FYI - We are going to begin sending the Newsletter for the following month on the last Sunday of the month beginning today.
This is the html version of the IndexWa.org newsletter. Sent to a WHOPPING 53 subscribers monthly (well, most of the time). Hey, we never claimed to be big.
This Newsletter is a bit longer than what we usually send. We had a lot to pass on and talk about.
HTML users, click on a link to view the subject.
In
this issue:
1st Up
Reciprocal
Linking
Slowing Down
What did
you miss?
Disincorporate The Town of Index?
Bears and Cougars and ? OH MY!
Do Not Reply? Why?
A Web Site of Interest For Skyko Dwellers
An
Email From Ed B.
Council Meeting Minutes Posted
Friends of Heybrook Ridge Meeting Dates
Index Community Garden
Subscribing to Our RSS Feed
Photos Wanted
Stevens Pass and Winter Olympics 2010
Do You Have News?
This Months Quote
Greetings from IndexWa.org:
1st
Up: John R. sent us a link to some old Lee Pickett photographs
published by the University of Washington Libraries. The Town of
Index Museum is named after Lee Pickett and John (as well as my self)
thought this link would be of interest to all. The photographs are
rare and some are quite stunning. Click on the link or copy and
paste it into your web browser.
http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/pickett
This newsletter is a more lengthy than normal. If it is too wordy, let us know. We had a lot to talk about this month. :)
Not really a news item but a point we would like to make. We receive about 2-3 requests a month from webmasters wishing us to place a link to their site on IndexWa.org. We do not have a problem with that to be quite honest as long as it is not a profit making web site AND the webmaster is willing to reciprocate. Many do not want to do the latter. If you are a webmaster and do not want to put a link up to IndexWa.org please do not request that we put a link up to your site.
We are sorry to sound harsh but the reality is placing a link on a web site drives traffic and the spiders or bots watch for that. In the event you are a non-profit we do (in some cases) allow links to be placed on our site without reciprocating but only for sites in the valley and at our discretion.
Thanks for your understanding.
Things have slowed down at the site as of September 1. Hits have dropped off and it was expected. As this is our first full year of being on line we are just now getting the feel of the flow of traffic. From mid January 2008 through September 13, 2008 we have had 215,315 hits. Approximately 112,300 of those hits were in July and August. As of this writing we are tracking for about 54,000 hits for September (it is currently mid month). We still believe "that ain't to shabby" for a small town website that is a kick in the pants to operate.
It seems as though the summer and winter months will be the busiest but we really need to wait it out one more year to make a final determination. May (just before travel time), July and August (during the travel periods) were the busiest. The trend seems to be a destination site or activity type of site so far as well as information seekers according to the Search stats from Google and Yahoo.
The search word query report is quite interesting. Here is a list of the 30 most popular search phrases bringing traffic to IndexWa.org (in order of popularity, 1 being the most popular):
1. index wa
2. town of index
3. town of index washington
4. town of index wa
5. index washington
6. city of index wa
7. history of index wa
8. index washington state
9. russell lawson artist
10. index.wa
11. indexwa.org
12. index wa history
13. indexwa
14. heybrookridge.org
15. town index
16. makena soper
17. russell lawson art
18. index wa flood
19. bush hotel index wa
20. sunset copper mine index wa
21. history index wa
22. mount index washington state
23. russell lawson
24. city of index washington
25. index town
26. index wa hike
27. rock climbing index wa
28. index wa web page
29. mt index riversites
30. this is a 5th grade math problem if you cannot stand word math
We are thrilled at the response and about our placement on Google. We get a lot of nice emails and have struck up friendships with people we don't even know or from people we have never seen and probably will never meet. We have YOU folks to thank for the influx of traffic.
What Did You Miss? News As It Happens!
In the September NEWS AS IT HAPPENS area we sent out the following:
09.05.08 - Bob Hubbard Takes on the Gun Club in Index. It was in the Everett Herald Sept. 5 local news. We sent a link to the complete article and a link is available on our blog also (if it is still hot). The Everett Herald usually keeps links hot for about a week.
09.06.08 - June 1997 Index Eagle - Off The Beaten Path posted to the blog under the category the Index Eagle.
09.11.08 - Warning of a cougar sighting on the Crescent Trail in town.
Read the statement in red at the end of this newsletter (HTML VERSION ONLY) to see how you can subscribe to News As It Happens. SPAM FREE NEWS GUARANTEED.
Disincorporate The Town of Index?
In the last Town Meeting the Mayor touched base on disincorporating the Town of Index. Mind you, he did not push the subject. It was just food for thought. With expenses the way they are and a few other line items, Mayor Bruce Albert just threw it on the table for something to think about.
There are many advantages for not being incorporated however, there are many disadvantages also.
If you are living in the Town of Index your words on the subject may be voiced at a Town Council Meeting. We personally have mixed feelings on the subject and our Mayor would not say something like this without giving it much thought. Come to the meetings and be heard!
Bears and Cougars and ? OH MY!
Hmmmm. Quite an interesting month in and around Index. Skyko 1 had some bear issues (I heard a rumor that somebody bagged the bear, any truth to that)?
An right here in town on the Crescent Trail (RIGHT BEHIND OUR HOME) there was a cougar sighting. My wife and I have dealt with cougars before but you could tell there was something amidst. Dogs around our area were barking at all hours of the day and night. As of Sept. 12 it seems to have calmed down.
Good question submitted by one of our subscribers. A few of our posts (mainly News as it Happens), will come to your mailbox with the sender donotreply@indexwa.org. The reason being is - some items are not rhetorical and require no reply. If you should happen to reply to a donotreply address, your email will bounce back atch'a.
