Here’s to a year of community trust

Wednesday, Aug. 14 will be one year at Revelstoke Mountaineer for me. Time sure flies, eh? Since then I have written over 40 Revelstoke This Week newsletters, 16 City Council Minute newsletters and over 100 articles exploring so many different aspects of Revelstoke.

“I did not imagine myself falling in love with local journalism as much as I have since taking this role,” I recently told a fresh journalism school grad who was struggling with what happens next. “Tell nine-year-old me, who was convinced he’d be a world-traveling, international politics journalist, he’d end up reporting in a town just one province over and he would have lost it. But this was the best move I ever made.”

It’s a year of being trusted with numerous stories, events, questions and more from a community I’m brand new to. In my first letter to you, I wrote how I was very conscious of the fact someone not currently connected to the community was taking on the role of local journalist, acknowledging there was a lot I was going to have to do to build your trust. Since then I have been able to connect with so many of you to get feedback on how things are going.

A community member once made what was possibly a lighthearted comment about how frequently some people come and go in Revelstoke. I was maybe two months living in Revelstoke, still getting that shocked, “oh, you just moved to town” look from folks. This particular community member asked how long I was planning to stay in Revelstoke. Considering I’d just packed a trailer and two cats onto BC Ferries and across the province, I said I was planning to stay for a while.

“We’ll see if you make it a year, some folks don’t last too long here,” they replied. “It’s hard to live in Revelstoke.”

Well here we are, one year later. In that year I have become even more determined to make Revy my home. Not just because I am ridiculously grateful for all the connections I’ve made in this town through Soup and a Smile lunches, QueerShred craft and skate nights and attempts at all seasons of green trails in and around Revelstoke. Not just because I have come to learn Revelstoke is a town willing to invite you into anything and everything with folks eager to showcase what makes them love this region. But because I want to be a long term journalist in this town.

“Are you scared you’ll have nothing to write about in a town this small?” Someone asked me when they heard I’d gotten the job.

“Not even remotely. There are always stories.” 

And I was right. There has never been a shortage of stories to report on, simply relationships that still need to be built. I can’t accurately express my gratitude for everyone who has given me their time and trusted me with a story in the year that I have been here. Staying long term means building more relationships, sharing more stories and creating more solutions-based journalism for a city we all love. Trust in your local journalists, knowing who they are is a key relationship in any municipality and something I am determined to provide to Revelstoke. 

Thank you, over and over again for your trust in me as a community journalist. I hope I’ve proven myself in that role this year, and I cannot wait to see what other stories we get to tell at the Revelstoke Mountaineer.