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- Letters
to Editor
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- The
Wayback Times wants to hear from our readers.
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- We
welcome all Letters to the Editor, be they bouquets or barbs,
or content suggestions.
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- Sandy
and Peter Neilly also invite readers to share their varied antiques
and collectibles memories.
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- You
can post your Letter to
the
Editor, or e-mail it to us. Please include your name and address.
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- You
can also share your thoughts in a visit to our new Guestbook.
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- Hello . . . and goodbye:
Two editorials
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- The hello is from Sandy and
Peter Neilly of Hastings, Ontario, veteran antique dealers and
new owners of the bi-monthly Wayback Times. They begin their
new venture with the July/August 2006 issue.
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- The goodbye (sort of) is from
Jay Telfer, who launched the Wayback Times in 1995 and has, with
his wife, Cindy, worked tirelessly to provide a paper worthy
of North American antiquers and collectors.
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- Jay will continue to provide
his views on life and antiques in a column.
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- The hello:
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- By Sandy Neilly
- Our warmest greetings to the
good readers of the Wayback Times.
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- My name is Sandy and you might
know myself and my husband, Peter (I’m the really short
one) from the antique show circuit, particularly in the central/eastern
Ontario areas.We’ve had an antique business for 12 years
now, operated from our very old barn.
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- A few short months ago, Peter
and I were seriously discussing how quickly time was passing
and how we really should consider closing our antique shop on
Sundays and Mondays to allow ourselves time to do the things
we were missing out on. On our “to-do” list was canoeing,
fishing, hiking... attending family get-togethers instead of
sending regrets, browsing antique shops (just not our own) and
generally enjoying life a little more.
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- As the saying goes, “That
was then, this is now.” Life throws some pretty interesting
twists and turns at you when you least expect it. If you’d
told me in February that I’d be sitting in front of two
Macintosh computers in the new back room of our old house (formerly
designated for music and reading, now the official office) attempting
to master “desk top publishing” with computer applications
I’d never heard of - I would have thought you were definitely
mistaking me for someone else.
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- When the opportunity to “adopt”
the Wayback Times presented itself in Jay’s editorial early
last March, thousands of questions and ideas flew through my
head. We’ve always loved Jay’s unique bi-monthly publication.
It’s something we look forward to and it draws many of us
antique dealers together in its unpretentious and informative
layout. We turn to the calendar of events, we look for photos
of recent shows, we learn from insightful articles contributed
by many gifted writers.
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- Put simply, the Wayback Times
is a “good read.” This is to be attributed entirely
to Jay Telfer’s passion for people, places and all things
old (including VWs) and his innate ability to put them all together
in a paper. The Wayback Times will always be his brainchild,
his labour of love.
We’re deeply honoured and grateful that Jay accepted our
offer, indicating, we hope, he believes we have the ability to
carry on with the Wayback Times tradition ... and that is bringing
you “all the old news that is fit to print” and then
some.
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- If you’re at all curious
about our name, “This is Livin’ Publishing,” please
know it does have a very solid foundation. Way back (if you’ll
pardon the expression), in 1980, my dear mom, Jean Lyons,
was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the ripe old age of 48.
Peter and I had just been married for four months and were renting
my mother’s basement apartment to save some money for our
own place. This turned out to be a blessing as we were able to
really be there for her throughout dozens of surgeries, chemotherapy
treatments and constant testing.
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- Some of our fondest memories
of that otherwise “hell-on earth” ordeal were when
mom was feeling quite well between treatments. I recall one such
rare occasion, with her sitting on her deck overlooking the ravine,
on a beautiful day, her feet in a kiddy pool and a frosty drink
in her hand, looking at us with a big smile and saying “Man,
this is livin’!”
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- And that’s just how I feel
about things right now. We live in a beautiful part of the world,
we’re blessed with the most wonderful family and friends,
(from Florida to Montana and across Canada), and to top that
all off, we have this precious opportunity to try something new
and exciting at this stage in our lives.
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- There are so many people to
thank that I could fill an entire page with their names. They
include, first and foremost, Jay Telfer, whom I respect more
every day as I learn about this business and realize just what
he’s built over the years singlehandedly. (And he made it
all sound so easy!) Jay has been kind enough to spend hours and
hours here in this office, sometimes directing, often “driving,”
so the chances of the Wayback Times making it to the press on
time are about 100%.
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- Then there’s Aaron,
my computer genius son who saved the day when he agreed to help
me, his techno-phobic/ Macintosh illiterate mother. Also tremendously
appreciated is John Cosway, a former “newspaper guy”
and now our multi-talented Web Designer who has done a wonderful
job on the website (check it out!) and will also be contributing
some excellent articles.
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- Thanks to my dear friend Laura
Maxwell ... should have listened to your computer advice,
Laura! Thanks for all your help (from YVBF).
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- And there are great people whom
we hardly knew when this all started, who have helped get me
through some very difficult tasks, computer and otherwise. Bill
Jones is one of them. (Thanks, Bill)
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- We’ll be bringing you lots
of interesting articles and coverage of shows and events. Your
feedback is always appreciated and we look forward to hearing
from you.
Although we’re striving for accuracy and fulfilling the
needs of all our readers and advertisers, sometimes perfection
is a wee bit elusive when you’re new at a task ... or in
this case, many tasks!. So bear with us and come along for the
ride. We hope you’ll be a part of the Wayback Times family
for many, many years.
