It’s a time warp to be back as editor

It’s a time warp to be back as editor

Columns

By: Marney Beck

I’m back! I feel like I’m caught in a time warp, because 16 years ago I was editor of the Richmond Hill Thornhill Liberal, and now I’m back in the job.

A resident of Richmond Hill since 1984, I was proud and happy to be the editor of this local community paper for nine years during the ‘80s and into the early 1990s.

Then I did the ‘mom thing,’ and worked from home as a Toronto Star freelancer covering York Region, while taking care of my two children. For a short but good time I also worked at our Markham sister paper The Economist and Sun.

But for the past 11 years, I’ve been driving from my home near the old downtown of Richmond Hill all the way to Bolton, where I was editor of another paper in the Metroland family, The Caledon Enterprise.

Yes, that was fun too, but the commute was not. Anyone reading this who commutes more than a half-hour to work will empathize ... the accidents which clog the roads, the ice and snow that slows traffic down to a crawl. I often spent an hour driving to work each morning and the same again each night, and it started to wear me down.

I kept thinking, ‘why am a driving so far from home to be a community newspaper editor?’

So when I learned this fall that an editor was needed for “my old paper,” The Liberal, I jumped at the chance and am thrilled to be working with many familiar faces and new talents here at The Liberal.

I’m busy setting up my office at 16th and Leslie, getting to know my staff, learning how things work, and tossing around lots of ideas for making The Liberal an even better community newspaper.

In coming weeks you’ll notice some changes, and hopefully you’ll think they’re for the better. This paper will feature even more stories and photographs about Richmond Hill and Thornhill than ever, but keep the regional news that you need to know, about transit, healthcare and issues that affect our students in our schools.

Like many of you, I’ve been involved for many years with my children’s elementary school and now their high school. I believe that for them to get the most out of their school experience, it helps to be informed and active in their schools. Not just because you know the principal and teachers in case you have a problem, but because you truly know how things work in the school, the good points and bad, the issues that parents can help resolve and those that are at the board or even provincial level. That’s why I’m on the parent council at my son’s high school, which I find helps parents stay up to date on the ever-changing education system.

And I believe in getting involved in the community too. I’m proud to say I helped Hill House Hospice get off the ground many years ago, and when my own father needed end-of-life care, a bed at hospice was offered to us, although he preferred to stay in his Richmond Hill retirement home. I was active with the United Way organization in York too, learning a lot about some of the many agencies that do good work in our municipalities.

As well, I’ve been a committed member of Girl Guides of Richmond Hill, which gave my daughter an incredible number of life skills and fun experiences - everything from selling cookies on our street to camping for a week at an international event in New Brunswick. The organization helped me grow as a person too, and I gave many hours a week to the cause for a decade, although sleeping on the hard ground in a tent wasn’t my favourite part of Girl Guides!

Just to be fair, of course, I had to do my bit for Scouting in Richmond Hill, so my son could enjoy the benefits of Beavers and Cubs. So I know from first-hand experience how many committed, caring leaders in both organizations give of their time to provide opportunities for Richmond Hill’s youngest citizens. I was only a part-time leader, but became known as the ‘edible craft leader’ who delighted boys by appealing to their stomachs!

I’ve participated in several Thornhill Village Festivals (once in a very hot old-fashioned costume) and ran in a Terry Fox event in Thornhill, not to mention freezing along with other parents at a Thornhill arena, watching my youngsters learn to skate.

So if there’s one thing I can advise residents of these great communities - whether you moved here last month or a decade ago - the best way to experience all the great amenities of Richmond Hill and Thornhill is to get out there and get involved. Be it sports, culture, recreation, musical or theatrical pursuits, a youth group or a seniors’ club, there’s no better way to make friends and become an intrinsic part of the community.

Al those things are exactly what you’ll continue to read about in The Liberal, because this newspaper lives and breathes community. I’ll be out and about, re-connecting with residents and community leaders over the coming months, and feel free to drop me a line at mbeck@yrmg.com.

I should be pretty friendly now that my commute is about 10 or 12 minutes!

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