JUST IN CASE YOU WANT TO BY ME A CHRISTMAS PRESENT - HOW ABOUT A NEWSPAPER?
A GRAVENHURST ONLY NEWSPAPER? SEEMS FAR FETCHED DOESN'T IT? AND YET…..ONCE UPON A TIME
I'M BASHFUL ABOUT ACCEPTING GIFTS. DON'T MOCK ME! IT'S TRUE. YET I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO TOSS MODESTY ASIDE, FROM TIME TO TIME, FOR A GOOD CAUSE. BUT BY GOLLY, IF YOU'RE GANGING-UP TO BUY ME A SWELL PRESENT THIS CHRISTMAS……I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I WANT MOST OF ALL. IF YOU FOLKS WOULD CONSIDER BUYING ME A NEWSPAPER, FOR ABOUT A MILLION BUCKS, I'LL MAKE SURE IT'S A MAGNIFICENTLY APPOINTED, (IN ALL THE OLD WAYS) THROW-BACK WEEKLY, LIKE THE ONES WE USED TO HAVE IN THIS TOWN. A PUBLICATION ABOUT THIS TOWN, WITHOUT EXCEPTION. NO SHARED SPOTS WITH TOWNS WE DON'T EVEN LIKE. MOSTLY, THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER WOULD BE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON IN OUR TOWN; NEWS, POLITICS, THE SOCIAL SCENE, SPORTS AND RECREATION, THE KNITTING LEAGUE NEWS, UPDATES FROM THE QUILTING BEE, THE FRATERNAL CLUBS, SERVICE CLUBS, AND OF COURSE, NEWS FROM THE COUNTRY CORRESPONDENTS. WE COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE THE BEST OF THE BEST WITHOUT NEWS FROM THOSE IMPORTANT CROSSROADS, DOTTED THROUGHOUT OUR MUNICIPALITY…..THE HAMLETS AND VILLAGES WEAVING TOGETHER THE SOUTH MUSKOKA COUNTRYSIDE.
I WANT TO BE EDITOR OF THIS NEW PUBLICATION, THAT YOU JUST MIGHT (IF READERS CAN MUSTER ENOUGH SPARE CHANGE) GIVE ME AS A GIFT…..ON ACCOUNT OF MY MULTI-YEAR GOOD BEHAVIOR….BEING ABOUT FIVE YEARS CLEAN NOW, SINCE THE LAST TIME I HAD A VERBAL DONNYBROOK WITH THE LOCAL BIA, IN THE MIDDLE OF MUSKOKA ROAD. IN THE MIDDLE OF A STREET SALE FOR GOD'S SAKE. GOOD TIMES! I WOULD HIRE LOCALLY….AND EVERY PERSON ON STAFF, WOULD BE REQUIRED TO LIVE HERE. SORRY, NO COMMUTING FROM BRACEBRIDGE OR ORILLIA. ALL EMPLOYEES WILL HAVE TO TAKE HERITAGE LESSONS FROM THE GRAVENHURST ARCHIVES COMMITTEE, AND THEN SPEND A FULL MONTH AT GRACE AND SPEED, ACTING AS VOLUNTEER HISTORICAL INTERPRETERS…..TO GET IN THE MOOD. I WOULD EXPECT REPORTERS TO ATTEND EVERY SOCIAL EVENT, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, OR INSIGNIFICANT THEY ARE ON THE "NEWS SCALE," BECAUSE A COMMUNITY PUBLICATION ISN'T BASED ENTIRELY ON NEWS……AS WE MIGHT INTERPRET IT TODAY. THE SOCIAL NEWS BEAT IS JUST AS IMPORTANT TO OUR SENSE OF BALANCE AND WELL BEING. REMEMBER THE COUNTRY CORRESPONDENTS REPORTING ON THE COMINGS AND GOINGS OF NEIGHBORS…..AND THEIR HOLIDAYS AND SOCIAL ENCOUNTERS? I WAS EDITING COLUMNS LIKE THIS FOR THE HERALD-GAZETTE IN THE 1980'S, AND LOVING IT! DESPITE WHAT NEW-AGE EDITORS MIGHT BELIEVE, READERSHIP OF THESE COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENTS WAS STRONGER THAN EITHER SPORTS OR FRONT PAGE NEWS.
