Published: October 16, 2009 08:09 am      

OUR VIEW: The next 125

Note: With today's print edition, the Suwannee Democrat marks its 125th anniversary

No one in 1884 could have begun to imagine what Live Oak would look like in 2009. The horseless carriage was still a distant dream, at least as a practical matter. Planes and personal computers, unthinkable.

One thing has remained constant, though: your Suwannee Democrat.

We've had our ups and downs, made our share of mistakes. We've had our moments of glory as well.

But we've been there for every minute of the last 125 years. And in reporting the news - the first draft of history, as it were - we've woven ourselves into the fabric of that history. The Suwannee Democrat is as much a part of Live Oak as any person, place or thing that's appeared in our pages over the last century and a quarter.

Hollywood scandals have no place in our paper, but not because we're prudes. You'll rarely read about Afghanistan or Iraq here either. The news we cover is our news - local goings-on that other folks may have little interest in. What's important to you is precisely what's important to us. This is our home, too.

Some things are changing, though.

The Internet has allowed us to report the news daily - something that hadn't been done here for decades, as Carnell Hawthorne Jr. reports in his excellent history of the Democrat in this edition. And what a gift that's been. During last spring's floods, we were able to keep you posted round the clock on the rising waters.

But nothing of substance is really any different. We're still just local folks doing our best to give our friends and neighbors information we think they'll find useful. That's something that will never change, no matter how complex our world becomes.