The good news: happy birthday to the High Plains Reader

By John Strand

jas@hpr1.com

Yes, we know, everywhere you look, the world situation is mental. It’s almost inescapable just how tenuous life’s circumstances are. And how they are mostly — pretty much entirely — out of our control.

So in that context (knowing the lack of surprise, were we to focus on our shared fear and misery as the world unravels), we instead are going to focus on a good news story right here in front of our noses. The High Plains Reader just turned 31, which means we are now launching our 32nd volume of The Little Newspaper That Could.

That is good news, that we still do what we do and as we see fit. That we still are writing and printing stories you won’t see anywhere else. That we’re still standing up for the disadvantaged among us.

Birthdays have always been big in HPR’s world. Soon after purchasing the Reader, we held a weeklong fifth birthday party in Grand Forks, our hometown. The Westward Ho. The Blue Moose. Whitey’s. Sander’s. Lola’s. It was an astonishing time and era. Subsequent birthday celebrations were in the Plains Art Museum, filling as much as three floors.

One year we did a street dance. Another year we gave karaoke a try which, in retrospect, somewhat bombed. We commonly gave commemorative Jon Offutt glass as keepsakes: paperweights, flowers, but always Jon Offutt. And in later years, a birthday party was not complete without delicious macaroons from the Walvatnes.

Last year HPR turned 30 and it was the least celebratory of many celebrations. After all the water under the bridge over all the years, all the countless pages of content and written words, after Covid and the internet pushing print out of existence, and with a public mindset calling the media the enemy of the people, heck, we were simply happy to have a pulse when we turned 30. Yet here we still are.

Without waxing too nostalgic about how lucky we are to be still kicking (and with the appropriate thanks to the army of people who have played a role in this newspaper’s storied journey) we do have some good news. HPR’s team is solid and poised for its next chapters. Our reach is further than ever before, distance-wise. We are in Dickinson, Jamestown, Valley City, Fargo, West Fargo, Moorhead and Grand Forks. We distribute 10,000 papers each month.

And then there’s our online world — and this is where HPR is taking a big leap into a better future. We are completely revamping HPR1.com. That will be revolutionary in our world, which has been primarily print and cyclic — and lately, monthly.

This will be fun and we are eager to reinvent ourselves. You can still pick up print copies at all Hornbacher’s, Happy Harry’s, libraries in the FM area and dozens of locations in the Forks and other cities.

It is a conscious decision, mind you, to aim forward and to share our vision with you, our readers, as we begin to redefine the High Plains Reader relative to our changing world and especially technology.

Were we to go down the path of simply remembering all who’ve been part of this three-decade-plus journey, that alone would be a full read. We’ve had countless contributors and partners, and way too many by now have passed away.

We have others like Ed Raymond and Greg Carlson, who are the backbones of our writers’ offerings, weekly and for years. We can’t thank them enough.

We have an editorial team (led by Sabring Hornung) and an advertising team (led by Alicia Underlee Nelson) who are seasoned, professional and unselfish. Let us not forget Josie Gereszek, our graphic designer.

We have a future. And that’s an accomplishment. Far too many business friends, media friends and cultural friends aren’t as blessed as we are in that regard.

So happy 31st birthday HPR. And here’s to you serving the community for years — and generations — to come.