Thanks to longtime and new subscribers

We’re mailing this paper out to all residents of the Annandale and South Haven area, as well as some outlying areas.
We started that practice a couple years ago and it has worked out well.
We have a very good customer base who regularly reads the Advocate.
I (and the Advocate staff) cannot thank those folks enough for their continued support and readership over the years.
George Houchins stopped in a couple of years ago to renew his subscription. He has subscribed to the paper since the 1930s. He even recalled when the paper was located in a different office (It’s been at this office for a very long time).
Many years ago the paper was a few dollars a year to subscribe. The owners would also take items in trade for a subscription.
Today, the paper is $27 a year, so if you haven’t read us lately, now is a good time to look over the paper and consider subscribing. Unfortunately, we won’t take a bale of hay or a dozen eggs for a subscription anymore.
To those of you like George, thanks for your support over the years.
We also have many loyal advertisers who use the paper and the ADvantage. They came out in force for this issue, so check them out and support them as best as you can.
– We definitely received our share of winter last week. The changing of the seasons always puts me in a philosophical mood (if a goofy man can be philosophical).
It’s as if all of nature is getting ready to be down and take a very long nap.
Sometimes I wish I could take a long nap from about Nov. 1 to March 1, but humans aren’t quite that lucky.
– For many reasons, it’s hard to find a good, local editorial cartoonist or even a bad one for that matter. They are rare.
Twenty years ago, at the first paper I worked, we had a great cartoonist who would bring in a cartoon regularly. The last I checked, he’s still plugging away.
Steve Alberg stopped by the other day with some of his editorial cartoons. He has an art background and is an Annandale native.
What motivated him was the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks. His first submission appeared in last week’s Advocate, and another one appears this week.
An editorial cartoon is an opinion. One of its jobs is to get you to think. They also can be quite absurd in trying to prove their point. Someone might not agree with a cartoon, but they are given a lot of license because they are what they are – cartoons.
He also wanted to mention that he can do illustrations, for a fee of course. If you think you want something, give him a call at 963-3004.
In the meantime, look for his occasional submission in the paper.
– The fall sports teams are wrapping up or have wrapped up for another season. While the Annandale High School football team did not enjoy a winning season this year, they played well enough to make most of their games exciting. The Cards improved a lot as the season progressed. They played well enough to win against D-C and Waconia, and they were in many earlier games, too. They are also a young team and will undoubtedly improve next year.
The volleyball team also wrapped up its season last week, as did the boys and girls cross country teams.
This year runner Chris Yotter earned the right to run in the State Cross Country Meet with a sixth place finish in Sections last week.
Yotter continues a tradition set by Nathan Hoffman who went to State twice and is now running cross country at the University of South Dakota in Brookings.