Say hello to the brand spanking new online newspaper devoted to all that is Fairmont - The Fairmont Bugle (fairmontbugle.com).
This new Web based publication will serve as the only online news source for the little town with the big charm.
It's brought to you by Heartland Publications, LLC, in cooperation with the town of Fairmont.
Heartland is the publisher of The Robesonian, Lumberton's long-established daily newspaper, and also owns two weekly newspapers in Robeson County, the Red Springs Citizen and the St. Pauls Review. Each of those three papers have their own Web sites.
For nearly a decade, the small town of Fairmont (population 2,751) has been without a newspaper of its own.
Town elders remember The Messenger brought news of a growing Fairmont back in the 1950s, when tobacco was king and the economy looked like it had no end.
In the 1960s that little weekly newspaper changed hands, becoming The Times Messenger, and told Fairmont's stories for nearly forty years. The size of the weekly paper dwindled and eventually the small newspaper office on Thompson Street near the library went dark in 2000.
For the past several years, the dream of a new newspaper for Fairmont has been held by Mayor Charles Kemp.
He shared his vision with Joe Craig of Heartland Publications, and with the help of sales associate Trudy McLeod, fairmontbugle.com is a reality.
Kemp is elated. "I believe it will bring our community and her citizens closer together," he said.
To take advantage of online advertising opportunities, contact McLeod at (910) 272-6143 or e-mail at tmcleod@heartlandpublications.com.