The Friday Flyer celebrates 27th anniversary

The first issue of The Friday Flyer, at left, was printed 27 years ago on Nov. 9, 1990. The issue was four pages.

This month, The Friday Flyer embarks on its 28th year of providing news to the community. The very first newspaper edition of The Friday Flyer hit the streets 27 years ago in November 1990. Since that first edition, not a week has gone by without the newspaper arriving in Canyon Lake mailboxes.

The first edition of The Friday Flyer was printed with a full page black and white photo and a single spot color logo, was a combination of a newsletter the POA had been publishing in conjunction with the Canyon Lake Home Owners Club and the weekly 8.5×11 single page flyer handed out to residents at the gates every Friday. The Friday Flyer, as we know it today as a community newspaper, was born.

Golding Publications had just begun as a business in a small office in the Canyon Lake Towne Center in July of that year. The publishing company had intended to focus on printing various high-end residential directories, including The Canyon Lake Residential Directory.

The POA, though, approached the infant company and asked if it would take over the publication of its monthly newspaper. After some negotiating, it was decided Golding Publications would publish the weekly Friday Flyer, combining the two existing POA publications into a single community newspaper.

The POA turned ownership of the newspaper over to Golding Publications in the 1990s and continued to pay the company through paid subscriptions in exchange for several pages of official POA-provided news content. That contract, after 24 years in existence in one form or another, was canceled by the POA at the end of 2014.

The Friday Flyer has evolved as the times change. It’s now printed in full color in three sections. Many years ago the newspaper went online and its entire contents has been available at fridayflyer.com. The website has been incredibly popular. Thousands of page views a week are recorded.

A new “flippable” version of an exact replica of the newspaper is now available on the website. The Friday Flyer also has a very active Facebook page, which encourages Canyon Lake resident interaction.

The electronic age has also made it possible for Canyon Lake residents to submit photos for publication. Readers submit story ideas and letters at a much greater rate now that the newspaper editor is just an email away. Online articles have options for readers to comment on the story. The intent of these features is to encourage reader participation and interaction.

The future for The Friday Flyer continues to look bright. Despite large daily newspapers struggling amid the electronic advances, community newspapers continue to thrive. The Friday Flyer, and other community newspapers like it, is the sole responsible provider of local news. The newspaper continues to be read at the same rate as it was decades ago. The online version complements the printed version.