Welcome to the September edition of our monthly newsletter! 🍂
As the vibrant hues of summer give way to warm fall colours, we find ourselves at the threshold of a new season. With it comes our latest newsletter, packed with updates, milestones, sponsorships and more to usher us into fall.
Grab your pumpkin spice {insert your favourite indulgence} and let’s dig in! 🍂
Village moves 🎉
Welcome to Marissa Lentz, who joined us last month as an LJI reporter covering the Highway 11 North Corridor for TimminsToday. 👏
And a big congratulations to former freelancer Kevin Lamb who joined our BarrieToday team as a full-time reporter earlier this month. 🎊
Our readers picked their favourites 🏆
We recently ran our first-ever Reader Favourites awards program in 12 of our communities and crowned over 1,000 winners and over 2,000 runner-ups!
It was wonderful to see so many engaged community members acknowledge the hard work of their favourite local businesses.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote and for all the helpful feedback and business information provided by the businesses in our communities.
Our sales team contacted over 10,000 (!!) businesses during the awards process to help them spread the word.
We can't wait for next year!
BayToday turns 20 🎂
October marks a major milestone for one of our longest-running sites: the 20th anniversary of BayToday!
Under the leadership of Editor Jeff Turl, our site in North Bay has cemented itself as the go-to source for breaking local news and community information. More than one-third of the city’s population — nearly 19,000 people — subscribe to our daily newsletter.
Like all of our local sites, BayToday tells the stories that matter most: the ones right in people’s neighbourhoods. Our dedicated team of local journalists — Stu Campaigne, Chris Dawson and David Briggs — cover it all, from city council to student housing to the hockey rink.
Congratulations BayToday! Can’t wait to see what the next 20 years brings.
SooToday readers help purchase over 9,000 meals for local Soup Kitchen 🤗
Recently, SooToday's Kenneth Armstrong reported on how an increase in demand has resulted in bare shelves at the Sault Ste. Marie Soup Kitchen Community Centre, which provides lunch each day to countless community members in need.
We were moved by the dire situation at Village Media’s hometown food bank and worked swiftly to put a plan in place to help.
In less than a week, we set up a meal drive using our auction platform. We reached out to the Soup Kitchen team to get the average cost of the meals they serve and set out with a goal of purchasing 1,000 meals - with SooToday matching the first 500 bought.
We packaged the donations for our readers so they could purchase either an individual or family of four a meal for a week, month or year, ranging in amounts from $13.75 to $2,640.
Harnessing the power of our reach in our community and with the generous support of our loyal readers, the initiative raised over $24,500 and counting for the Soup Kitchen, which translates to over 9,000 meals donated to those who need it most! A terrific example of the positive impact we can make by stepping up to answer the community’s call for help.
✨ Spotlight on sponsorships ✨
Wrapping up the summer, we sponsored the following events and initiatives in our markets last month:
BayToday
PartSource Charity Car & Bike Show
BurlingtonToday
VR Pro - Butter Tart Race
EloraFergusToday
Fergus Scottish Festival, Riverfest Elora, Grand River Agricultural Society's Harness The Hope
GuelphToday
Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium's Ribfest
HaltonHillsToday
Halton Pride Parade
NewmarketToday
Sweat for Pets
Niagara-on-the-Lake Local
NOTL Museum, Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre - Art at the Pumphouse
PelhamToday
Welland Afro Caribbean Festival
SooLeader
Twin Sault Cruisers Annual Car Show
SooToday
Village of Hilton Beach Community Night, Downtown Association - August Street Party
Sudbury.com
Kivi Park, Sudbury Performance Group - Her Northern Voice, Sudbury Symphony Orchestra
TimminsToday
Stardust Festival
Reporters & sales executives wanted ✔️
Check out the Village job board to see details on the current job openings.
Pawesome Villagers of the month 🐾
Meet Lexi, Mustachio and Little Foot 🐾
Mustachio and Little Foot are kitty brothers who have a love-hate relationship with each other, but adore their puppy sister Lexi.
Mustachio is big, fluffy and cuddly and loves to be inside of things. If he fits, he sits.
Little Foot is the troublemaker of the three who gets into (and eats) everything! His favourite toy is his collection of foam golf balls, which he lines up when he is finished playing.
And Lexi is a typical Golden Retriever who loves belly rubs, trips to camps and boat rides, but HATES squirrels.
(Proud pet parent: Tracy Stoneman)
Until October...
