CROSS TRAIL NEWS
Current Issues - View or Download
Click on the links below to view or download the online versions of the current dance season issues of the Cross Trail News in pdf format as they are published and mailed. Only submissions that were received in colour appear in colour in the online version.
Personal phone numbers and email addresses have been redacted from the contacts and directory sections of the online version of the Cross Trail News. If you wish to contact any of these people please send your request using the CONTACT page on this website.
What is the Cross Trail News?
The Cross Trail News is the official publication of the Vancouver Island Western Square & Round Dance Associations. It serves square and round dancers in the Lower and Upper Vancouver Island Regions (British Columbia Square & Round Dance Federation – Regions 1 and 8).
The Cross Trail News is published five times each dance season and is mailed to dancers belonging to the member clubs in both Regions and to non-club member subscribers and other readers. Beginning with the 2023-2024 dance season, each issue, with personal information redacted, is also published online after the printed copies have been mailed (see button links above).
Please scroll down for more details about the Cross Trail News including its history, subscriptions, submissions, and advertising.
Editor & Treasurer – Alex Wotherspoon
Email: crosstrailnews@shaw.ca
Circulation Manager – Pat Zeeman
Email: ctncirculation@shaw.ca
Cross Trail News Member Clubs
Lower Vancouver Island - BCSRDF Region 1
Upper Vancouver Island - BCSRDF Region 8
History of the Cross Trail News
The inaugural issue of the Cross Trail News – Vol. 1 No. 1 and then known as the “W.D.A. [Western Dance Association] News” – was published in April 1954 with four half letter-size commercially printed pages. With Vol. 2 No. 1 in September 1955 the title changed to “Cross Trail News” and there were still just four pages. Over the years the number of pages increased and several printing methods and sizes were were used including a period of time with a Gestetner or mimeograph machine. Production switched from paste-up to desktop publishing software in 2006.
Publication has continued regularly since 1954. There were short gaps between editors in the 1950s and early 1960s. The only significant break was for one full dance season (five issues) – September-October-November 2020 to June-July-August 2021 – due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown of square and round dancing. Special Anniversary Editions were published in May 1978 (25 years), October 1993 (40 years), May 2004 (50 years), and November-December 2014 (60 years – supplement).
From 1971 to the June-July-August 2019 issue the printer for the Cross Trail News was Bayside Press (Victoria Speedi-Copy Ltd.). In the summer of 2019 Foto Print (Fotoprint Ltd.) acquired Bayside Press and became our printer starting with the September-October-November 2019 issue. The publication format is currently a half-letter size stapled booklet with the number of pages per issue under the current editor ranging from 32 to 72. Beginning with the September-October-November 2023 issue a digital version in pdf format on letter size pages (with personal information redacted) is published on the Region 1 and Region 8 websites.
Cross Trail News Editors
April 1954 – Unknown
November 1954 to May 1956 – Don McLeod
December 1956 to October 1960 – Dawn Draper
January 1961 to June 1962 – John Fairweather
October 1962 to May 1963 – Dai & Win McLeod
September 1963 to April 1980 – Ted Sparshatt (deceased 1980)
May 1980 – Gladys Sparshatt (interim)
September 1980 to November 2003 – Ken Middleton (deceased 2003)
December 2003 to May 2015 – Vic Marshall (retired)
Since September 2015 – Alex Wotherspoon
Information for Clubs and Club Members
The Cross Trail News is funded by an assessment on member clubs of $2.00 per primary club member (couple or single) per issue based on each member club’s current membership list. A club member’s primary club is the club where they pay their BCSRDF and CSRDS membership fees. Any other club to which they may belong is a secondary club.
Clubs are invoiced by email for their club member assessments, postage (at cost), and advertising (if any) as each issue is published. Membership lists may be updated at any time and changes take effect with the next issue (see deadlines below).
Address and Club Membership Changes
To avoid missing an issue, club members are asked to report changes of address (with the effective date) and name and address corrections to your club membership person as soon as known. Club membership officials please email all address updates and membership additions, deletions, and corrections promptly to the circulation manager at ctncirculation@shaw.ca with a copy to crosstrailnews@shaw.ca.
Non-club member subscribers and other recipients are asked to email changes of address and any other updates to the circulation manager at ctncirculation@shaw.ca (with a copy to crosstrailnews@shaw.ca) or use the other circulation manager contact information on page 2 in each issue.
