Feature ArticleNovember 7, 2001
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On the move again, orby Doreen HowesShould I entitle this bit of writing I Was There, or I'm Still Here? It's immaterial, because I'm thinking of my years (and moves) with The (North) Frontenac News, so either title would do. My reminiscing began when I commented to David Brison that our move to the new building on Garrett St., next to Stedmans, was another move, of many, for me in my long association with the newspaper.
I recalled my initial contact with The News in January of 1982. I had retired from teaching in June of '81, had done some travelling and was ready to focus on some serious volunteering that I felt qualified to undertake. The News was asking for proofreaders and we were there in abundance, so many that we had to find space out in the hallway. There were never as many after that, and eventually most stopped coming, but I was hooked! The News then occupied a large room at the back of the North Frontenac Community Services building, directly over the boardroom. The content editor at the time had some "hang-ups" with grammar, which I helped her with, so I was rewarded with the job of Copy Editor. Those reporters' columns sometimes needed a little polishing! I also did writing, interviewing local people to tell about their jobs or hobbies, and wrote about my own travels. Things were done in a very simple way then typewriters, and hand work on the ads. We published every two weeks, and the day I worked was Monday. Eventually with the promise of at least two full-page ads, we went weekly, a big decision. Of course, the two big ads lasted only a short time and ever since, there has been that big struggle to get enough ads to pay for the content space!
NFCS bought a house across the road as the main building was "bulging" with people and services. The News was set up in the kitchen and what had been the "back kitchen" or woodshed, complete with a large trapdoor entry to the basement. I was terrified of that trapdoor, open or closed (I had walked into an open one in the dark one time). That back room was not very warm in winter, but they did endeavour to insulate it better. People seemed to like to come in by that back door which didn't help the temperature.
After a few years, things changed again. Grants dwindled, money was scarce; there was space again in the main building, so the small house was to be sold. We were to move back, but downstairs this time, into what had been the boardroom, sacrificed to provide our space. I still remember the first day: there had been a big snowstorm and the road up the hill was not plowed when I was dropped off at the bottom. My arthritic knees and shortness of breath made it a climb of major proportions. It took a while to get everything moved and to arrange it all again in a one-room setting.
By now, modern technology had brought us to computers, and different ways of doing things. But our comfortable setting had to come to an end. An opportunity to rent the boardroom space had been accepted and The News must take up new "digs" again two small rooms nearer the front door. It had to work, and it did, until a year after The News was sold and new space was bought in a different building. We miss the supportive, friendly, family feeling we had enjoyed all those years with NFCS, but that can't be helped. They are not far away and we see them on occasion.
So here we are again, a new location, bright, freshly decorated and rapidly feeling like home. The News is still The News, doing what is always has, providing good communication for the northern part of our county and beyond. Thank goodness that goal is still the same, and that there are people willing yes dedicated to achieving that goal in the best possible way. I am grateful to have been around for the moves and changes of these past 20 years.
This brings me back to my reason for joining The News to volunteer my services. I had volunteered when I was teaching by belonging to church groups, the Women's Institute, and the Agricultural Society, but when a person retires they need a real focus for a regular portion of their lives, giving back to society what they had justifiably taken from it, but taken, nevertheless. Being a volunteer gives one a real feeling of using whatever talents and/or training we have had to help others, without monetary recompense, but just to "give." It rewards us with a feeling of pride that we had it to give as well as the warmth of knowing we may have influenced or helped other people. John Donne said "No [wo-]man is an islandwhat we put into the lives of others comes back into our own." How true, and our associations with those other lives certainly enrich ours.
So it has been for me I can't imagine how empty my life might have been without the major commitment to The News, along with the many other time-consuming organizational duties, writing assignments, canvassing, and other volunteer jobs I've assumed since retiring.
Another thought comes to mind I do not drive nor own a vehicle, so most of those volunteer commitments depended on other people providing rides for me. They, too, were volunteers, and I'm grateful to them. I hope they have felt rewarded as well. This International Year of the Volunteer has reminded the world how important helping one another truly is. May we never forget that.
