With the year rapidly drawing to a close it’s time to look back and reflect on some of the happenings that affected us, as a community as well as journalists out in the thick of things.
We brought our readers stories of triumph and heartbreak, failures and success. Many of these stories made us sit up and take notice while others hit home really hard.
The Highvelder is proud to have been able to keep readers informed and up to date on the happenings with in our community. The good, the bad and the ugly.
It has not always been easy but as journalists we have learned to take things in our stride.
Standing by as heroic firefighters douse flames raging through a family home, or battling against time to cut free severely injured and crying motor car accident victims is never easy.
The mixed emotions that fill one while witnessing police divers criss-crossing dirty sewage filled dams while searching for drowning-victims. Sad for the bereaved families waiting on the banks, empathy for the divers who have to endure the sludge and slime and then sharing in their elation when bodies are recovered, enabling the bereaved to bury their loved ones.
We again shared in the successes of our police and security companies when criminals were apprehended and brought to book and we brought our readers feel-good stories of outstanding achievements in various fields by our own people in our own community.
Besides being a sought-after commodity within the community, on the digital platform the Highvelder has also proved its unrivaled popularity both locally and further afield by being the only local newspaper to have reached over 5,000 Facebook followers, putting us way ahead of any other local newspaper.
Our website, where the entire paper can be read page for page has also more than proven its popularity.
All this would certainly not have been at all possible without you, our loyal readers, advertisers and supporters and for that we thank each and every one of you for your continued support.
In 2017 the Highvelder will be celebrating its 114th year of existence. Yes, that’s one hundred and fourteen years of serving the community of Ermelo and surrounding towns.
Need we say more, except to say thank you once again.
