聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 By the time this is printed, I will have just passed my one-year anniversary as a member of Team Observer and as a returning resident of the province of Saskatchewan. When I was considering the move back home, a friend of mine-a confirmed urbanite and native Albertan- who made the move from Calgary to Regina decades ago, urged me to come back to what she called, 鈥淭he kinder, gentler province.鈥� During the past year, I've often joked about earning my 鈥淪askie stripes,鈥� as I've covered (and rediscovered) Rider green days, bonspiels, pumpkin growing contests, ag days, fall suppers, craft shows, quad derbies, snowmobile rallies, and lake life, just to name a few.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The two things that stand out most to me are the kindness (and patience!) of people here and聽 how hard many of them work to help others and/or enrich their communities without any expectation of thanks-either publicly or privately. Most everyone whom I've encountered regarding a story has been unfailingly kind, patient (there's that word again) and helpful, and for that, I'd like to thank you all. I have a list of names of individuals, businesses, and organizations from the communities we cover that would fill an entire issue of The Observer, so I must simply say thanks so very much to you all-and I hope you know who you are.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Putting out a paper is definitely a team sport, and I would especially like to thank my bosses and colleagues here at The Observer for welcoming me with kindness, patience, and humour.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ted is our head honcho and office jetsetter, but whenever he does grace our local premises, he is never too busy to give guidance, grant holiday leave, or even to 鈥渄ecorate鈥� my office with fabulous vintage finds. Thanks to Ted, I discovered the Dickens rummage sale doesn't take returns. (But watch out, Boss. Revenge is a dish best eaten cold and I'm playing a long game...Watch this space!).
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Cindy, our boss lady, is a combination of calm, humour, and techie smarts. She is seemingly unflappable and manages to manage us-along with computer crises and other business for our newspaper group-all while retaining her sanity and sense of humour. Her big heart never forgets the big picture though, and if any one of us has a family emergency, she simply says: 鈥淕o.鈥� Thank you, Cindy.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Alison is our sales dynamo and like Ted, she's both in and out of the office. When she's here, she's kind, funny, and can always be counted on to supply the editorial staff with story ideas and phone numbers of hard-to-reach individuals, just when we're about to give up on ever reaching the person in question. And Alison, you always, always, give us a 鈥淕ood morning鈥� and a 鈥淕ood night.鈥� Thank you.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Kelly, my lovely young editor, is like Cindy, a mix of kindness, calm, and smarts. Thank you, Kelly for working hard to accommodate me whenever a royal comes to Canada. Thank you for teaching me so much during the past year. Thank you for catching my errors, for the sources, for helping me decode the mysteries of gathering the RCMP Report, as well as for so many other things too long to list here. And of course, thank you for giving me a favourite volleyball team to cheer for- Vipers Forever!
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Karen, you were the first person to welcome me-via Facebook-while I was packing up my life in Calgary. You have been kindness itself -in and out of the office- and your knowledge and generosity regarding all aspects of my job has been oh-so-helpful and above and beyond. You've given me story ideas, phone numbers, explained who's who, given me tons of tech help-and you share your adorable grandkids with all of us here at the office. Thank you.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When I arrived here, one of the first things I noticed were signs throughout the office that read: 鈥淵ou know where you're going. God knows where you're going. But does WANDA know where you're going?鈥� Sadly, our wonderful Wanda is going and I know we will all miss her. Wanda, thank you for your kindness and your help, but most of all, for your hilarity. Cindy and I say, 鈥淣o one is as fun as Wanda鈥�, and we're right. I will miss you. Thank you for ensuring that no day at the office goes by without a laugh.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ainsley is an even more recent member of staff than I. However, during her short time here, she has saved me more than once by catching glaring bloopers in my copy: but that information will forever remain our little secret, right Ainsley? However, I can disclose that she kindly photoshopped my roots in my staff pic. Thank you for that, Ainsley. (Now if we could just do something about my appearance in real life...)
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Crystal is the newest member of Team Observer. She was formerly the nerve centre at our Redvers office and although I haven't (yet!) had a chance to pester her here at The Observer, she has helped me hugely whenever I had to cover stories in Redvers. (And yes, she gave me driving聽 directions!). Thank you, Crystal and welcome.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Behind the scenes, we have an entire team of people who get the paper out of this building and into the hands of our readers. We have a group of lovely ladies who magically appear at the office every week to get the final product ready for Kiaran to deliver to our readers. Ladies, thank you for livening up the place as we're hitting the week-end wall.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In addition to his unfailingly pleasant demeanor, Kiaran is the person who delivers The Observer to our readers. He also -literally-does a lot of the heavy lifting around here. I (and my back!) thank you for that, Kiaran.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Of course, without you, our readers and the people who make the news really happen for us (and often, you're one and the same) there would be no Observer and I would not be here to enjoy this place, this province, its people, and their stories.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Thank you all.
