Alumni memories
We asked former Record employees to share memories of their time working here
I worked as a contract Classified sales representative in Kitchener during the summers of 2007 and 2008. I mostly worked in obituaries, but also designed job ads, auctions, car ads, requests for tenders, and so on. Here is my memory (however odd it is):
In 2007, the Classifieds department had just started using new software that hadn’t gotten all its bugs out yet. One of these bugs was changing a “period-space-space” to the unicode Latin cross character but we wouldn’t know until the paper had been printed and on newsstands. The copious amount of crosses throughout the text made the obituaries look pretty odd for a few weeks until we realized what was causing the problem and fixed it. Kendra Stieler
As a 16-year-old in Grade 11 at St. Mary’s High School in 1955, I replied to a Record Box Number in April for a clerk-typist position for the summer. To my surprise, The Record responded! My interview with Ms. Margaret Morrison was successful and I began part-time, then full-time in June at the reception desk/Classified department at Queen Street North/Duke Street. Mr. Jim Boland became my Classified advertising manager shortly thereafter.
Having immigrated from Austria in July, 1948, my German language was a great asset (major German immigration in the 1950s).
The Record moved to the Fairway Road location in 1973, where again, I have wonderful memories of incredible Record employees and the Motz family, with whom I was blessed to work. Dealt with customers by phone (employment agencies, real estate, etc.), later at the reception desk (from Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to University of Waterloo President David Johnston, retired Governor General, etc.), church officials, people from all walks of life.
It was an honour to have received the Katy Award, Employee of the Month and the Customer Service Award.
I was so proud when our daughter, Sonja, became part-time switchboard operator, our son, John, worked in display advertising and son Paul worked in the mail room.
At age 65, I retired, but was called back briefly during The Record’s move to the current location on King Street, so I was blessed to have been at three Record locations! Anne Kroisenbrunner (nee Annemarie Mausser)
In the early 1900s, a young Annie Hoffman worked as a typesetter for a newspaper in Walkerton. Someone from Kitchener discovered she was fluent in German and recruited her for the Berliner. She moved to Kitchener and boarded with the Harlock family on Queen St North. There she fell in love with their son Irvine. They were soon married and with the birth of their first daughter in 1927 Annie retired to raise her family. That child was my mother and the rest is family history! Patti Anne Kraatz
Hi, I worked on the Technology Spotlight advertising for three years. I’ve told this story to many people about my time at The Record. Not sure if it was 2001 or later, but RIM (at the time) was always the biggest ad buy, first section, back page full colour. The ad copy is the story, as RIM was celebrating their explosive growth in a communication sector they created. The tag line was; “BlackBerry, two million thumbs and counting.”
And just a note to say thank you for the outstanding job you do, serving this community. The Sprucedale explosion story is just the latest example as to why local journalism matters. Bob Felker
My favourite memories from being a business reporter in the 1990s involve documenting the evolution of this area’s high-tech sector, including the early days of firms that became some of the area’s major employers.
My first Record bylines appeared as a district correspondent in Stratford, in 1984. Things were different in the predigital age. I banged out stories on a manual typewriter, then called the newsroom to dictate copy to night staff, whose shifts became longer the more I filed. (Sorry, Dianne Wood!)
Relief for both her and me came from modems and Tandy portable computers with one-line screens.
Mike Strathdee, district correspondent in 1984 and 1985, summer student in 1986 and a business reporter from 1987-1999
I was hired in 1972 to write milestone events such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and graduations.
I also helped out with obituaries, receiving notices from funeral directors.
On one such call for the death of say Mrs. Jones, he ended the call with “Mrs. Jones will receive family and friends at ...” I interrupted, “Don’t you mean the family of Mrs. Jones will receive ...?”
He chuckled and replied, “Oh, we thought we’d stand her up in the corner and let her wave to the visitors.”
The obituary was published properly. On another occasion I received a handwritten note from someone’s family member with all the pertinent information: name, age 80, husband’s name, children and grandchildren. I wrote it up to sound like all other obits.
The next day the phone rang. A family member announced she hadn’t died, it was to announce her 80th birthday party.
It turns out she had the best party ever as people were delighted to attend a party, not a funeral.
After that, funeral homes were required to be checked in all obits.
That became important when a man called in saying no funeral home was involved. It turns out he wanted the death of his dog announced. That was not published. Barbara Seeley, employed 1972-1975, again in the mid ’80s in Classified
Saturday, Feb. 28, 1959. A small editorial crew cruising through a quiet morning. I answered a call from our Listowel correspondent.
“The arena roof here has collapsed under the weight of snow.”
“Anyone hurt?” I asked.
The chilling answer ... seven young hockey players and their coach all killed.
The newsroom galvanized into action. Sports editor Len Taylor and myself rocketed up Highway 86 to Listowel, photographers despatched. Desk staff cleared the front page for the year’s biggest story.
We telephoned in our stories, Len from the arena, myself from the hospital. We had two hours to deadline.
My story earned me first prize for spot news reporting in the annual Western Ontario newspaper awards. Ray Stanton, staff writer, 1956-1965
My memories of The Record go back to 1975 when, as an employee of The Brantford Expositor, I was required to periodically visit The Record due to shared technology. The Record employees would help me duplicate computer perforated tapes that we used in our systems. Every time I visited The Record I marvelled at what appeared to me as an “ideal newspaper to work for.” Little did I know at that time that my dream would come true. After I left my position in Brantford, I was hired by The Record in March 1998 to work in the IT department. I immediately was made to feel like I was part of a family. I couldn’t believe my luck. I continued working in the IT department until my retirement in 2006. It wasn’t a long time working there but over the course of my career, I was associated with five different newspapers. The Record goes down in my history as the best organization and best fellow employees it was my pleasure to work with. As a result, it is my honour to help The Record celebrate 140 years of success. Tom Kerby