You’ll have to excuse me if in the next eight weeks you see more photos and softer features in the Rocky View Weekly. I love photos and have grown accustomed to shooting lots of them, and writing long, fluffy features, as I come from a magazine background.
I come to Rocky View as a bit of a rookie. I’ve only ever really driven through a couple of times before, as most of my work and my life centred around the foothills south of Calgary. But, I’m happy to be covering events that matter to residents in the county.
I’ve been here a week, and I’m slowly but surely getting back into the swing of community newspapers. In the last week, I’ve spent three days out of four in Beiseker, meeting council, community members and the quilters guild. So far, everyone I’ve met is lovely and I’m enjoying getting to know new people. Please be patient with me as I get to know you all.
It’s been years since I wrote for a community newspaper. My first job was in High River in 2007, where I covered Town council, the school division, crime, courts, sports, rodeo, and lots of general interest happenings for The High River Times.
I covered a flood, for the first time ever. There, I was introduced to ranching, rodeo, chuckwagon racing and cowboys. I wrote profiles of people, discovered what made them tick, and they showed me and readers how they saw the world. Back then, there were breaking news stories, long dashes sounding on the police scanner that foretold of deadly explosions, wrecks on the highway and fires. It seemed glamorous being a reporter for the local newspaper, and I reveled in it, and thrived on the tight deadlines.
High River embraced me as a Maritime transplant, with a warmth that made it feel like home. And, as I expanded my area of coverage and began freelancing for media companies across Alberta, and then Canada, I found that warmth and hospitality was ubiquitous.
In the months and years since, I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked for more than 30 magazines, newspapers, and online news agencies across Canada. Most recently for Rocky View Weekly’s sister paper, the Okotoks Western Wheel, covering council and getting the story behind the story.
What else can I tell you? I grew up in small town Nova Scotia, where everyone knew each other, each other’s business, and each other’s father and grandfather. I grew up safe with the knowledge that I could ramble wherever I wanted in my small town within walking distance. I climbed trees, enjoyed sunny summer days, played in the surf and sunk my toes into the squishy mud of the Bay of Fundy.
I am a chocoholic, a bit of a caffeine addict (who isn’t, in this industry?), and have a passion for good baklava. I love critters, great and small. In my spare time, I dance highland and volunteer in the community, because I believe in involving myself in the community where I live. I live in Okotoks, and will be commuting up every day, but don’t hold that against me.
I’m only at Rocky View Weekly for a couple of months, but I am looking forward to meeting you all and telling your stories. I look forward to the challenge of covering news in Rocky View, and if you see me on the streets with camera in hand, do say hello.
