A recent walk along mainstreet Camrose, Alta., at high noon was a reminder of what is important to rural towns.
A local business played the closing street prices for grain over an external loudspeaker.
Some farmers walking down the street paused to hear the numbers. At a restaurant, people chatted about the crops recently harvested. Not far away were the familiar green Alberta Pool elevators.
Somehow, this just seemed to be the right spot for a new bureau for the Western Producer.
The Camrose bureau opened just after the Thanksgiving weekend, as reporter Mary MacArthur moved from Saskatoon to Alberta. Originally from Alberta, Mary is familiar with the geography, the issues and more importantly the people in the province. She looks forward to writing the news and views of farmers, ranchers and others in the agricultural industry.
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So why was Camrose selected as the bureau to join our others which include Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg and Ottawa?
Alberta is a big province, as anyone driving through it will attest. Imagine having the whole province to cover news-wise, as our reporter Barbara Duckworth has been doing from our Calgary bureau.
Together, Mary and Barbara will be able to provide more Alberta coverage for our paper with less juggling of assignments for Barb. Camrose also offers Mary more of a chance to reach the “grassroots” people and issues, compared to being in a bureau in Edmonton.
However, Camrose is still close enough to Edmonton to attend conferences or occasionally visit the legislature.
Feel free to phone, fax, visit or email Mary with your news tips or even just to welcome her back to Alberta.
Meanwhile, reporter Ed White replaces Mary in Saskatoon. He had been working in our Regina bureau until reporter Karen Briere recently returned there. Welcome, Ed and Karen. Best wishes, Mary.