MANY SUBSCRIBERS, WHEN THEY GOT THEIR PAPERS IN THE MAIL, TURNED IMMEDIATELY TO THE WRITE-UPS FROM THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD CONTRIBUTOR……AND THEN, TO THE OBITUARIES…..THEN THE CLASSIFIEDS, BEFORE THE FRONT PAGE BECAME RELEVANT. IT USED TO MAKE THE JOURNALISM GRADUATES ON STAFF, HALF NUTS…….THAT A HOBBY WRITER, DOCUMENTING WEDDINGS, FAMILY DINNERS, BARBECUES, ANNIVERSARIES, AND BAPTISMS WERE MORE EAGERLY CONSUMED, BY THE READERSHIP, THAN THEIR BREAKING-NEWS PLASTERED ON THE FRONT PAGE. OUR PUBLISHERS USED TO TAKE REGULAR SURVEYS AND EVEN THEY COULDN'T BELIEVE THE STATS. I LIKED THIS SMALL TOWN INTEREST IN EACH OTHER. IT WAS OUR SOCIAL FABRIC, AND WE WERE PROUD OF IT. REMEMBER FLO KIRKHOUSE? SHE WAS A LEGEND. NOT BECAUSE SHE WAS A GREAT WRITER…….BUT SHE HAD A HEART SO BIG AND WARM, AND HONEST, THAT IT BEAT THROUGH EVERY WORD SHE EVER WROTE. SHE WAS A FOLK ARTIST IN PRINT, LIKE MAUDE LEWIS WAS WITH PAINT.
A LOCAL NEWSPAPER UNDER MY EDITORSHIP WOULD PUBLISH A FULL PAGE OF HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES EACH ISSUE, AND WE'D MAKE IT A WEEKLY COMPETITION, WITH A CORRESPONDING "Q. & A." THE NEXT ISSUE……FOR PRIZE SWEAT-SHIRTS THAT READ, "I'M A HERITAGE WARRIOR FOR GRAVENHURST!!!" WHAT WE NEED HERE, IS A CITIZENSHIP, A CONSTITUENCY THAT KNOWS ITS HISTORY. SORRY TO SAY THIS, BUT I'M CONVINCED A MAJORITY OF RESIDENTS TODAY, COULDN'T GIVE A RAT'S ARSE ABOUT LOCAL HERITAGE. AND THAT'S NOT RIGHT. I WOULD DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE, THAT A PRINT-MASTER COULD DO, TO TILL THE OLD SOIL NICE AND DEEP, AND START THE RE-PLANTING, OF RESPECT AND KNOWLEDGE, ABOUT HOW IT ALL BEGAN…..HOW IT HAS PROGRESSED, AND WHY IT HAS TO HAVE STRONG ROOTS, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN ITS STABILITY……. AS THE TOWN IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN.
IT WOULD BE A PUBLICATION FLAVORED BY TRADITION. IT WOULD BE A PALATABLE, SOFT-SELL RE-INTRODUCTION, TO THE CORE VALUES OF ALL THE GENERATIONS, WHO, WITH BACK BREAKING DETERMINATION, WORKED DAY AND NIGHT, TO GIVE US THIS WONDERFUL AND PRECIOUS LEGACY. HOISTING IT UP THE FLAGPOLE? IT'S THE PROMINENCE IT DESERVES. NOW THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MOMENT. IF YOU WERE TO APPROACH FIFTY PEOPLE YOU KNOW, IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, CURLING RINK, GOLF CLUB, SERVICE CLUB, AND ASK THEM WHAT THAT "LEGACY" MEANS…….I'M NOT REALLY TAKING MUCH OF A RISK HERE, TO SUGGEST THE ANSWERS WOULD BE ANYTHING BUT DEFINITIVE; AS THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWER. YET I WOULD EXPECT ANSWERS LIKE, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT," AND "WHY ARE YOU BOTHERING ME WITH NONSENSE LIKE THAT……I'VE LIVED IN GRAVENHURST ALL MY LIFE." MY ASSERTION IS, THAT VERY FEW PEOPLE WOULD TAKE SUCH A QUESTION SERIOUSLY, BUT WOULD ALSO HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME ANSWERING SERIOUSLY. WHY? HAVE WE TRULY GIVEN UP TRYING TO PROTECT WAS IS UNIQUELY "GRAVENHURST!" SOME CRITICS WOULD ARGUE "YES WE HAVE." BUT IS IT OUT OF INDIFFERENCE? OR THE FACT IT'S JUST NOT A QUESTION WE ASK ONE ANOTHER; EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE HAD A FAIR NUMBER OF CHALLENGES RECENTLY, ABOUT WHAT THE GRAVENHURST IDENTITY REALLY IS! MAYBE IT WAS DIFFERENT FIFTY YEARS OR MORE AGO, WHEN OUR SPORTS TEAMS WERE OUR "PRIDE ENFORCERS." TRY TO FIND THAT TRADITIONAL "EAT 'EM RAW" FERVOR, OUT THERE NOW. TAKE A LOOK AT OUR CEREMONIAL CHRISTMAS TREE, OUTSIDE THE HAIGHT-CARNEGIE CENTRE, AND THEN TAKE A "NO FUN AT ALL" DRIVE TO BRACEBRIDGE, AND SEE THE TRILLION LIGHTS ALL UP AND DOWN THE MAIN STREET…….AND ASK YOURSELF…..SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH US? I'M TRUSTING THAT WE'RE JUST ENERGY CONSCIOUS. OR FRUGAL. BUT WE'RE CERTAINLY NOT BEING COMPETITIVE WHEN IT COMES TO CHRISTMAS LIGHTING.
