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From
Our View Of The Road
A
letter from the editor of The message
Tree
Another
month has gone by, and I wonder why is it that as
you get older the faster time seems to pass by.
With each day, the feeling manifests itself that
one has accomplished fewer of the tasks that
require attention and the list of things to do
grows longer. Here at The Message Tree, March was
one of those months that was altogether too short,
having come and then faded into history all too
soon. Thirty-one of those days, each one a day that
we never quite accomplished everyone of the things
we would have liked to do, but then again, I
suppose, such is life.
One
of the tasks we wanted to complete, was the special
edition we promised some of you, but time didn't
cooperate, and then the media coverage of the war
preoccupied each of us and for a few days, and out
of respect for our folks in uniform we made the
decision to not publish an extra
edition.
We
are so grateful to each one of you for your
continued interest in the magazine. It is truly
amazing how many "hits" as we Internet people say
or in layman terms how many times that the web site
has been visited. In February we had a total of
12,177 "hits" and as you recall we sent out two
e-mailings, notifying those on the list that the
most current edition was posted to the 'net. But in
March with only one e-mailing we still had a total
of 10,070 visits, so as you can see our little
electronic magazine is finally being discovered.
The
fact that we are being discovered, was the
inspiration for the "Humor" column this month. It
seems that many of you are finding us while
searching the Internet and accidentally discovering
our electronic magazine about the Ozarks, its
people and places. To find out more be sure to read
The Message Tree In The Innocents Abroad. Perhaps
we took broad literary license in comparing this
incident to Mark Twain's book of the same name, but
I think Twain himself would have been both
fascinated and entertained at the circumstances
behind this article.
I
have in the past made the comparison of the
Internet and e-mail to the twenty-first century
version of the age-old Ozarks tradition of visiting
and gossiping over the back fence. And one rather
important bit of news that I have to pass on to you
is that our good friends and supporters over at the
Ozarks Mountaineer have sold the
magazine.
In
a joint press release, Paragon Media, announced on
24 March 2003 that The Ozarks Mountaineer (TOM) was
now a operating division of the television and book
publishing group, and that Paragon will jointly
publish the magazine along with current publisher
Barbara Wehrman.
We
were delighted to hear that Dr. Fred Pfister will
remain as editor, and during my last visit with Dr.
Fred, he gave The Message Tree the following quote,
"It (The Mountaineer) will continue to be the
magazine of all the Ozarks, interested in its past
and concerned about its and present and future,
with features of a historical nature that relate to
concerns of today, profiles of artists and
artisans, articles of interesting and out of the
way places to visit. Look for some subtle changes
and an increased emphasis on things to see and do
in the greater Ozarks. The merger can only make The
Mountaineer better."
If
you are not already a subscriber to The Ozarks
Mountaineer, please consider taking out one. For
more information about The Ozarks Mountaineer and
the Mountaineer Book Shop or for subscription
information, call (417) 336-2665 or visit
www.ozarksmountaineer.com
Our
article about Mr. Pete Engler, the renown wood
carver in the March issue was so popular that we
made a special effort to get into Silver Dollar
City and report to you about the wood carvers
seminar and crafts college that is held each March.
If you enjoy any aspect of wood carving or any of
the other crafts that SDC is working to preserve,
be sure to check out the information in our story
entitled The Seventh Annual Wood Carving Seminar At
Silver Dollar City, regarding next year's event as
well as the classes and craftsman for a day program
that SDC will sponsor all through the 2003
season.
Another
story of interest to you wood workers is the
article on The Midwest Tool Collectors Association,
which I am sure, you will enjoy.
Well
it is now almost 3 AM on the morning of 8 April and
I fear that I am not making sense in the writing of
this editor's letter, so I will close. Again let me
thank each and everyone of you for your continued
interest and support, and please let us know what
you would like to see in future issues of The
Message Tree. So until next time.
Ed
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