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- Thanks for picking up the Wayback
Times!
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- Sandy Neilly
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- The goodbye (sort of):
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- By Jay Telfer
- Well, it's over.
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- My attempt to guide good friends
and new readers with VW suggestions to send me tons
- and tons of free toy Volkswagens
(mostly bugs) has failed.
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- Do not quit your midnight job.
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- In early May, back in 1995,
I was working as a counselor at an addictions treatment centre
from midnight to 8 a.m. I loved the clients, but the management
was pretty loopy. When a major problem occurred, I quit that
job. Note: When you quit a job, there is no such thing as unemployment
insurance. I fought it all the way.
Since I still had tickets to see my sister in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
Cindy and I flew off, not knowing what we would face when we
came back.
Borrowing my sister's car, we drove down to Red Wing, went antique
shopping and stayed in a gorgeous B&B. In the colonial style
home, we found a small newspaper - 66 pages of good articles,
listing B&Bs in the area and, (wait for it) every antique
shop in Minnesota.
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- Back in Wellington (27 kms south
of Belleville), I had a great friend, Terry Fletcher.
He published Brittania magazine from his milk shed, all by himself
(with his wife and a part time secretary). I had seen him playing
with his fast (old) old Apple computer and doing a great job.
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- With this antique newspaper
in mind, I thought hey, I can do that and that night in Red Wing,
I set up The Wayback Times. It was from a dream I had . . . no
not really.
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- It took me four months to settle
my finances, do a bit of research, asking dealers if they would
please buy an ad, finishing off my business plan (done as a newspaper)
and buy my first 1 GB hard drive, 8MB of RAM Apple computer,
the Performa 6200!
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- Welcome to Apple
- It was the first time I had
ever used an Apple. I had to learn all the programs and the rest
of it just guessing. And the first issue came out with the November/December
1995 issue. All 12,000 copies, only 12 pages, but the paper was
out.
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- After dropping off a bundle
of papers, it was strange to have some dealers saying "a
free paper? What's the charge for me? Nobody does this for free."
Perhaps they were right, but the number of advertisers grew,
the number of deliveries grew, people wanting the paper grew
and in a year's time, I had a growing business.
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- I just ran into Bill and
Brenda Moreton, from Fast Backward Antiques at Quinte Antiques,
a few days ago. They have three places to sell their collectibles
and antiques: in Quinte Antiques, Country Garden Antique Market
and the Great Deseronto Antique Emporium.
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- Back then, they had a spot in
the OHaras auction barn, and they were the very first people
to tell me to put an ad in the paper. Thank you Bill and Brenda.
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- But The Wayback Times has seemed
to make a mark in the antiques field. I love the fact that when
I deliver the papers other readers have been asking for a new
copy - meaning that I was a day or two late in my delivery. I
have never missed a deadline, (My boss would rake me over the
coals.)
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- I like presenting interesting
stories and good pictures (sometimes strange) in the paper that
show the range of collectibles and antiques. I knew I did not
want to go with the craftsman-like details, of when the maker
got a new saw in 1864 and his work since then.
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- I wanted it to be a fun paper,
an informative paper and hopefully a solid bathroom newspaper.
You put it by the toilet and you can grab it, find out what was
happening in a recent show, find out where the new shows are
located, read some articles and have a laugh at the editor.
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- But it is over. My health is
still being worked on by OHIP - hurry up waiting times. I have
sold the newspaper to a great antiquing couple, Sandy Neilly
and her husband, Peter. They run Meadow Creek Barns, south
of Hastings, Ontario, and have for many years.
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- Sandy has been taking pictures
of many of the shows for the past two years and as you can read,
her verbiage is 100 times better than mine.
- I wish them all the very best
in their efforts.
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- Sandy has just bought her first
Apple, a massive new machine that will not take any of my programs,
but we can work it out.
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- The delivery will be the same,
Leo will still be the delivery man, the free papers at shows
will be the same, subscriptions will be the same, only this editor
will be missing.
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- Now Cindy and I can relax and
enjoy our newborn house...
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- I want to thank all the people
who have put the paper together. My first columnist, Frances
Botham, from Bs Antiques in Huntsville. She got me going.
A big thanks. And the other writers: Yvonne Butorac, who
does the best travel pieces ever; Ted Currie, who loves
books and book collecting; Donna McPherson, who has a
toy collection every kid would love; Robert Reed, who
reads books on antiques and does a great job reviewing them every
two months, and Rosemary McKitterick, who reviews the
top auctions and writes it down in a relatable fashion for everyone.
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- And to all of the other outside
writers, I thank you.
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- Plus all of the advertisers.
Without you, I would have been handing out papers for free and
building up a massive debt. Thank you all.
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- And the readers? This has been
a fun 10 years and 8 months of my life, with 64 issues under
our belts. I hope you have enjoyed the ride. Thank you for putting
up with me.
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- More to come
- What?
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- They tell me it is not over
. . .
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- They still want me to write
a column every two months, just to keep you up to date on . .
. what? It can't be my endless goings on with our house renovations,
my family history, my car troubles, my twisted take on history,
the death of our late dog, problems with Miss Canada in 1952
and all the other foibles of my life?
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- I will do whatever is suggested
in Sandy's much more solid editorial mind.
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- My first column in the (July/August
2006) issue: What early retirement can do to a guy with nothing
else to fritter his life on.
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