A MAIN STREET NEWSPAPER OFFICE IS A PRIORITY - NO EXCEPTIONS
Apparently, and I'm a little worried about this, but I'm the last hometown main street reporter - writer in Gravenhurst. I'm working out of a vintage music and antique shop, in the old Muskoka Theatre building, on Muskoka Road, opposite the Opera House. I don't have newspaper at present. Wish I did. They're awfully expensive to operate in good times, let alone during economic slow-downs. I don't feel comfortable when there's not a full time, reporter-laden newspaper office on the main street, ready to rock and roll to cover the town like nurtured fungus. I feel we're more vulnerable than ever, and frankly, it's kind of a mirror reflection of the town we've become in the past decade. Coverage of the town is at best modest, courtesy the other publications, incorporating news and features from other municipalities, and as far as homegrown sentiment, well, it's not exactly oozing from the pages. Do we think about stuff like this any more? Is it of any concern at all, that the traditional uptown news office is pretty much a thing of the past? In those same old days, we'd be howling like banshees, to get some courageous Gravenhurst investors, to get back in the saddle, and finance a true "Town" publication……"just like the ones we used to know!" For some reason, and it is symptomatic of the times, we've lost a lot of passion here, to restore some the vigor that always made Gravenhurst a highly charged, competitive community. I'm not the only one who believes this, and I imagine quite a few long time citizens, are pretty frustrated about the way we've become so passive in recent years.
For the past two blogs, I've profiled my relationship with fellow news-hound, Hugh Clairmont, and son Mark, and their courageous effort to bring a made-in-Gravenhurst publication back to the forefront. While Muskoka Today is still published online…..(and you should check it out), their First Street office, and then the new Muskoka Road location, was a sincere and faithful attempt, to bring back some life to the history and traditions of this town…..that we could all see, were being watered down…..simply by neglect, in other publications. During my tenure at the paper, the First Street office was a meeting place that had a little slice of everything to offer a visitor. It was like stepping back into the 1930's, at times, but the computers didn't fit the theme. It could be contemporary one minute, because of an ongoing debate about local politics, and then slip back into the 1960's, when one of Hugh's music chums would drop in for a chat……and all of a sudden, it was Dixieland banter……and that was just great. I used to tell Mark that it was just like a scene out of the old Andy of Mayberry show, and frankly, it's what was so neat about small town life and times. In a small, one room office (with hall and bathroom), you might find a dozen people in there, prior to press day, and about four different conversations going on at the same time…..but everybody seemed to be able to follow along…..even if they jumped into another dialogue, keeping one foot in the other, should they decide to rejoin the debate. It was a happening place that should have been replicated at the local museum, complete with life-size characters, who then filled that room with a vibrancy and pride of community, I can't possibly describe in mere words. It was what Gravenhurst should be, twenty four-seven. "EXCITING." A town beating its own door down…..to get the message out, "We're going to kick your ass," aimed at any community boasting that it's better than us.
