A lot has changed in Langley in the past 81 years. Indeed, there are two Langleys now! Langley City emerged out of Langley Township in the 1950s- and now even Langley Township has lots of streetlights.

Langley - City and Township - is served by two MLAs, rather than being one polling district within a provincial riding that covered most of the Fraser Valley.

And Langley has its own MP, too.

While agriculture still constitutes an important part of the local economy - though not nearly as a large a part as in 1931 - the farmers working the fields in these parts back then probably would find themselves lost in today's high-tech operations.

And speaking of high technology - every business in Langley, and around the world, is being operated in ways that the people of 1931 couldn't possible have envisioned.

The place looks different. The roads are all paved. There are indoor swimming pools and skating rinks, and the communities that make up the Langleys have changed enormously. Coghlan and Lochiel, Sperling and Harmsworth barely exist anymore.

And Murrayville, once the thriving centre of Langley, faded from prominence and is now- one of the thriving centres of Langley. Likewise Willoughby. And Walnut Grove. And there was no Willowbrook 81 years ago.

The community newspaper which emerged in Langley in 1931, from a cooperative effort between a journalist's family and the community it vowed to serve, has changed since then, too. There was no Internet or World Wide Web then. No Facebook or Twitter. Heck, even photographs were a rare luxury.

But there was a need for the community to keep in touch with itself - a need for a way for the community to communicate.

The first edition of the Langley Advance hit the streets 81 years ago this week, on July 23, 1931. The technology has changed dramatically, but the need - and the cooperation - remain constant.

Thank you for your cooperation, allowing us to fill that need through the past 81 years.