BEPPLE – Thanks to Kamloops This Week for telling our stories

SOMEWHERE IN MY KEEPSAKES, I still have the newspaper clipping of my birth announcement my mother kept. I have the newspaper obituaries of loved ones tacked to my bulletin board, as a bittersweet reminder. Newspapers provide tangible evidence of life.

With the closing of Kamloops This Week, neither newspaper birth announcements nor obituaries will exist in Kamloops for the foreseeable future. Those faded clippings that I keep, and I’m sure others do as well, will become a relic of the past.

Births and deaths and everything in between.

I love news, and I especially love local news. The local Kamloops This Week has been everything a local paper should be.

Because of Kamloops This Week, local politicians and governments were held to account. The work of Jessica Wallace unraveled and exposed the happenings of the Thompson Nicola Regional District. It garnered her nominations and awards provincially and nationally. More importantly, it led to an audit of TNRD and concrete changes on their fiscal practices.

I love news but I’ve never been a sports fan. But the work of Marty Hastings changed that. Again and again, I read his compelling sports stories that hit to the core of what it takes to excel in sports. Because of Hastings, local athletes got recognition that might never have happened otherwise.

Sean Brady reported on community events and groups such as this year’s Pride Week and the revitalization of the Kamloops Heritage Society. Community events and groups owe a huge debt to Kamloops This Week’s reporters like Sean for raising awareness.

Mike Potestio inherited the, only some would say envious, job of covering City Hall and court cases. He sat through hours of administrative meetings and court proceedings to give others clarity on what has happened from bylaws to killings.

Dave Eagles and Allen Douglas photographed everything from puppies to pileups. Their pictures captured the sorrow around the 215 children and the excitement of the Memorial Cup, the grandpa walking their grandchild, and the homeless on the streets.

Holding them all together was managing editor Christoper Foulds. He did a great job of balancing the different types of stories and giving the reporters and photographers the latitude to find the stories that mattered to Kamloops.

I don’t know as many of the business side of the paper, but those I do know were top notch. Leading them was Ray Jolicoeur, general manager. As well as helping business promote their offerings, the business side of the paper found endless ways to support fundraisers and community groups. Again and again, Kamloops This Week was a sponsor of a community event.

On their own, the paper ran the Christmas Cheer campaign, so important to local non-profits. Over the years groups such as the Y Women’s Emergency Shelter, Kamloops Brain Injury Association, Chris Rose Therapy Centre for Autism and Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association have benefited from their campaign.

Obituaries and birth announcements and everything in between. Thank you, Kamloops This Week for telling our stories, capturing the moments as pictures, and strengthening our community. Best wishes on the road ahead.

Nancy Bepple is a Kamloops City councillor with a strong interest in community building projects.