It’s time to unplug for a little while

For the next two weeks, the Pass Herald office will be quiet. The phones won’t be ringing, there won’t be another Wednesday deadline staring me in the face and, for the first time in months, I’ll be able to slow down just a little.

To be honest, I’m looking forward to it.

Every year before we close for our annual break, I write this editorial. It’s one of my favourites because it gives me a chance to reflect on the year so far and thank the people who make it all possible.

We’ll be back with our Aug. 19 edition.

Running a weekly newspaper is rewarding, but it never really stops. There is always another council meeting, another breaking story, another event, another deadline and another issue waiting to be put together. I love every minute of it, but even people who love what they do need to recharge.

This has been a good year for me personally.

I’m now more than four years cancer free, something I never take for granted. Every birthday, every vacation and every ordinary day feels like a gift that I appreciate a little more than I used to.

I’m always doing some so of exercise and this year I started training with Abby Park Fitness, and I can honestly say she’s changed my life. I’ve had trainers before, but Abby is different. She has taught me that being healthy isn’t about chasing a number on the scale. It’s about becoming stronger, building muscle and proving to myself that I’m capable of more than I thought. Between strength training, spin classes and a lot of hard work, I’m probably in the best shape I’ve been in for years.

Abby has given me so much more than muscles and a workout program. She’s one of the kindest, funniest and quirkiest people you’ll ever meet, and boy, does she know how to train. I often tell her that her workouts are “gross,” but the truth is they’re awesome. She knows exactly when to encourage me, exactly when to push me and somehow always gets me to do more than I think I can. Somewhere along the way she stopped being just my trainer and became one of my very best friends. I just love her.

I’m also incredibly grateful for my family.

Watching my boys grow into the men they have become has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. They are kind, hardworking, independent and genuinely good people. As parents, that’s really all we can hope for.

Quinn is home for his co-op, Keiran’s business, Douglas Applications, is thriving, if you notice he’s taken the summer off writing in the paper regularly, and Aiden has started his career in the Yukon. I don’t take for granted the evenings we still spend together around the dinner table. Years ago, I used to complain about the noise, the laundry and the dishes that magically appeared in the sink.

Now I know better. 

A quiet, spotless house isn’t nearly as wonderful as it sounds.

Speaking of adventures, this year I’m heading to Belgium and France for work. I’ll be gone for almost three weeks, but don’t worry, there will still be a newspaper every Wednesday. One of the nice things about technology is that you really can publish a community newspaper from almost anywhere in the world. If you know me at all, you know I’ll probably come home with a notebook full of story ideas and enough photos for three editions of the paper.

Professionally, it’s also been an exciting year.

I was honoured to be re-elected to a third consecutive one-year term as president of the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association. It’s an incredible privilege to representing 74 community newspapers across this great province and advocating for an industry that remains at the heart of so many Alberta communities.

This year I also joined the Crowsnest Pass Chamber of Commerce board. That’s always been who I am. When I think I can help make something better, I don’t sit on the sidelines and complain. I get involved. I’m excited to work alongside a great group of local business leaders who are committed to building a strong business community here in the Pass.

One of the highlights of the year was being invited to write opinion pieces for both the National Post and the Toronto Star. Having the opportunity to speak on behalf of community newspapers and local journalism across Canada was one of the year’s greatest privileges. Community newspapers continue to play an essential role in informing Canadians, holding governments accountable and strengthening the communities they serve. Being trusted with that platform is something I’ll always be grateful for.

Closer to home, the Pass Herald continues to grow.

Every publisher watches circulation numbers. I certainly do. So I’m incredibly proud to say our subscriptions are up, our advertisers continue to support us and we’re now distributing almost 1,500 newspapers every week. Considering there are about 3,000 utility accounts in the municipality, that means we’re reaching roughly half the community every single week.

This year we also expanded into the Elk Valley. It feels like a natural fit. The communities west of us have always shared strong ties with the Crowsnest Pass through mining, recreation, business and family connections. In many ways, we have more in common with the Elk Valley than we do with communities to our east. I’m excited to continue growing our readership there while never losing sight of our commitment to the Crowsnest Pass.

We’ve also continued to grow digitally. We launched our new website thanks to the amazing work of Norja at Colour Infusion, and our digital edition is now available through the Local Ink app. Local Ink has also created Back Pages, a searchable digital archive of nearly 20 years of the Pass Herald. Soon, readers will be able to type in a keyword and instantly find virtually any story we’ve published over the past two decades. It’s an exciting step forward in preserving the history of our community while making it easier than ever for readers to reconnect with the stories that matter to them. Community newspapers have to evolve, and we’re doing exactly that while staying true to what has always mattered most: local journalism.

After nearly a year away from council, I can honestly say I don’t miss sitting around the table. I do, however, enjoy holding those who do accountable. Good decisions deserve recognition. Poor ones deserve scrutiny. Council should represent everyone, not just the people who agree with them, and when I believe they’ve fallen short, I’ll continue to say so.

There is one more thing that has become important to me this year.

I’ve taken on the fight for responsible coal mining in the Crowsnest Pass because I believe our community deserves the opportunity to have both a healthy environment and a healthy economy. I’ve spent hundreds of hours reading reports, talking to people on all sides of the issue and trying to understand the science and the facts. I don’t believe those goals have to be mutually exclusive. I believe responsible industry and recreation can coexist and thrive together.

The Crowsnest Pass has always been an industrial community. Mining built these towns, and I don’t believe we should have to apologize for wanting opportunities that allow future generations to build their lives here. I believe the people who live here deserve the opportunity to decide what kind of community they want to be, and I believe every proposal deserves a fair, science-based regulatory process.

Whether people agree with me or not, they’ll never have to wonder where I stand. I’ll continue to fight for this community every day because I love this place. I want our children and grandchildren to have the opportunity to build careers, raise families and stay here if they choose. That doesn’t happen without jobs. It doesn’t happen without investment. And it doesn’t happen if we’re afraid to have honest conversations about our future.

Perhaps the thing I’m most grateful for is that this newspaper continues to be supported by this community.

In an industry where newspapers across Canada continue to disappear, the Crowsnest Pass Herald is still standing because of you.

Every subscription renewed, every advertisement purchased and every paper picked up tells us that what we do still matters.

For that, I can never say thank you enough.

So now it’s time to unplug for a little while.

I’m looking forward to spending time with my family, climbing a few more mountains, enjoying the Alberta summer and simply slowing down for a couple of weeks.

We’ll be back on Aug. 19, rested, recharged and ready to get back to telling the stories of this incredible community.

Man alive, it has been an incredible year. Personally, professionally and here at the Pass Herald, there has been so much to celebrate, and I’m genuinely excited to see what comes next.

Until then, thank you for another wonderful year. Thank you for supporting local journalism. Thank you for supporting our advertisers, who make this newspaper possible. And thank you for allowing my staff and me these two weeks to recharge.

I’ve often said I have the best job in the world because I get to tell the stories of this community every single week. Thank you for trusting me to tell them.

Life is busy. Work is important. But so are the people we love. The stories will still be here in two weeks. The memories we make while we’re away are the ones we’ll keep forever.

I hope over the next few weeks you take the time to enjoy your family, make some memories and appreciate this beautiful place we all call home.

I know that’s exactly what I plan to do.