It has been a long road, literally, from Northern Ontario to northern Alberta.
But that's the path this lifelong journalist has taken to end up as the new publisher-in-training here at the Bonnyville Nouvelle.
After spending more than 25 years as a sports writer, news reporter, senior reporter, court reporter, associate editor and the past 10 months as editor of the Barrhead Leader, the Greatwest Newspaper chain has offered me the opportunity of a lifetime.
I've pretty much seen it all and done it all when it comes to the editorial side of the newspaper business, but this job presents a wonderful new challenge as there is so much to learn about all the departments that go into making a quality newspaper.
After only one week on the job, I already sense how much the Bonnyville Nouvelle means to the citizens of this area.
I also realize there is a hard-working crew of employees who care deeply about this community and put their heart and soul into ensuring the Nouvelle is a newspaper we can all be proud of.
A good newspaper provides balanced, fair and accurate reporting to readers about the issues that matter and people who live in their community.
A good newspaper provides a nice cross-section of articles that focus not only on big decisions being made by community leaders, but also good work being done by local citizens and businesses to try and make their community a better place to live.
A good newspaper provides quality sports coverage detailing not only the success and failure of the Junior A hockey club, but also never forgets about young kids and seniors who pursue their athletic and recreational endeavours with passion.
A good newspaper goes out of its way to provide advertisers with a quality publication where they receive significant exposure for their advertising dollar.
I am very much looking forward to meeting the leaders of this community and regular citizens in the coming weeks and months and becoming a proud member of the Bonnyville community.
Born and raised in Northern Ontario and having worked there for most of my career, the transition to northern Alberta has been relatively easy.
I'm used to long, nasty and cold winters and long, gorgeous, beautiful summers that don't last long enough.
Despite attending university in Toronto many years ago, I've never been a person who enjoys the big city nearly as much as he likes smaller towns and cities.
Life is simpler and the people are friendlier in towns like Bonnyville. I just know I'm going to love it here.
As an avid golfer, I really can't wait to take out a membership and spend a lot of my free time trying to lower my handicap at the Bonnyville Golf and Country Club.
The only promise I will make is that I will work extremely hard to ensure the Bonnyville Nouvelle remains a quality newspaper.
I will try my very best to ensure every employee who works here enjoys their job and every subscriber will read a newspaper they trust and can be proud of.
Please don't be shy to email me at [email protected] or call me at 780-826-3876.
