The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My Public Portal AboutHigh Country Magazine<� /� ho c &sNman PaQv At of 2 frf/e7N_r L Idaho couple realizes magazine publishing dream de4 - //zf`19 P�e, -4(2 „a"- z a9`s By PETE ZIMOWSKY The Idaho Statesman COUNCIL — When Leo and Jule Peurasaari decided to start a re- gional magazine for central Idaho, they knew nothing about the pub- lishing business. "I didn't even know how type got on paper," said Leo Peurasaari, 36, a former employee of the Val- ley County Planning and Zoning Commission. Terms like "screening" and "typeface" were strange to the Peurasaaris. But that's all changed now. Their magazine, High Country — The Idaho Mountain Record "has survived 11/2 years," as Leo puts it. Circulation continues to grow. The Peurasaaris were living in Donnelly when they decided to start a regional magazine pat- terned after Up Country in New England and The Ozark Mountain- eer. "We wanted to pick up the favor of the area. We wanted new sto- ries, old stories and off -beat stories about rural life," Peurasaari said. So the couple took a $1,400 in- come tax return check and started the magazine in July of 1977. They moved to Council after making a preliminary arrangement for type- setting. The magazine didn't start off without frustrations. They had let- terheads and other assorted sup- plies printed up with the High Country' logo. Then one day Peura- saari saw a copy of High Country News, an environmental magazine published from Lander, Wyo., on a newsstand. He panicked, but later resigned himself to the fact that the two magazines were different and would not be competitive. The Peurasaaris advertised in 15 newspapers for writers and and soon free-lance material started pouring in. Now, after 11 years of trial and error, Peurasaari believes High Country will make it. The tabloid, which is printed on newspaper stock, has 1,100 subscribers and newstand sales of 1,500. High Country has been published every month except for one. The edition last March was missed be- cause of reorganization. "We were in trouble. My wife and I never had any (publishing) experience before. We didn't even know how to sell ads," Peurasaari said. One mistake the Peurasaaris made was ordering 800 copies of the first edition. They couldn't even fit them in their car, let alone distribute them. They also realized quickly that there would be no survival without ads and subscriptions. Leo Peurasaari Peurasaari believes the resi- dents and advertisers of central Idaho are receptive to the maga- zine. High Country can be found on newsstands along U.S. 95 from Fruitland to Grangeville and from New Meadows to Horseshoe Bend on Idaho 55. The magazine also is mailed to subscribers. High Country isn't on Boise newsstands because of distribution problems, he said. It is mailed to Boise subscribers. Peurasaari envisions a much larger circulation for High Coun- try in a triangle from Lewiston to Ontario to Boise. But he doesn't see the magazine as a competitor for local weekly or daily newspap- ers. The newspapers "have differ- ent jobs," he said. He just sees Central Idaho as a vast gold mine for written mate- rial. Areas like Hells Canyon, the Camas Prairie and the South Fork of the Salmon River are rich in sto- ries. The Peurasaaris start each hec- tic month by sending out billings and renewals. They begin sorting out editorial material and looking at stories from free lancers. They are constantly trying to think of a theme for the next issue, and de- termine what stories they should get on their own. Peurasaari begins selling ads and gathering stories at the same time. How some stories get into High Country is another question. Once Peurasaari walked into a store in Fruitdale and John Bacon, a local potter, asked if he could do a story. Peurasaari suggested a story on the lifestyle of a local resident, handed Bacon a camera, and the story and photos turned out to be one of the best features in the ma- gazine. Most of the layout, designing of ads and paste up is done by Jule, who is 27. She also works in the of- fice, writes and sometimes helps with newsstand delivery. Soon after the type is set in McCall it's back to Council where they do the paste up and get the magazine ready for printing in either Boise or Ontario. Peurasaari picks up the printed magazines and immediately starts delivering them to newsstands in towns along U.S. 9.5 and Idaho 55. Meanwhile, Jule is mailing sub- scriptions. The magazines are usually dropped off at a central store in each town where traffic is heavy. It's easy in towns like Manns Creek where the magazines can be left at one store where people con- centrate. Peurasaari's one-man delivery system is a drawback for trying to get the magazines to newsstands in Boise — the job would be too big. And so far, a local distributor hasn't expressed interest in the magazine. Editorial material is very im- portant, according