Kevin Laliberte
Editor, Smoky River Express

Well folks, this is officially it.

My final hoorah and curtain call as Editor of the Smoky River Express.

As I sit here and hammer out my final installment of ‘From The Hip’ I feel an overwhelming sense of appreciation in terms of how this position has helped me grow, both personally and professionally, over the course of the past nine years.

Wow, has it really been that long?

Looking back, I can still visualize that late summer day back in the summer of 2000 when Jacquie approached me about a potential job opportunity she stumbled across in relation to an opening for Editor at the Smoky River Express.

At the time I was employed as the roving sports reporter at The Leduc Representative, having sat in the saddle for just over a year after transitioning over from a small weekly newspaper in Mayerthorpe where I worked as Editor for more than four years.

I’ll admit that, at the time, I did have some reservations about this position. In fact, it took some serious convincing on Jacquie’s part to get me to pick up the phone that day and discuss the position with Mary Burgar (who owns the Express as well as the Lakeside Leader in Slave Lake and South Peace News in High Prairie with her husband, Jeff Burgar).

After all, with a young family and seven years of experience as a journalist with Bowe’s Publishers under my belt, I couldn’t help but feel that I would essentially be throwing everything I worked so hard for over the past seven years by agreeing to move to the Smoky River region.

Needless to say my eventual decision to take the huge leap of faith at that stage of my career was something I can reflect upon now and say that I’ve had no regrets.

It was like coming home in many respects.

And that homecoming brought with it a number of unique challenges and obstacles, all of which would be overcome through a collective spirit of cooperation – baby steps if you will – by present and past staff in recent years.

From my arrival back on Sept. 9, 2000, the ultimate goal was to transform a popular regional weekly news source, which was somewhat rough around the edges at the time, into something staff and the community would be proud of.

And while the transition didn’t occur overnight, I’m glad to say it did happen, thanks to the addition of several talented employees (both past and present) – all of whom worked hard to ensure this newspaper reached its full potential.

In recent years I’ve been extremely fortunate to have worked with so many talented and dedicated individuals (Leona, Faye, Jean, Brenda, Richard Froese and Emily in addition to my co-workers in High Prairie and Slave Lake, and especially Jeff and Mary) ... people who continue to share the same common vision and passion for maintaining this newspaper’s reputable distinction as one of the most trusted news sources in northern Alberta.

I thank each of each of you for your friendship, trust and valuable contributions in helping to make this newspaper what it is today.

My heartfelt gratitude also go out to everyone who has contributed to the success of the Express, including mayors, reeves, councillors, municipal administrators, RCMP, fire, ambulance, education, social programming (ie., FCSS), businesses and the myriad of organizations within the region.

Thanks to everyone for believing in me, and more importantly, thanks for the wonderful memories!

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