A brief history of the Harbour Spiel
The Harbour Spiel was started in 1990 by Myrtle Winchester and began its life as a Christmas greeting to all residents of Pender Harbour and Egmont. It included an article by the late Al Lloyd on an "old-time" Pender Harbour Christmas, one by Dave Howell and an editorial by Myrtle Winchester. Local businesses helped pay for the paper and postage.
Two 8-1/2" by 11" pages were produced on an Amiga (Commodore) computer, reproduced on a Savin 7120 photocopier -- which (by 2006) was still working fine for its most recent owner, Norma Martin of Egmont -- then collated and folded by hand and mailed the next morning.
Winchester thought that she might repeat the performance the next Christmas, but the community response was so positive that she continued producing the Harbour Spiel every month, always with the help of friends who contributed material and assisted with collating and folding. As the advertising base grew, the Paper Mill's publishing equipment was upgraded, a commercial printer was contracted and the Harbour Spiel improved in quality and increased in size to become a full-fledged magazine.
The Harbour Spiel has been informing, entertaining and infuriating residents and subscribers since 1990. (Myrtle Winchester)
Change of Ownership: November 1, 2006
Brian Lee took over full operation of the Harbour Spiel in 2006 and has pledged to continue the irreverent tradition of its previous publisher.