People in Petrolia and Central Lambton get a chance to see what all the buzz is about today.

The Independent, a new community weekly newspaper , is being delivered by Canada Post to 3,200 homes in the Petrolia area. People in Plympton-Wyoming, Oil Springs, Brigden and Dawn-Euphemia will be able to pick up their free copy at local businesses.

The Independent will also be found on the web at www.petrolialambtonindependent.ca.

Publisher-Editor Heather Wright – a journalist with 25 years experience and a resident of Petrolia and Central Lambton for the past 17 years – is the driving force behind the new paper. But Wright says it has truly been a community effort. “From the moment I started approaching people with my idea for a truly local community paper focusing on telling the stories of the people of this area, they were very excited and asked what they could do to make The Independent a reality.”

In a time when the newspaper industry seems to be struggling, Wright believes there is still a need for a strong, local newspaper. “You can search the internet for just about anything but it is difficult to find what is going on next door,” she says. “There are still lots of stories to be told around here, but, for whatever reason – whether it is lack of staff or concern for the bottom line – those stories aren’t being told.”

And that, Wright says, has long-term implications including the history of the community being lost. “If all you can find in the local paper is stories about other cities or entertainment news, in 100 years, how will people know what Petrolia and Central Lambton was really like?”

Sales and Marketing Representative Connie McFadden agrees. “A community with this much history deserves its history to be told.” McFadden, who has worked in the newspaper for 33 years, adds she is proud to have a newspaper with a local face.

Kathy Ehman, Classified Representative, who has worked in all facets of community newspaper on the East and West Coasts of Canada, is pleased to come home and find the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a new community newspaper. “I believe community newspapers are extremely important to the community and I’m very excited to be a part of The Independent.”