Look, I’ll admit I’m biased.
I adore the Kerby News, but then again: I’m its editor. I should be a huge fan.
But I’ve managed to wait until our year of celebration is over half done to do a story for our 50th Anniversary on one of my favourite parts of Kerby Centre: our newspaper.
It’s been around nearly as long as the Kerby Centre itself — about to celebrate our 40th volume! — and it’s got some amazing history behind it as well, involving some incredible people.
Let’s go back to the beginning of it all when the Kerby News was just a couple of volunteers, a few sheets of paper and an old duplicator machine.
Origin Story
Lots of storied organizations and businesses have humble origins, but the Kerby News was especially humble and small.
Three volunteers in the late 70s recognized the need for the centre to be able to communicate with its members. Beth Acheson, Eleanor Collett and Alice Walshe were the originators of what would be the first incarnation of the paper: a newsletter, two pages, typewritten on both sides and then printed on a nigh-ancient duplicator.
Sheila Power, a then-recent addition to the Kerby Centre staff, also helped with the paper. None of them had any experience in publishing or journalism, but who would let a little thing like experience get in the way of innovation? Sheila, Beth, Eleanor and Alice would stay on volunteering and participating at the Kerby Centre well into the 90s.
Heavy Hitters
Kerby Centre was growing exponentially in its first decade, and the Kerby Newsletter had to do its best to keep up. The dedicated volunteers had gumption and hard work on their side, but if the news was to expand, they’d need some folks with hands-on history in the business.
The first to arrive on the scene was Mollie Good. Mollie was a photojournalist, who returned to Calgary from Europe early in 1980. Retired and with time to spare, she was looking for interesting volunteer work — and I know better than most that writing sticks in your veins like caffeine.
She found the newsletter and under her guidance, helped transform it into its next incarnation: a short monthly magazine of about eight to 12 pages, published monthly.
But Mollie wouldn’t be the only experienced heavy hitter to help propel the Kerby News forward. Tom Moore was the next to join up.
Tom had been a lifelong newspaper worker: he had only recently retired as managing editor of The Albertan, Calgary’s premiere morning newspaper until 1980 when it was absorbed by Sun Media.
Another lifer journalist and writer who couldn’t keep himself from print, Tom would go on to assist with the Kerby News’ growth, writing interesting articles which were much enjoyed by readers.
The third and final musketeer in this merry band of semi-retired news folk was James Nesbitt, who had been the former owner and editor of the Brooks Bulletin. He joined in 1986, and as written later about James joining up with the Kerby News Crew: “James is supposed to be retired. But printers’ ink has an unassailable reputation for getting into the bloodstream. Witness the background of the first three editors of the Kerby News, all retired journalists who cannot stay away from the newsroom.”
Assisting these volunteer editors was the Kerby News singular employee: Barry Whitehead. Barry was taken on to do any work available to assist the editors three, whether it was taking photographs or assisting with layout. No doubt learning much from their stories and experience, Barry himself would go on to become editor of the Kerby News for several years in the future.
But alas, even semi-retirement sometimes necessitates full retirement. Tom and Mollie had done much to help raise the Kerby News to the heights of publication: getting on to be a full-fledged monthly newspaper of over 20-odd pages.
But in January 1993, both had finally hung up their tape records and editors’ pen for good: the Kerby Centre Board at that time threw them a massive shindig at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary to celebrate their legacy.
I am incredibly lucky to be standing on the shoulders of giants, getting to produce the Kerby News now as editor.
I hope it continues for many years to come, and with that, I will leave you with a quote regarding the paper, published in the paper itself, from the 1990s:
“Time flies and according to some of the young philosophers, they who are not prepared to fly with it are destined to be left behind — it had always been up front, and Kerby News must fight to stay there.”