The newsletter that you are now reading, can be replied to as your input is always important to us and it is also one of the benefits of receiving the newsletter. You have my email address. We don't spam and we trust you not to spam us in return.
A Web Site of Interest For Skyko Dwellers
If you live in the Skyko 1-4 area, Judy C. would like to pass on a website that may be of interest to you. I communicated via email with the site owner and he seems to be a "nice guy" and interested in the good of the community. Take a peek at his site - News from the Skyko North Valley @ http://skyko.org/.
Thanks Judy!
As stated earlier in the Newsletter, we get emails from people we will probably never meet or see. And I need to add, we have not received one nasty email as of yet (oh, it will happen. It's a matter of time). Following is one such email from a total stranger offering us something for the Index Historical Society. (Verbatim)
begin
August 12, 2008
Have some old GN paperwork, would like to mail to IHS for your
collection; I used to live in Monroe and acquired some RR paper, etc.
Could you provide a mail address, thanks, Ed B., Anacortes.
end
At first I thought it was some kind of a hoax. Coincidentally Ed's initial are the same as mine, "Ed B.".
We responded to Ed and gave him our mailing address. As soon as the artifacts arrive, we will present them to the IHS at the Town Council Meeting (so that they are on record before releasing them). I am sure Dr. David Cameron will be pleased. If everything does not pertain to Index I am going to ask if we can donate some of it to the Town of Skykomish, the railroad town up the road about 13 miles.
Since I don't know the procedure 100%, I will wait for things to unravel and will go with the flow.
UPDATE AUGUST 19, 2008 - In today's mail we did in fact receive the aforementioned items via postal service. A note of thanks has been sent via email to Ed. B. The items included old RR advertising (travel in comfort in our upgraded cars), blueprints of the various phases through 1964 of the bridges and rails being built through Index and a topo-map that I have not had a chance to investigate.
As stated earlier, these item will be handed off to the town at the next Town Meeting.
Town Council Meeting Minutes Posted
The approved minutes for August 2008 were posted to the website on Sept. 15, 2008. They may be accessed at http://indexwa.org/minutes.htm.
Heybrook Ridge New Meeting Dates
From Louise Lindgren: After the October 4th celebration we will go to a 1st Tuesday of the month schedule, so our next meeting after tomorrow's (Sept. 16) will be Oct. 7.
From Sue Cross: Index's community garden was started earlier this year. It is still in the beginning phase of development, yet a few people already had nice harvests to show for their work. A couple of plots are still available! Gardening experience is not required if you'd like to participate, but it does take some time and effort. The reward is fresh, local, organic produce at very minimal cost. Contact Sue Cross at 360-xxx-xxxx if you are interested, and start preparing your soil now for next spring's planting.
Say what? Now this is totally different than the Newsletter or News As It Happens subscriptions. RSS is read through a feed reader (Google has one for free that you use right through your web browser).
Go to our blog (http://indexwa.org/blog) and on the header on the right hand side you will see an orange and white button. Click on that and you can subscribe to the RSS Blog Feed. That way, whenever the blog has an update, when you go to open your reader, the update will be right there. No need to go to the blog all the time to see what's new. If there is an item that we think will not show up we will let you know but don't worry. I have tested it for many many months and everything shows up so far.
Remember, this is not ANOTHER SUBSCRIPTION we are offering that will be emailed to you. If you do not have an account with Google (I have been with them for MANY YEARS and have yet to be spammed by them) go here www.google.com/reader or www.reader.google.com and get started. You won't regret it. There are MANY news feeds that you will find interesting and you will stay up to date easily. And there are many feeds of interest for everybody young and old.
One thing though. If you are looking for a place to stay in Index for a few days or weeks, always check out our site and blog. Our advertisers make all this happen. Our supporters are in various spots throughout the site.
Enjoy!
If you have some digital photos of Index and surrounding area and you would like to be ALMOST FAMOUS we could use them. We have hundreds of them but we want to refresh the website with some new photos or even add more pages to the Gallery. We will either watermark the photos or give you credit on the page where the pics are inserted.
Just reply to this newsletter if you have some that you don't mind us using. We also don't mind coming by if you are local and putting them on a thumb drive.
Thanks.
Stevens Pass and Winter Olympics 2010
Well, word was that the training area for skiers was to be at Stevens Pass for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
I heard yesterday that it is not going to happen. The folks in charge of the training asked Stevens Pass officials to close the slopes to the general public during the training process. Pass officials said “NO”, so Stevens will not be the training area; at least this is what I heard through the grapevine.
Local businesses were really looking forward to the influx of people during, before and after the training. It would have been a huge boost to the local economy.
Personally, I cannot blame Pass officials for declining. During the ski season (weekends and some summer weekends too) 16,000-21,000 vehicles are on Highway 2, either going to the Pass for recreational skiing or vacation spots. Closing the ski area for a few weeks training phase would have devastating affects for the Stevens Pass Ski / Ski Resorts for years to come due to the bitterness of folks being “locked out” from their favorite pastimes.
It’s a business and needs to be run as such. Once you lose a customer, it cost a lot of money and effort to win them back.
This item is open for comments on the IndexWa.org Blog as of 09.21.08. Go to the Blog and let us know what you think or what your take is on this.
If you have News for the NewsLetter or News As It Happens, let us know by replying to this email. If selected, we will post it in the next NewsLetter or immediately if appropriate.
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To add News as It Happens to your repertoire , click on the link at the bottom to UPDATE YOUR PREFERENCES. You will be transported to the section of the site to add or delete subscriptions. Don't make me beg!
This Months Quote: Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough.
-Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977)-
Ed
PS - as a subscriber to IndexWa.org, you may hit REPLY to comment on anything in the newsletter. Please do not quote the complete newsletter, only the piece you are responding about. We have read the entire newsletter already. (grin)