How Jim Pavelich launched the Vail Daily in 1981

What happens when you bet your livelihood on a town that’s already got a working newspaper?

Jim Pavelich bet it all on being the last one standing.

Forty-five years ago this week, on June 15, 1981, the Vail Daily hit the stands. It was an 8.5-by-11-inch one-sheet. It was new. And it was trying to kill the competition.

The paper’s introduction made its ambition clear: it hoped to be the “last entry into the daily newspaper field” in Vail. The target was the Vail Daily Mail, which had tried to go daily before folding shortly before the Daily launched. Pavelich, who would later sell the paper in 1993, wasn’t just trying to survive; he was trying to dominate.

He almost succeeded. But he didn’t stop there. After selling the Vail Daily, Pavelich started another daily, the Vail Mountaineer, in 2008. It didn’t last.

The first edition was humble in format but specific in content. It featured the No Name Golf Tournament, where John Abbleby, Tom Maitland, Al Knoblock, and Don Rindfleish shot a 58 to win a trophy donated by “the Ford Tournament” — likely the Jerry Ford Invitational. The coverage was straightforward, ending with the classic small-town sign-off: “A good time was had by all.”

The paper also took care of business. It advertised Micky Poage, the piano man who still plays evenings at Vista restaurant in Arrowhead. It listed Eagle Valley Music and Comics and Sweet Basil, both of which are still in business today.

But the real story was Town Talk.

Today, Town Talk is a photo-heavy showcase of local life. In 1981, it was text. It listed names: Rick Richards, Gary Smith, Thor Loberg, Art Fabro, John Pavelich, Leigh Quist. The goal was the same: showcase locals and visitors. The medium was just different.

The Vail Daily had a rival in the Vail Trail, which had been publishing since 1965. The Daily’s pitch was simple: it would print every day. It closed its first issue with a promise to its readers: “‘Til mañana …”

That promise held. The Vail Daily didn’t just survive the Vail Daily Mail; it became the voice of Eagle County.

The question now is whether the current iteration of the paper can hold that same position as media habits shift. The Vail Daily started as a physical one-sheet. It ended up as a daily staple. It’s a long way from a single page of text and golf scores.

But the core idea hasn’t changed. It’s still about showing up. It’s still about naming names. It’s still about being there when the sun comes up.

As the paper noted in its first issue, it didn’t want to get too cute with puns. It just wanted to report. That’s what it’s still doing.