A New Page

A New Page
​By Alexis Mercer

A few weeks ago, Ken, his ever patient wife Lil, and I met to discuss all things Near North Now. I must admit that I thoroughly enjoy every conversation I have with Ken and Lil. If you've never had one yourself, I highly recommend it. You'll walk away with a smile on your face, realizing you've met two of the most genuine, thoughtful people on this planet.

One of the many topics we discussed was where we are headed with this paper we have grown to love so much. We tossed around ideas we each had. Articles Ken and I most enjoy writing, and those that Lil most enjoys reading. It was decided that we needed to go straight to the readers because we are partial. 

The N3 Survey was born. Simple...two questions. "Which of the following do you most enjoy reading currently in N3?" With the options of Business openings and changes, High School sports, Legal matters affecting Newaygo County, Local human interest stories, Newaygo County events and Reviews - books, restaurants, movies. the second question was "Which leisure activity would you be most interested in Near North Now covering more often?" The options for this were crafting, fishing, gardening, hunting and knitting.

Responses quickly started rolling in! We were thrilled that readers were interested in giving their opinion on what they currently enjoy and what they'd like to see in the future.

​So here are the results!

Newaygo County events won the category of current favorite with a percentage of 58.8. Local human interest stories was next with 17.6%. Legal matters affecting Newaygo County and business openings and changes tied with 8.8%. And High School sports along with book, restaurant and movie reviews garnered 2.9% of the responses each.

The results of the second question earned a whopping 40.6% of the votes for gardening! Next was fishing with 21.8%. Both crafting and hunting got 15.6% of the votes and knitting closed out the categories with 6.2%.

In response to the results of the second question, we have decided to add a new page to our site: leisure. This is where we hope to post articles about all the topics listed in the survey, as we realized there are readers who are interested in all those topics, not just one or two! We did start with gardening, since that was such an overwhelming response. And what better time than in spring, when the weather is finally warm enough to start enjoying the time spent sprucing up the yard.

Be sure to check out the gardening article posted here on the new page. We think you'll love it.

And as for the responses to the first question, we are thankful for your taking the time to let us know what you read, and we hope to continue to provide a wide range of coverage for all the stories you're currently enjoying about N3.

As always, if you have suggestions or comments for us, we would love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected] and if you aren't already signed up to receive our newsletter, head to the Home Page and enter your email!