We need a newspaper to represent our interests. If we want to know what's going on in Bracebridge, we will buy their newspaper. Maybe like the good old days, Muskoka Lakes could open its own newspaper, seeing as it is now a hot spot for big stories and controversy. If you think that's impossible……nonsense. I was news editor of the Muskoka Lakes-Georgain Bay Beacon, out of Mactier, back in the early 1980's, so it can be done…..for about a million bucks. Seeing as I've been a newspaper freak for many, many years, with quite a bit of work experience as both a reporter and editor, I'm having major withdrawal symptoms, and when we lose our day to day newspaper office, in the heart of town……then we've truly lost the meeting place, the communication hub, that has as much social / cultural tradition, as the Opera House itself. It truly must be considered an historic right and privilege, to have reached a stage in town-hood, to be able to support a newspaper……that is iconically "ours" and not a shared print entity……with our competitors. As much as modern day editorialists and advertising managers might feel there is no competitive edge between our regions, here in Muskoka, it shows pretty dramatically, how times have changed……. because of our own capitulation. We have settled you see. Very few people are willing to invest, in such a precarious industry any more…..leaving it to the corporations to tell us what's important about our town. We really can't fight back. But we certainly don't have to decline our privilege of representing ourselves, by whatever means is necessary, to protect our heritage and legacy.
Maybe Muskoka Today opened too soon to be truly appreciated for its honest dedication to preserving the town's identity……by keeping the past "in the present." It's what I admired most about the publication, when it began; that it was a portal as much as a messenger. You could step back in time with Hugh and Mark, and there was no consequence of innocent time travel. They both knew there was an absolute necessity, to do what local museums could not…….saving the personal, social, cultural aspects of our neighborhoods, by stalwartly guarding, that the roots should be kept healthy……for fear that everything above and beyond would be fundamentally weakened for future generations…..if they should ever falter and die. The mission was daunting and the expense enormous, I imagine but they created a template none the less, that could easily be reinstated under the right circumstances, some time in the future. It will come. There will be a time, in the near future, I guarantee it, when there will be a resurgence of interest, in a Gravenhurst only publication……to build upon what all the newspaper backers and editors, reporters and editors, worked so long and hard to create…….that has never gone out of date, or become irrelevant. Building on the foundation work that is still there……rooted deep in the gritty Gravenhurst soil……..is something we should all think of……the next time we feel like dropping in to an uptown news office to shoot the breeze.
So if you've got a million or two, I'd gladly agree to work for a restored weekly newspaper in Gravenhurst. In the meantime, well, I'll just carry on writing about our hometown as frugally as possible……and hope to represent its legacy to the best of my ability. I love this place, so believe me…….writing about it, is a career honor. To have readers…..which have been doubling by the way…..is the best honor of all. Thank you so much for supporting this modestly appointed daily blog. I'm delighted to report that over the past two months, I've doubled my readership……and while the numbers aren't in the thousands just yet, a fella can hope can't he?
Suzanne has started knitting Skokie scarves again this winter, in preparation for the annual Gravenhurst Winter Carnival, coming up in February. Oh boy. Has she ever got ambitious plans. It's like a Skokie factory in here. We're big boosters of the Carnival, so I'll be keeping you up to speed on latest developments. This is an occasion folks, when your support would really make a huge difference to the organizers of the three day Carnival. It's a tough job and they give up thousands of hours to make Gravenhurst a happening place. This is what we want? Right? Please consider coming out this year, and make the best of a Muskoka winter.
See you again soon. I really don't expect you to buy me a newspaper. Even if it is Christmas. I'll just be editor of this little old blog, and see where we wind-up. Hey, let's get festive. Remember to shop local. We need to look after our own. Love me or hate me…..it's true. If we don't support our local businesses, we all lose out in so many different ways. Hope you're having a good Christmas season so far!
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