There have been plenty of quips made about the name of this magazine over the past 22 years. One of the most common: “So, when are you guys coming out with Volume Two?” (Cue the laugh track.)

I’ve been working here for 11 years now, and I still haven’t developed a witty comeback to that one. I usually respond by explaining how our magazine’s somewhat unusual name came to be: When founders Nick Meyer and Dale Karls were mocking up the cover of the very first issue in early 2002, somebody typed the phrase “Volume One” on the computer. Presumably it was going to say “Volume One, Issue One” in small type, but the font size got blown out of proportion and was left at the top of the cover as a placeholder. No one came up with a different moniker for the new publication before it went to print, and so the name stuck. It ended up being fitting: “Volume” has meaning in music, and books come in volumes, too, while the number “one” suggests each new issue is a fresh start.

And thus, more than two decades later, we’re celebrating our 500th issue. Had things turned out slightly differently, this could be Volume 23, Issue 5 of a publication with a more straightforward name – the Chippewa Valley Reader, perhaps? – and this column wouldn’t exist. But it does exist, and that’s because the big, round number on the cover is the kind of number that makes people pause to reflect.

”

The title may never have progressed past the number ‘One,’ and arts and culture may still populate our pages, but we’ve also continued to grow and evolve in ways that could never have been anticipated 500 issues ago.

TOM GIFFEY

The story about how Volume One got its name always reminds me of another story, this one about the magazine’s subject matter. For those of you who weren’t around the Chippewa Valley in the early 2000s, or perhaps weren’t even born yet (*shudder*), the region didn’t have the kind of vibrant, creative reputation it does today. Then, as now, there were bands, and venues, and artists, and galleries. Then, as now, there were tons of imaginative people with interesting ideas looking to bring them to fruition. But there wasn’t nearly as much infrastructure to make that happen – and I don’t just mean literal infrastructure like the Pablo Center at the Confluence (although that certainly helps) or this very magazine (which we like to think helps, too). We mean the infrastructure that lies between our ears. At the time, Chippewa Vallians were much less likely to see this as a creative community and much more likely to view creative endeavors, however they’re defined, as a frill or even a distraction. So when that very first edition of Volume One hit the street 500 issues ago with the slogan “Culture and Entertainment in and around Eau Claire” on the cover, many people didn’t expect much. (On the magazine’s opening pages, in fact, the founders wrote, “This publication may very well be a one-time exercise in futility for us.” Fortunately, that prediction proved wrong.)

In fact, many readers asked, with various degrees of seriousness, that if the first issue of Volume One was about culture and entertainment, what was the second issue going to be about? The implication, of course, was that there was barely enough culture in the Valley to fill the pages of one slim issue, let alone two.

The answer to that question is still arriving every two weeks with a fresh issue of Volume One – still the Chippewa Valley’s independent source for culture and entertainment, as well as for community news and the latest on everything from restaurants to recreation to family happenings to event listings as well as tons of other information. The title may never have progressed past the number “One,” and arts and culture may still populate our pages, but we’ve also continued to grow and evolve in ways that could never have been anticipated 500 issues ago.

And, more importantly, so has our community – changing in ways too varied and complex to encapsulate in one issue of a magazine (or even a few hundred). But we’ve tried to do our best. It’s tempting at times like this to lean a little too far into patting-our-own-back territory. So please forgive us if we’re doing a little of that. But remember, this magazine would never have made it to issue No. 2 – let alone No. 500 – if it hadn’t been for the thousands of creative, inquisitive, and community-minded individuals around the Chippewa Valley who have both inspired our coverage and formed our audience. Over the years, our staff and contributors have tried their best to shine a spotlight on these things – to amplify their volume, if you will.

And with that, I think I just came up with another quip you can all make when you ask about our magazine’s name over the next 500 issues.

How Do We Stack Up?

To celebrate the 500th issue of Volume One, here’s a timeline of some notable milestones.