1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
A Brief History of the Similkameen News Leader.
The first issue of the weekly paper was printed on January 6, 1998. Over 1,000 copies of that issue sold. It was just 20 pages, but the paper eventually expanded to 24 pages and was a 28-page newspaper for most of its life.
The original staff was the two partners, Dawn and Sharon Johnson, with Lori Thomas as advertising manager and Franco Moccia as technical support. Lori Thomas moved on after a year and a half, and Barb Fraser took over her position. Barb wanted to move on to something different, and George Elliott took over as ad manager in 2000 and stayed on. Over the years, there were several good stringers, including Patty Harrower and Sue Alton, but the longest-running stringers were Joe Schwarz, with his rare brand of humour, and John Sandness, who wrote for years about local fishing. It was the News Leader who encouraged John to put his articles together in book form, which he did with success.
It is to the credit of the News Leader’s way of doing things that there was very little staff turnover. The biggest change came when Dawn Johnson decided it was time to retire and stay home more to look after her husband. The Johnsons sold the News Leader in 2004 to Bengel Publishing Inc., which was George Elliott’s company. He hired Brenda Engel to handle the front-end part of the business. They married later that year after having been together since 2000. Dawn Johnson stayed on as an adviser and part-time reporter/editor. George was an old hand at both reporting and advertising, but the newspaper was all new to Brenda. However, Brenda did take on some reporting and photography duties and did them well.
There were stringers during the “Elliott Era” of the Similkameen News Leader including Marty Menzies and Arlene Arlow, both covering the lower valley. John Gillis was hired on as an advertising sales rep, and in addition to the odd high school student earning community service hours by working at the paper, Brenda took on Lynette Boyd to assist with office work.
The shift of advertising to the internet hit the News Leader hard and by 2014, Elliott started freelancing to generate some additional income. By early 2016, it was becoming obvious that the lifespan of the Similkameen News Leader was coming to an end. The paper ceased publication later that year. The final issue was dated July 26, 2016 – exactly 16 years to the date when Elliott was first hired by the Johnsons. Contrary to popular belief, the News Leader was not sold. It just closed.