Stokes Valley News Editorial
March 2002

Great Community Spirit

Stokes Valley is a wonderful place in which to live with an excellent community spirit. This was highlighted to me when I attended the first annual "Village Fair" last Sunday (24 February).

The event was organised by the Cossie Club with the aim of bringing the community together. I talked to a number of people there, and all agreed that the "Valley" was really beginning to take off. There are more people looking to live in the area and more and more businesses want to set up and operate from our Valley.

While starting up the Stokes Valley News Online, I have had discussions with quite a number of local businesses and have been gratified by the level of support this new venture has received.

This support has also been displayed by the local community. I have had people come up to me and congratulate all concerned with the Stokes Valley News Online. People have mentioned that they've set the site as their computer's homepage, and the number of hits received so far has been delightfully overwhelming.

Our first edition in January of this year received 22,381 hits, with the vast majority of these being local visits. The first part of February has seen the site hit approximately 12,000 times. These statistics reveal that not only are people visiting the site, but they're coming back several times each month, hopefully using the site for the community resource that it is designed to be.

We have also had visits from all around the world. Twenty countries are listed as having visited the Stokes Valley News Online so far. Some of these have been from ex-Stokes Valley residents keen to see what's happening at home. Some of these have taken the time to write to us, and all remember Stokes Valley fondly.

We have enjoyed bringing you the first three editions of the Stokes Valley News Online. The stats look good, the feedback has been excellent, and we are looking forward to bringing you many more editions in the months and years ahead. We're proud to be a part of our community and hope we can continue to contribute positively.