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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - The third edition of the Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce's visitors' guide to Fort Simpson is now available throughout the community.

The 40-page, full-colour booklet was unveiled during a special Chamber of Commerce meeting on Aug. 6.

Betty Hardisty, left, helps Lorayne Menicoche-Moses point to the ad for her husband’s business that’s featured in the Chamber of Commerce's new visitors' guide to Fort Simpson. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The first edition of the guide came out around 2003 followed by a second edition a few years later. Kirby Groat, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said the guide was started as a way to create a directory of the businesses in the village.

"The reprint of it is long overdue," he said.

The chamber printed 5,000 copies, which it expects to last for at least two summer seasons. The guide, however, is aimed at more than just summer tourists.

"There's visitors to town all times of the year," said Groat.

The guide is also useful to business travellers, he said.Copies of the booklet are available at the Visitors Information Centre, businesses in the community and other information centres in the area. The booklets will also be distributed in communities as far south as High Level, Alta., and Fort Nelson, B.C.

"They're very popular," he said.

In addition to photos and information, Groat said the guide's biggest asset is the two-page map in the middle of the booklet. The map pinpoints all the businesses advertised in the guide and provides an easy way to give visitors directions, he said.

This year's guide is the largest edition yet, surpassing the last one by eight pages.

"It's come a long way," said Jacky Demers, a Fort Simpson resident who's done the layout for all three editions.

With each edition the guide has become better, said Demers. This time more businesses responded and placed ads in the guide, she said.

The guide also received support from Industry, Tourism and Investment, Parks Canada, the Fort Simpson Historical Society and the Open Sky Creative Society through contributed articles or photos, she said.

Although the latest guide is hot off the presses, Demers is already thinking about the next edition of the booklet, in which she'd like to see more information on the history of the Dene and their traditional knowledge of the area.

Lorayne Menicoche-Moses is one village resident who's impressed by the new edition.

"I think it's really good. It's beautiful," she said.

Menicoche-Moses' husband Floyd Moses has a space in the guide advertising his business Shehtah Adventures. The business is new this year and the guide will be a great way to build recognition, said Menicoche-Moses.