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History of Our Newsletter
The INFO, which has become so important, began as “Harbourama”in 1971. It was started as a paid subscription with a few owners advancing $5.00 each for working capital. Annual subscriptions sold for $2.00 as an experiment to prove it feasible for a small group to publish a periodical. Harbourama continued for only one year. At the end of the first year, Larry Sogard found the responsibility of soliciting subscribers and editing the paper was rather much and asked the board to support the paper. Cautious and frugal, they said no.
In June 1975, the design that looks to be the work of former owner Harold Winer, appeared and the newsletter was continued. More importantly, the cost was included in the association budget, so the need to beg for subscriptions ended. That masthead remained until 2001 when a background image of Longboat Key was included and the logo for Longboat Harbour Apartments and Yacht Club was removed. That was the same year many of us went out to the seawall to see if we could see the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-98,from Launch Pad39A on February 7, 2001, 6:13:02 p.m. EST on its way to the International Space Station. And, we could indeed. It was very exciting!Hard to believe it was possible to see a launch from Cape Canaveral, but the proof is in the picture.
The entrance to LbH was updated in 2002 with an imposing granite identifier. it seemed that we had moved into a new era. Therefore, the news letter should reflect a more contemporary style, it was thought, so the masthead was changed to this version. By 2004 we had our own website. From that point on the INFO was available electronically for those owners who wanted it that way, though it was also available in print form and continued to be delivered to the door of those in residence, including renters, or mailed to every one else.
An updated Web Site was announced inJanuary 2013, and changes in the delivery method of the newsletter ensued. The costs of printing and distribution were growing. A digital publication with the Internet as a distribution medium seemed just the right choice at the time. The board decided to restrict printing the INFO, making it available in print form only to those who specifically requested it in that form. Editors continued to produce limited numbers of the INFO in print form until April 2017 at which point only digital copies were available.
All INFO copies since 2012 are available on the Longboat Harbour website.
