Written by Andy Flinn in the May 7 2009 issue
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that somebody was spreading rumours about the front page of the Grapevine being written by somebody new. There was also an unsubstantiated claim that this person would be carefully selected by Ariana and myself. All these statements, in hindsight, seem a tiny bit inaccurate. I shall devote this, one of my last two front pages, to an effort of making better sense.
As far as the front page is concerned: We did not choose a new writer. We chose a new management. A few months back, we started looking for someone to take over this community newsletter. Two of the most community oriented individuals we know had expressed an interest: Jeremy Novak and Jocelyn Hatt.
Jocelyn Hatt has been participating in Wolfville and the Valley for a while now. With Michelle Kulyk she brought “Hatt & Kül†to Main Street, the ethically sourced clothing and accessories store. Jocelyn can sometimes be seen at Paddy’s Pub, where she provides music lovers and others (music non-lovers?) with beverages and good humour. She is the graphic artist who created the logo for the Wolfville Farmers Market. Jocelyn also designed all the graphics for the latest CD of Caleb Miles: “Memory Wellâ€.
Jeremy Novak, too, is no stranger to the Wolfville community. He finished studying business administration at Acadia last year (2008) and participated in Edaline Theatre’s musical productions, including “The Newsiesâ€. 
He frequently helps out at town events and is perhaps best known as “Tour Guide Extraordinaireâ€. Jeremy ran “Wolfville Walking Tours†during the summer of 2008 and then created an overnight success with “Wolfville’s Gravely Ghost Walkâ€, an extremely entertaining walking tour, which employs “street theatre in the darkness†to embed local history and lore in the minds of visitors and audience.
Both Jeremy and Jocelyn are well connected with business and arts community. Both are creative entrepreneurs with a very pragmatic streak. With respect to the Grapevine, they conducted surveys, questioned suppliers, chatted up readers and examined advertising issues. They consulted with Adam Barnet, the founder of this publication and learned everything they could before accepting the Grapevine as a challenge.
The coming months promise to be a very exciting time for all of us who have been and will be involved in the Grapevine. With new stewardship is seems we might see all three generations of Grapevine operators cooperating, from Adam Barnett to Jeremy and Jocelyn. All of a sudden it is conceivable to have a paper with more depth, more contributions and more integrity.
We are thrilled to pass the Grapevine into such capable hands. We want to thank all of you: Readers, supporters, advertisers, past and future publishers. It’s becoming an institution, this Grapevine of Wolfville. We learned many things. About this town, about the people, about how things are and could be. We learned stuff about life, love, community and ourselves. We’ll stick around and learn some more. This is, after all, the best place in the world for us to learn in. Thanks guys!
