Dear Readers & Advertisers:

We are happy to announce that Pechous Publications of Wagner has taken over ownership and operations of the Avon Clarion.

I have heard the outpouring from local residents, as to how much they love Avon and I want to support them. This was our home for ten years before moving to Wagner where my husband Scott and I worked, but it's still home to us. With our friends and several of my relatives here, I felt the need to step up and make this purchase as I've witnessed many towns losing their newspapers due to the challenges and unforeseen economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. With the support of the community, in terms of both advertisers and subscribers, the Avon Clarion is not going to be joining that list.

We want our subscribers to know that we have accepted this large commitment and will focus our efforts on promoting the Avon community, including the Avon School and all of the local businesses the best we can. We are huge supporters of buying local and keeping our small towns and their businesses going.

We also want you to know that there will be changes made to the paper itself. With a new owner/ operator, we will have different ideas and ways of producing the paper that make sense and fit into our current operation. We will also look for information and help from the community, because the newspaper should include all community events, so don’t be afraid to submit stories and photos that may be used to promote Avon and the surrounding area.

Pechous Publications currently publishes weekly editions for Wagner and Lake Andes and also the local Announcer with our office based in Wagner. We also are part of the Dakota Action Rocket so the Clarion will now be printed in Armour and will again offer the Rocket to subscribers. In addition to our printed papers, we offer e-edition subscriptions which provides readers their newspaper in their email inbox every Tuesday afternoon.

I strongly feel that a newspaper is critical to the life of a healthy city. In the months to come, it is our commitment to provide quality journalism as we cover local events, write feature stories, and highlight the community’s youth through their achievements in academics and athletics.

As far as other upcoming changes, due to the rising costs of postage and paper, subscriptions for 2021 will be $45 for in-state and $50 for out-of-state subscribers. An e-edition of the Avon Clarion is also currently being set up; the cost for this will be $30 per year. With changing printers, our deadline has also changed to provide you with a paper in a timely manner. Our advertising deadline is Fridays at 3 p.m., and news items are due on Mondays by 10 a.m., as our papers are uploaded on Monday evenings for printing Tuesday morning. The papers will arrive at the Avon Post Office Tuesday afternoons and be in your box Wednesday morning for Avon residents.

We have invested into the Avon area and its local newspaper and hope we can continue to bring you, our readers and advertisers, a quality product.

I am sure there will be a few bumps we will encounter along the way, so please be patient with us as we go through this transition and if you have any questions please feel free to contact us at (605) 384-5616 or by email at announcer@hcinet.net.

A new dropbox will be installed on the front facade of Powers Furniture for your convenience. Please have all items (excluding Rocket Advertising) in by 12 noon on Friday for the next week's edition.

For more information about our newspapers, including the Avon Clarion, Lake Andes Wave and the Wagner Post, go to pechouspub. com or visit our facebook page at Pechous Publications.

Thank you for your support, now and into the future.