And another year has begun…
When I wrote this column it was still 2018.
By the time you read it will be 2019.
I could use this space to write about new year’s resolutions I intended to make but the truth is none were on my list. If and when there is room for improvement in my life, it is something I will do on an ongoing basis no matter the day of the year, whether it’s Jan. 1, June 1 or Dec. 1.
We’ve spent a lot of time in our newsroom over the past couple of weeks reflecting on the year that went by during our annual Year in Review in print and online. Often times there are people who will suggest, “There’s nothing in the paper,” but when you stand back and look at all of the news that gets reported 52 weeks of the year it’s obvious that’s just not true.
In fact, when it comes to pulling things out for the Year in a Review it’s never a case of there not being enough news, but there was so much of it you simply can’t review it all.
This was a difficult year for our region. We suffered many heartbreaking tragedies – particularly when it came to the loss of young lives. I won’t lie, those were very difficult to stories to write. Some of you cried as you read them. Be assured, I cried as I wrote them.
But thankfully there was also a lot of news that was fun to report. One my favourite quotes of the year belongs to Donna Hatt, chairwoman of the South Shore Tourism Co-operative, when they had Lucy the Lobster look for her shadow on Groundhog Day morning in the Municipality of Barrington to declare whether an early spring was in our midst. “It’s taking her a really long time to get to the trap,” Hatt said, as Lucy made her slow crawl. “Spring might come before she gets to the trap.”
As you know, I love hockey. So you can image how fun it was to cover the Yarmouth Mariners’ league playoff run in March and April and, more recently, to write about Yarmouth native Ryan Graves’ finally getting the chance to play in his first official NHL game. I’ve been writing stories about this kid – okay he’s 23, not a kid – since his days in minor hockey and we’ve followed him during his major midget, major junior and AHL pro hockey career. I know how hard he’s worked to achieve this dream so the hockey mom in me has been extremely proud that he finally got the opportunity to do something he has dreamed about since he literally was a kid. It’s just nice to write stories when nice things happen to nice people.
Meanwhile, one thing the reporters in our company’s newsrooms were asked to do as the year came to a close was to pick out our favourite story of the year. I picked a story that not only made me smile as I covered it but had me smiling the whole drive home from the assignment.
From the time I had received the media release that a volunteer group from Toronto – led by Clare, N.S. natives Danielle LeBlanc and Briand Melanson – were going to be coming to the Villa Acadienne in Meteghan to bring music back into the lives of seniors by putting on a 1950s prom for the seniors who reside there, I couldn’t wait to cover the event.
And so when I think back over the year 2018, the story – ‘1950s Twist and Shout Prom Night fills Villa Acadienne seniors’ residence with nostalgia, friendship, music and memories’ – is definitely a favourite.
While both LeBlanc and Melanson had connections to this longterm care facility for seniors – her grandmother and his father lived here prior to their deaths – I also had a connection to this facility. My grandmére lived here the final years of her life. Unfortunately, in those years dementia and Alzheimers had taken their toll and she didn’t remember me anymore. But I’ve never forgotten her – Regina Comeau.
And so being at the Villa Acadienne for prom night in July and seeing the seniors, staff, families and community volunteers so excited was, for me, both adorable and exciting. From talking to resident Rose Muise as she settled on bright red lipstick to wear, to watching the love story of Jean and Emma Cottreau still going strong after 48 years of marriage as they were named prom king and queen, it was a perfect evening and a throwback to decades ago.
The musical performances were superb and that this entire group of friends would voluntarily travel from Toronto to Meteghan to do this was appreciated by so many people, including myself.
And that I got to share in the experience as a journalist and a granddaughter of a former resident made it even more enjoyable.
This isn’t to say this was my only favourite story of the year – the truth is, there are way too many list. But this one in particular seemed to sum up everything that we, I would hope, would all like to experience in our daily lives – a sense of community, of love, of caring, of compassion and of just plain fun.
And so as I say goodbye to 2018 and hello to 2019, I do so with the anticipation of knowing that many more ‘favourite’ stories lie ahead in the next 12 months.
And I look forward to writing them for you.
Happy New Year everyone.