This, 30th, edition is a celebration edition of a long-term association of Pocket Books® with the Bacchus Marsh region. In fact, the longest of all other regions where Pocket Books produces the local directories.

The first book was produced in 1990. Yes, you probably guessed. That was our first directory for Bacchus Marsh and our first directory at all. Gerry and Nevenka, the owners of Pocket Books®, who lived then in Melbourne, rushed to publish the first edition just before they tied their knot in early July 1990. The first edition was hand-bound to save on cost. The four visitors who came to the wedding from Slovenia, Nevenka's country of origin, were all engaged in the binding of the 3,000 books just a week before the wedding. We joked 'no book-no wedding' to encourage us to work faster.

Nevenka, her mother, her cousin and the cousin's ten-year-old son (who is now a solicitor in Slovenia) were laminating the covers and attaching a black strip to the spine after Gerry punched the staples into the paper and after Nevenka's father hammered the staples in. We literally finished two days before the wedding, just enough time to dispatch the book and pick up the suit and the dress and do the final preparations for the wedding.

Well, after that experience we have decided that we will never bind books by ourselves again - and we didn't. Not only was a lot of manual work, the books looked better when bound by machines.

We were nevertheless proud of our first edition. We wanted to produce a directory that would serve local businesses and local residents who would be able to find these businesses in their local areas. One of our often-used slogans was 'keeping business in our town'.

The times then were not easy. We had a recession that we 'had to have'. Many people will still remember that. Interest rates for house loans were about 13%, for cars 18%. Cash was scarce. Official unemployment was about 11% in 1993. Official only, because usually in a couple situation, the unemployed person did not count in the figures if the other person worked.

But Pocket Books® continued supporting the local business and the community in Bacchus Marsh. Fighting at the same time also a strong competition in Yellow Pages, slowly, the value of the Pocket Book® directory was recognised by local residents and progressively it has become the main directory in the area.

Then a global financial crisis struck in about 2008. Again, Pocket Books® stood by the side of the local businesses and the community in the Bacchus Marsh region.

At those times the digital arena was rapidly developing. Pocket Books® recognised the value of the internet and the first website was created in as early as 2004. But it was not before Google created a search engine of how to retrieve the information submitted to internet that has totally changed the usage of the digital and especially the internet platform. Pocket Books® has developed since a fully independent internet platform for advertising thus offering to local businesses to be found either on the Pocket Books® website or in the book.

However, Google has become an advertising company also itself and in its dual role - as a search engine and as an advertising company - it started to utilise its platform to actively eliminate its competition from the arena of advertising. We know that today many newspapers are gone, and many local directories have been affected by unfair Google competition. Some directories have adjusted and have become Google sales agents, that is, businesses can buy Google ads (or facebook ads) through them. Pocket Books® have not done that. As always, we stand independent and serving only one purpose, to help businesses being successful having in mind local community integrity and coherence.

In many ways only the two American giants Google and Facebook have monopoly on the Australian advertising market currently. However, this comes with a cost. Local areas have become impoverished. Promoting globality, many people struggle to make money in a local area. Again, Pocket Books® is aiming at continuing bringing the best out in the community where you live, to give the community self-worth and to keep the business thriving.

This year has seen one of the biggest tests set upon Bacchus Marsh with the Covid spread, or rather with the restriction in relation to the Covid. Many owners have retired early, many businesses have closed or are struggling to survive. We, at Pocket Books® feel with the community and ask the residents to tell businesses that they have found them in Pocket Book®. This will make the businesses thrive and make our work worthwhile.

We thank the residents of the Bacchus Marsh region who support the Pocket Book® by using it and we thank the businesses who put trust in us during all these years.

P.S. The influence of Bacchus Marsh reached the Clarke family even further by Gerry's brother Anthony Clarke living in Ballan for a number of years. Their father, late Calvert Clarke also lived in Ballan with Anthony and died peacefully at the age of nearly 99 at the Ballan Aged Care, where they offered to him a wonderful care in his last year of life.

The front covers have usually featured aspects of community life and local places.

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