CFN – A committee of Long Sault residents has overseen the development of a Community Website. The goal of this website is to increase community awareness and event participation for all Long Sault residents and to give visitors and potential visitors a snap shot of what they can look forward to when they are passing through, staying overnight or vacationing in our community. From an economic development angle, our website shows Long Sault could be the answer with our access to the 401, and our close proximity to Ottawa, Montreal and the US border.
The site will serve as a voice for an area with no newspaper and very little information sharing other than Township notices, word of mouth or the Post Office bulletin board. Outside each of our immediate sphere of influence, people have little to no idea what is going on and who is making the decisions that are affecting our futures. Launching www.longsault.ca would have immediate benefits ensuring residents would get basic information including public notices, current events, and town hall updates.
There are a lot of things happening in Long Sault. We are host to the new Township offices and community hall, a new O.P.P. office and forensic unit, and what some would hesitate to dream of, a new Tim Horton’s. McEwen’s has invested in our community and the plaza owners are striving to make enhancements to the local shopping experience. Our community volunteer base is second to none without whose support our schools, churches, fire hall and legion would not be able to offer all that they do. We cannot forget all of the sporting organizations that are supported, largely, by volunteers. Long Sault is a great place to live and visit.
Getting people more involved with a community webpage can be a difficult task, but the best way to share information with a community is to use a website. www.longsault.ca will not only educate and inform, but also entertain. Its uses are endless and, with the support of the residents, it will be a success. Schools, churches, organizations, sports teams and hobby groups in particular should thrive using the site. Members can post upcoming events so everyone can keep up to date with what’s going on. Schools and churches in particular could use this website as a portal into the community.
The website has been developed entirely by volunteers and especially by webmaster Nathan Gowsell of Vancouver. Paul McLellan, part of the committee said, “Nathan is a graphic artist and has done a marvelous job of layout, colour selection and inclusion of terrific functions such as the event calendar and a link to an array of Flickr pictures of the Long Sault area submitted by local and distant photographers. Nathan was born and raised in Long Sault and has many family ties here. St Lawrence College participated by supplying local journalism student Shaun Mcdonald to research and write several articles for the site. Hopefully Shaun will remain as a contributing writer.” McLellan also said he has received many compliments from the web community and users on the crispness, clarity and full content of the site. All of this was accomplished with no advertising to clutter and irritate. The committee urges all residents to visit the site and increase the traffic in order to spur Google to include it in any overall searches for Long Sault. Visit www.longsault.ca or for more information contact Donna Primeau at Showcase Video in the mall. 613 534-8488.
Any plans for a Facebook Page Reg?