Out on the weekend - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

One of the biggest aspects of being the editor of a community newspaper, I learned, is to be of the community. Back when I was named the acting editor, that holding position was only because I was still living in Goderich at the time. That rule would eventually be relaxed and I did, as intended, move to Blyth to be part of the community I was covering, which has been a game-changer.

 

Founding Publisher Keith Roulston made the point crystal clear that being part of the community was just about the most important lesson in journalism there is - and one that isn’t taught in colleges or universities. Being a part of the community - eating in its restaurants, drinking at its bars, shopping in its stores, voting in its elections and having children in its schools and sports leagues - is the best source a journalist could ever want. You also become invested in the area as a member of the community, not as an outside observer. 

 

Now, there are downsides to that. You can almost become too invested and when tragedy strikes or severe decisions loom, it can be hard to cover. When closing the local arena, say, is floated - that’s your arena. When there’s a fire or a car accident, the odds are that you know the victims. That can make things challenging.

 

And yet, I have attempted to dive in with both feet to be part of the community, which was covered a bit in Scott’s story on me from a few weeks back. When we moved to Blyth, one of my first orders of business was to join the local Lions Club. I’d had much respect for the club and its work for years, so now I wanted to be part of that work. I’ve now been a member for 11 years, and have overseen some successful events for the club, but my participation simply isn’t what it used to be before it was interrupted first by the COVID-19 pandemic and then by having children.

 

In recent years, as my kids have grown old enough to be part of youth sports, I’ve also become involved in coaching some of those teams. Last year, for example, I was Tallulah’s baseball coach here in Blyth, while, over in Brussels, Jess and I both coached teams - Jess with another mom coached Cooper’s team, while I coached Tallulah’s team on my own. Those experiences have been yet another window into the community and working with the kids and alongside other parents has been really rewarding stuff. However, the biggest, most rewarding aspect of being a greater part of the community during this time has been growing into the community - moving here and having a family and, in turn, watching them grow into it as well.

 

Especially when we had Tallulah in June of 2020 - the height of the pandemic - but really with both kids, the community has been so very supportive. As I’ve detailed our journey in parenting on this very page, I’ve engaged with a number of people in the community about the joys and challenges of being a parent and the never-ending quest to be better today than you were yesterday. But, more than that, the community - and I mean the broader Citizen community, so not just Blyth, but Brussels, Londesborough, Auburn, Belgrave and beyond - has had a hand in raising our kids as well. It takes a village, they say, and that has surely been the case for us. 

 

Not a weekend goes by that we don’t run into someone at a hockey game, skating, school or an event that we’re approached by a reader who wants to say hi and who knows the kids from reading about them in this space and seeing their pictures featured occasionally.

 

Being a part of what we have here has been so very special. We’re all in it together.