Changes received by the submission deadlines below will take effect with that issue.
We are not responsible for non-delivery by mail. Canada Post returns undeliverable copies to us although there can be a delay.
Subscriptions (Non-Club Members Only)
The annual non-club member subscription period is five issues from the September-October-November issue to the June-July-August issue. Annual subscription rates by mail are $17.50 in Canada, US$25.00 to the USA, and US$40.00 for overseas. The annual rate is prorated in the first year based on the number of issues remaining at one-fifth of the annual rate per issue.
Please email your subscription request with your name and full mailing address (including unit number if applicable and postal code) to the Editor at crosstrailnews@shaw.ca.
Payments by e-transfer may be sent to crosstrailnews@shaw.ca for auto-deposit. If paying by cheque the payee is “Cross Trail News”. Please contact the Editor by email for our mailing address.
Please submit changes of address by email.
We are not responsible for non-delivery. Please note that subscriptions are non-refundable except for when a subscriber joins a member club.
Submission Guidelines
Digital submission of letters, club news, event reports, articles and advertisements is preferred. Suggested lengths are up to 200-250 words for letters and club news; 200-500 words for reports and articles of interest to square and round dancers.
We can handle most document formats including doc, docx (preferred), odt, ppt, pptx, pub, rtf, txt, and wpd. Paper submissions will either be scanned or retyped. You can also type your submission in an email.
For images we can handle most graphics formats. Please do not resize photos or embed them in a document or email. A minimum resolution of 300 dpi is recommended. For ads we will accept graphics files (including pdf) but we can’t edit them to correct any typographical or formatting errors unless you also send us the original document file.
Please include your personal, club, or business name at the beginning of your file names so we can identify files without having to open them. Please attach your files to your email and send to crosstrailnews@shaw.ca.
All submissions must be received by the submission deadlines below.
When preparing an advertisement please note the ad sizes below. If your copy is not the same as our ad size we can adjust the size to fit our page but it will become distorted if the aspect ratio (ratio of width to height) is significantly different. We will make up your ad (and email a proof to you) if you email the details to us.
Address, Submission, & Advertising Deadlines - 2023-2024
|
Issue |
Deadline |
Dance Dates |
Other Information |
|
September-October-November 2023 |
July 29, 2023 |
September 2023 to August 2024 |
Directory information form including list of dances and event dates. |
|
September, October, & November 2023 |
Fall start-up dates, new dancer classes & ads, special dances ads, club news, sympathy, club membership and address changes. |
||
|
December 2023-January 2024 |
October 28, 2023 |
December 2023 & January 2024 |
Special dances ads, Christmas dance, season’s greetings ads, first dance in New Year, club news, sympathy, club membership and address changes. |
|
February-March 2024 |
December 30, 2023 |
February & March 2024 |
Special dances ads, summer weekend event ads, club news, sympathy, club membership and address changes. |
|
April-May 2024 |
March 2, 2024 |
April & May 2024 |
Special dances ads, windup dates, summer weekend event ads, club news, sympathy, club membership and address changes. |
|
June-July-August 2024 |
April 27, 2024 |
June, July, & August 2024 |
Special dances ads, summer dances ads, summer weekend event ads, new dancer class ads, club news, sympathy, club membership and address changes. |
|
Each issue is published and mailed by the middle of the month following each deadline. |
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Advertising Sizes & Rates
Ad Size (Approx.) | Per Issue | Five Ad Block |
Full page 4.5” x 7.5” | $38.50 | $173.25 |
½ page 4.5” x 3.75” | $22.00 | $99.00 |
⅓ page 4.5” x 2.5” | $16.50 | $74.25 |
¼ page 4.5” x 1.875” | $13.00 | $58.50 |
⅛ page 4.5” x 0.9375” | $7.50 | $33.75 |
In order to receive the 10% discount for a five ad block, payment of the full five ad amount must accompany or precede the initial insertion. The five ads do not have to be in consecutive issues but are to be used within two years (ten issues). The ad copy may be changed for each insertion.
Payments by e-transfer may be sent to crosstrailnews@shaw.ca for auto-deposit. If paying by cheque the payee is “Cross Trail News”. Please contact the Editor by email for our mailing address.
Please submit ads to be made up by email to the Editor at crosstrailnews@shaw.ca at least one week prior to the above submission deadlines.
For more information please email the Editor.