my stories mistake-free.
To the gallery owners, curators and artists who have expanded my knowledge of art through simple osmosis, and to all those who show me every day that Whanganui is an amazing place filled with talented, intelligent, big-hearted people, who are here because you want to be.
Thanks to all the people behind the scenes who treat my words kindly before putting them on the page and those who create layout so the paper looks the best it can be — that's Colleen Thorpe's sub-editing team, with special thanks to Colleen and also Kris Wills, Denise Karena, Ann Kilduff, Helen van Berkel, Katrina Johns and Peter Shand, who have all helped this year.
To all who trust the Midweek with their advertising — thank you; and to the Chronicle team keeping the advertisers happy and providing them with a quality product — a big thanks.
Thanks to those who are still out and about on a Wednesday, delivering the papers and enjoying exercise and fresh air. We are also lucky enough to have a few shops around Whanganui that stock Midweeks in case the paper doesn't get to your letterbox.
And to you, the reader, the prime motivation behind everything we do — I hope you've enjoyed a year of our beloved community newspaper and will continue to check its pages for items of interest.
And, of course, season's greetings, Merry Christmas and a much better year ahead to everyone.