to Peurasaari. In fact, he says, the November, 1977 issue which featured the Mesa Orchards in Adams County "really started the ball rolling." He said no one had done a big story on the orchard. Because 1,000 people had been employed by the orchards sometime or another, in- terest in the story was high. A special edition on the Seven Devils mountains in June of 1978 was also well received, he said. High Country's recent edition on McCall's role in the production of the movie, Northwest Passage, was the largest — 40 pages and 800 inches of advertising. Peurasaari estimated that High Country is working on a $40,000 to $50,000 annual budget of which "at least" 75 percent goes for ex- penses. The magazine is listed in Writ- ers' Market, where the Peura- saaris are contacted by free lan- cers. But High Country also has several regular columists. Nan Reedy of Fairfield writes a column with the theme of a city girl living on a ranch. Doug Jones of Boise•writes a column on nature and Ottow Schneider of Couer d' Alene, writes a technical column on shooting. Barry Parker of Poca- tello contributes a column titled "Rod and Pack." Another naturalist -writer, Ferris Weddle of Kamiah, also free lances for High Country. Publishing a regional magazine is no easy job, according to Peura- saari. "It's a day -and -night job and I wouldn't recommend starting a magazine." The Peurasaaris have two boys, ages 7 and 8, and they don't like the magazine because dad doesn't often get to go fishing. But despite the drawbacks, the Peurasaaris dream of publishing a regional magazine has come true. h` SFgf, I9a THE TRUTH ABOUT MOUNTAIN GARDENING by Jaime M. O'Neill I used to have a neighbor who told me the two most important things I know about living in the Mountains. The first thing he told me was that Valley County had two seasons: Winter and July. The second thing he told me was that when God made the Earth, He came over to Valley Co. and dumped a load of rocks. He intended to get back and put top soil on the rocks, but He got busy and forgot about it. So...putting these two in- disputable truths together, Valley Co. is not, (repeat not) a garden spot. People in Valley Co. who are succeeding with gardens (Mrs. Huntington ex- cepted) are doing so because: a) they are growing their gardens in pure compost and; b) because they are spending on fertilizer and equipment an equivalent of $84 per pound of vegetables produced. The gardener who is thinking of starting out in Valley Co. should be made aware of a few pertinent facts. Most manuals on gardening recommend that the gardener till the soil to a depth of two feet. Warning: To get down two feet in Valley Co. dirt will require at least $398.42 in dynamite. Beneath the first 1/4 inch of dirt one hits gravel; beneath the gravel, at a depth of 1/2 inch, one hits rocks approx- imately the size of softballs and, beneath these is the top of the mountain, a solid slab of rock which runs from the south end of Long Valley to the Payette Lake. Nothing can grow in this rock, not even radishes. Once the new mountain gardener has dynamited or jackhammered down two feet, he has two options open to him: a) he can wait until egg shells and coffee grounds have ac- cumulated to provide compost enough to fill in the two feet of depth or; b) he can buy enough valley or meadow top soil to fill. Once the soil is prepared, the work has only begun. Although summer in Valley Co. can sometimes last as much as the entire month of July, the growing season is considerably less predictable. In 1967, for in- stance, the growing season was clocked at 37 minutes, 17 seconds on July 21st. This un- predictability is directly at- tributable to swings and varia- tions in nighttime temperatures and the ever-present possibility of blizzards. Therefore, it is in- cumbent upon the mountain gardener to buy only the most aggressive of seeds. Seeds developed in Nazi Germany have a better -than -average hope of survival. Likewise, seeds which were developed in Russian and American weather stations in Antartica. Still, cold weather seeds are vulnerable as are seeds which require moisture of any kind. The summer winds blow hot and dry which can reduce the average plant to the appearance and texture of feathers within an hour. Add to these gardening problems the indigenous moun- tain insects which, when hungry, can eat tires, and you have less than optimal conditions for gardening. Therefore, the mountain gardener who hopes for success is encouraged to adapt his crop to the conditions of his sur- roundings. Rock farming is, by far, the most successful adapta- tion. Few mountain rock farmers have failed. Plant a peb- ble in a shallow hole (the planting season is long) and within weeks harvesting the same hole will produce a cor- nucopia of rocks, boulders, and even whole strata. The only pro- blem thus far has been finding palatable recipes to complement the harvest. El]