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New Tecumseth Times celebrates 50 years of publishing

March 22, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

It has been through several name changes over the years, however, the New Tecumseth Times is now celebrating 50 years of bringing community news to Alliston, Beeton and Tottenham.

The first edition of the local paper was hot off the press on March 13, 1974, as a full broadsheet under the name The Beeton Record.

Original publisher, Bruce Haire, started the paper on his own as a way of bringing news to local residents.

Local resident, John Archibald, was already writing sports stories for an Aurora paper when he and Mr. Haire connected a few months after the first paper. Mr. Haire hired him, then later suggested he join him as co-publisher.

“In September of 1974, Bruce expanded into Schomberg and started the Schomberg Sentinal,” Mr. Archibald explained. “At that time I was still farming, but I had been writing the sports news for the Aurora Banner for four or five years. I had seen a couple issues of The Beeton Record and thought he was doing a pretty good job, and I thought, I’m interested in that. I contacted him and we met at the hotel in Beeton, and over beer we discussed it. We made a deal and he hired me. We were only doing it for a couple of months and he decided he needed a partner and he asked me if I would be interested.”

Mr. Archibald agreed, and they became co-publishers.

A new newspaper, The Tottenham Times was started within the year. That was followed by the opening of the Caledon Citizen with an office in Bolton.

Eventually, the Tottenham and Beeton newspapers were amalgamated and became The Beeton Tottenham Times.

That name changed again a few years later when it became the New Tecumseth Times to more accurately reflect the area that the paper covered.

Over the years, a working partnership saw Bruce doing editorial duties while John specialized in sales.

The paper was eventually sold to the London Publishing Company, which also owns the Caledon Citizen, Orangeville Citizen and Shelburne Free Press.

Mr. Archibald stayed on for a couple of years to help out, then retired.

Mr. Haire passed away in 2016, after 37 years as a publisher.

The New Tecumseth Times continues to publish and bring the news to the town’s residents. The paper’s success is thanks to a solid beginning in 1974, with two local men and a vision to keep residents informed of what is happening in their town.

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