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Islanders woke up to a surprise last Fourth of July. It was the thump of a newspaper in their driveway a day earlier than expected. And what they found was also a surprise. Instead of their weekly Marco Island Eagle, Islanders awoke to a revamped free daily newspaper that harkened a new era in news coverage on the island.

Today, the Eagle reflects on the first anniversary of covering hometown news every day.

“With a daily paper and the Web site we launched a few weeks later, marconews.com, we saw a unique opportunity to serve our readers and advertisers better,” said Maria Lettman, Naples Daily News managing editor, who oversees the Eagle and marconews.com.

“People all over the world have an interest in the island, whether they live, work or play on Marco full-time or part-time.”

Eagle staffers were given a few weeks notice that the paper would be transitioning from a weekly to a daily paper. That allowed them to totally revamp the paper’s look and feel, said presentation editor Nadine Ouillette. The paper was also able to add new features, like yourmarco.com, which gives readers a chance to publish exactly what they want, Ouillette said.

It also meant reporters who were used to write stories on a weekly basis needed to change the way they thought, and wrote, about the events happening on the island.

“There’s more immediacy to the job,” said Quentin Roux, the Eagle’s business reporter. “Instead of piling up stuff for a weekly, you are compelled to get stories out pretty soon after they have happened.”

Getting those stories out there was especially a benefit in the sports and news departments.

“Our readers get a chance to get what transpires faster and with more days,” said Roger LaLonde, who covers sports and recreation on the island. “Follow-up stories quickly add to the comprehensive coverage of what’s happening on Marco.”

But reporters weren’t the only people who needed to adjust to the new daily schedule. Circulation manager Don Eggeman said his department needed to develop quick and efficient ways to get the product to the thousands of homes and businesses on the island.

“Mostly it was reacting to opportunities that presented themselves when we physically changed to a five day a week delivery system,” Eggeman said.

Those changes included delivering the newspaper to each room of the Marco Island Marriott Resort, dealing with condominium regulations and setting up more than 200 locations on, and off, the island for reader’s to discover the news daily.

Several weeks after the Eagle entered the homes of Islanders, they had another source for news, marconews.com. Having the Web site, allowed readers to access breaking news, entertainment and dining guides at any time during the day, Lettman said.

“People get more news about the island, and they get it much quicker,” Lettman said. “People get more photos and stories about the social scene, clubs and events. People especially love that we deliver all this good stuff to them free every day.”

A year later, the newspaper is still growing and changing. Recently, Tom Rife retired as editor, and Lettman is leading the search for a replacement. She says the next editor will spend a good portion of his or her job getting more of what Islanders want onto the Web site and into the paper.

As for the future of the Eagle, Lettman said Islanders should expect to see even more hometown news, delivered, as always, right to their doorsteps.