At the Gibson Memorial Library in Creston, Iowa, they’re hosting the Iowa Egg Council's 2007 White House Easter egg display through Jan. 31. I found this out by reading the Creston Advertiser News, without having a paid electronic subscription, by looking on the Internet. Knowing that our papers are taking on a new look, I decided to search out other Advertisers in the known universe. It was an interesting exercise in Google and Wikipedia.

I was able to determine that the Morning Advertiser in Britain has a readership of over 72,000 and they’re all pub licensees. It has been around since 1794.

Some Advertisers have been around a long time and some are relatively new. Clifford Birchall, assistant editor of the Ormkirk Advertiser near Liverpool, England, wrote me that his paper was founded 1853.

In England, there are also Advertisers in Rugby, Croyden, Walsall, Harrogate, Waveney, Great Yarmouth, Norwich, Surrey (1864) and Maidenhead. The Oldham Advertiser, which is located in Greater Manchester, was founded in 1982.

That paper has a website with two neat features that grabbed my attention. One was interesting walks and included were PDF maps; the other was a link for expats. If you live now in Tasmania, you can search out your old school pals on that site. Turns out several British weeklies have that capability.

In Scotland, there's an Inverness Advertiser, while in Wales I found a Tivy-side Advertiser. It features news in English and Welsh. A haloch chi lythyr at bapur newydd erioed?

The Tivy-side paper had an active campaign going called Hands off our Hospital, which sentiment endeared to me.

Declan Varley of the Galway (Ireland) Advertiser Group was good enough to tell me that his paper has been around since 1970, starting at eight pages a week. Now they boast 160 pages in full colour and 70,000 copies every week.

"We had a facelift three years ago when Tony Sutton of News Design Associates from Toronto gave us the once over. We cover an area with a population of 200,000 and it's great fun. We started three other Advertisers this year. One in Kilkenny, Athlone and Mayo and they have a circulation of about 25,000 each. They all have their own website and a massive number of hits each week," Declan wrote.

In Ireland, there are Advertisers in Kilkenny, Carrickfergus and Athlone.

But in Canada, as far as I could determine, the only other Advertiser is our sister paper in Grand Falls, Newfoundland. The Advertiser Democrat in Norway, Maine may actually be geographically closer.

Australia boasts the Campbellton-Macarthur Advertiser, which was launched near Sydney in 1878. The Advertiser is the only local daily newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1858, according to Wikipedia, the paper has one of the highest circulations in Australia.

Boonville, California, has an Advertiser too, and was also unknown to me prior to last week. Located 115 miles north of San Francisco, Boonville is best known as the source of the Boontling folk language. Bottles from the local Anderson Valley Brewing Company are labeled with the motto "It's bahl hornin'," which means "It's good drinkin'" in Boontling.

In early spring, the annual Legendary Boonville Beer Festival is held, featuring beers from about 50 craft breweries. A Pinot Noir Festival is held in May. Boonville, despite its population of 1,370, has a minor reputation among political leftists in the USA for countercultural ideals, including promotion of organic food. Sounds like Boonville is worth visiting.

There are Advertisers in Mongomery and Moulton, Alabama; Lafayette, Lousiana; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Lebanon, Illinois. Not too long ago, during the Acadian celebrations in Grand Pre, I made connection with a reporter from Lafayette and it was fascinating to explore our similarities and differences.

There is something to a name. For instance, the Cleveland Plain Dealer tells you exactly what its pages will contain. The name The Advertiser was always a tad too commercial for me until I found out our history going back over 130 years.

Unlike The Acadian in Wolfville, which had a shorter history, we may have a pragmatic title, but one with plenty of precedent around the world. I think this week, with its new design, The Advertiser will get just a little bit better. We hope you think so too.