Thank you for your interest in The Community Press – the #1 source of news, advertising, and opinions in Flagstaff County and surrounding area for over 115 years!
For over a century, The Community Press has been dedicated to bringing locals the latest news from around town. From hard breaking news, to local event coverage, to interesting features and interviews, to charming small town news bites, The Community Press keeps Flagstaff residents informed. Plus, we are rich with history. We have reported on the sinking of the Titanic, both World Wars, thousands of fires, and everything in between. While the staff has changed, the same quality and dedication to quality has remained.
It takes an entire week of planning to put together a newspaper, and we are excited every time the paper arrives hot from the printers. We hope you feel the same way!
Whether a young reader or old, we feel our newspaper can be enjoyed by everyone. For just $1 per issue, 51 issues per year, you can experience the excitement of history and expansion with us. What have you got to lose? Let’s press forward together, while respecting our past.
With over 1115 ears in publishing, there is not much The Community Press has not done. Here is a little bit more about us:
HISTORY
The Community Press evolved from the Sedgewick Sentinel, which was established in 1908 by A.J Honey, who founded the publication shortly after arriving to Alberta from Newcastle, Ontario.
In 1915, A.L. Eastly purchased the paper. Over time, Eastly began expanding and buying out other local newspapers, which had been on the downswing since World War I, and later because of the Great Depression. In 1930, he changed the name to ‘The Community Press’ and began serving all the towns along Highway 13 in the County of Flagstaff.
Arthur W. Eastly took over the operation of the weekly newspaper from his father in 1942. Art added new equipment and built a new building. With the help of his son Ace, the Eastlys continued running the newspaper until Art’s retirement.
In 1969, Monte Keith bought the business from Art, ending a 54 year Eastly ownership. The new owner moved the operation from handset type into the modern age of offset in the mid-1970s. In 1975, The Community Press encompassed the entire County of Flagstaff with the new purchase of The Alliance Enterprise, and joined the entire Flagstaff area into one news and information district.
In 1977, Rick Truss purchased half of Monte’s shares in the company and together they installed a web press, an offset camera and new photo equipment. The partnership dissolved in 1985 and Rick took over the entire Community Press operation himself.
In 1985, after closing out a partnership with the Keiths in Wainwright, Kerry Anderson came to the ‘Press. He entered into partnership with Rick in 1989. One year earlier, The Community Press moved the newspaper portion of the company to its present Main Street location in Sedgewick.
In 1992, The Community Press took another technological step forward by purchasing Macintosh computers with the very best desktop publishing programs available. The entire system was connected by modem to the Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association office in Edmonton and three mobile units by modem to the main workstation in Sedgewick. At the time, this was a major transition to the digital age, and the company has remained technologically ‘up-to-date’ ever since.
In 1993, the partners bought out Dick Morris and purchased the Weekly Review in Viking. The two papers, only 45 km apart, now work hand-in-hand.
In 1999, Kerry and Rick bought shares in The Tofield Mercury, and began operating the three newspapers simultaneously.
In 1999, The Community Press built an office on Main Street Killam, to be used mostly as billing and administration, as well as an office to further expand advertisement, subscription, stationery, printing, and paper product sales. The building was joined to a warehouse owned by Carpet, Floors, and More. The Community Press later bought the warehouse, where heated personal storage spaces are now rented out.
In December 2002, the three Anderson/Truss owned newspapers began printing a monthly regional publication called The East Central Times which would be distributed to subscribers and also distributed for free in mail boxes around the East-Central Alberta region. This monthly section printed for 11 years, before being reinvented as the Caribou EXTRA! in January, 2013.
In Mid-2005, Kerry Anderson became sole owner of the Tofield Mercury, Viking Weekly Review, and The Community Press, buying out all other shareholders.
In October of 2005, Kerry Anderson founded the Lamont Leader newspaper in Lamont, Alberta. Lamont, a community that was virtually without any steady local news or advertising source, quickly proved itself a prosperous area.
In spring of 2006, the four newspaper partnership began fully outsourcing its printing for the first time since inception. This move provided more colour and page-per-section options and was necessary in keeping up with the latest in publishing demands.
In September of 2006, owner Kerry Anderson was presented with the Silver Quill Award by the Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association and Canadian Community Newspapers Association in recognition of over 25 years of distinguished service to the profession.
In July of 2008, The Community Press celebrated 100 years in business with a large gathering in Sedgewick. The Historical society put on a BBQ and over 300 people came out to celebrate the publication’s century mark. That week, Battle River-Wainwright MLA Doug Griffiths and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach appeared on the front cover posing with archived copies of both The Community Press as well as The Tofield Mercury (which was celebrating its 90th that summer as well).
Also in 2008, the more modern Killam office was re-utilized as the primary sales, editorial, and production office of The Community Press, where it is now open 4 days a week. This allowed for higher foot traffic and provides more open space for design and customer relations.
In 2009, Kerry’s son Eric Anderson (formerly managing Editor) was named the new Publisher of The Community Press.
In 2011, Kerry and Eric Anderson officially named the multi-newspaper collective Caribou Publishing, where they operate as President and Senior Vice President respectively.
In 2013, The Community Press marked 105 years in print.
In 2016, due to its age and the increase in online transactions, the Sedgewick office was closed to the public and remains primarily used for storage and archive retrieval. The Killam office remains open 5 days per week to serve customers with advertising and printing/photocopying needs, as well as for subscription renewals and any other services we can help with.
In 2018, The Community Press marked 110 years in print.
In 2023, The Community Press marked 115 years in print.
GIVING BACK
The Community Press has been given multiple distinctions for working with Red Cross over the years, in raising funds for numerous natural disasters. Most notable recent fundraising campaigns were accepted for the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the devastating 2011 fires in Slave Lake, and the 2013 southern Alberta flood. In 1999, The Community Press, along with the Viking Weekly Review and Tofield Mercury, publicly spearheaded a movement to collect and ship supplies for the refugees in Kosovo. The efforts were recognized provincially.
The Community Press organizes the ‘Fill the Tree’ program every year around the holidays, with all money raised going to the Flagstaff Christmas Sharing Program, which creates hampers for the less fortunate at Christmas.
The Community Press is a Gold Sponsor of the FIRST Auction & Supper, an evening which raises money for Flagstaff’s Initiative to Relationship and Spousal Trauma.
The Community Press presents an annual Scholarship to Central High School in Sedgewick. The cash prize is for the top 12th Grade English honours, and is named after long-time former owner Art Eastly.
The Community Press also advertises in and sponsors various calendars, programs, and other such opportunities which raise funds for local non-profit organizations.
The Community Press is known for its support of local 4-H, sponsoring awards and events.
