There have been many different newspapers in this county dating back to the early 1880s, with many publishers and many editors.

There were several Kremmling newspapers, several Granby newspapers, several Fraser newspapers, Hot Sulphur Springs newspapers and Grand Lake papers.

The Sky-Hi News and the Middle Park Times have managed to hold positions in this community for a lengthy period of time.

I was humbled last Friday afternoon as I looked at the newspapers of the past, stored in archives at the Pioneer Village Museum in Hot Sulphur Springs. The museum, I discovered, has the very first edition of the Rocky Mountain News, published when Colorado was still a territory, and it has the very first newspaper ever printed in Grand County.

Wearing white gloves and treating these archives with utmost respect, Curator Tim Nicklas turned the pages one-by-one for me.

The prescription for a successful newspaper is ever evolving. It depends on owners of the paper willing to invest in it, it depends on the cost of the material it’s printed on, the embrace of new technology, the talent of staff members, the tenacity of its editor and the skill of its circulation…. a newspaper takes many minds and much, much energy. It takes belief in the fourth estate and the importance of journalistic integrity.

But above all, the success of a newspaper takes readers.

I say I was humbled looking at all the many newspapers in Grand County’s past because I recognize that my role here as editor is a heavy one. Who knows who will be putting on white gloves 100 years from now, carefully leafing through these pages?

Proverbial white gloves are worn in respect for this community newspaper each and every day.

I like to remind people that this newspaper is really your community newspaper. It’s been a dependable friend or foe through the years, and what would life be like if it didn’t exist? … Well that’s for another column.

To do our jobs better, we need a deeper understanding of what you readers like to read.

That said, I am excited we have launched our newspaper’s first-ever reader survey.

Several questions are in it, probing on what you like to read. Others are crafted to gain a better understanding of our general readership.

The survey is not a door opening to gain insight into your personal lives. It’s not a marketing ploy. It’s strictly for us to make better decisions about newspaper content in the future and to gain an understanding of the newspaper’s relevance in your lives and in this community.

I thank you for taking it.

The survey will be available for a limited amount of time online, so please take a few minutes to complete it soon. And please help me spread the word so that others may take it too.

Did i mention? Those who take the survey will be entered into a drawing for an iPad mini, a new tool for reading our newspaper