Of course there are no 100% guarantees in life, but when you have a positive mindset like the famous Dr. Seuss quote suggests, you’ve got a pretty good shot at getting it right.

I have been in business in Grand County for 30 years. One thing I have learned over the years is to spend less time looking in the rearview mirror and more time focusing on the road ahead. If you spend too much time adjusting your mirror you will eventually end up in the ditch. 

Over the years, I have had my share of ups and downs and “pivoted” when necessary. We celebrated successes and weathered the storms but I never once pondered a pandemic shuttering my vision or crushing our financial stability.

The Winter Park Times sprung to life in 2016 to stave off the news desert that was forming in east Grand County. We started this publication at a time when our competitor’s  coverage was at an all time low. We spent the last 4 years working hard to deliver meaningful content and stories. We felt our work pressed CMNM to raise the bar in Grand County and I want to applaud their efforts. Eli Pace and his team have been doing a great job.

On the west end of the county, Kim Cameron and the team at the Grand Gazette have worked tirelessly to provide quality and relevant local news to a community that supports them wholeheartedly. Their success gives us hope.

The pandemic has forced us to make a difficult choice regarding this publication. Print and distribution costs are a significant expenditure, so we have decided to put our printed version of the newspaper on hold until… (June 1st). We have put our heart and soul into this publication and do not want to let it go, but need to improve our financial positioning and evaluate the business model before we can again move forward. We are not killing the Winter Park Times, but we need to hit pause for a few months and gather ourselves for the next phase of pandemic recovery.

The virus nearly killed me in March. I never saw it coming and that revelation helped shed light on our decision today. I have always said character is built on adversity, and Lord knows we are all going to have plenty of character once the viral dust settles.

I wanted to say, it has been a great honor and privilege to be the Editor-in-Chief of the Winter Park Times. I have enjoyed every moment of this experience. We have been blessed with many talented contributors and faithful supporters over the years.  We couldn’t have made it happen without each and everyone of them and you, our readers, so Thank you!  And with that I would like to offer a toast; “May your troubles be less and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door!”

This edition will be our last printed publication for now, but we will keep our website online and active. If you have anything to share, please let me know. 

Best Wishes Always,

Michael Turner 

WinterParkTimes.com