About cktimes.ca
First of all, "us" is really me, and I'm over-the-hill hippie and longtime community newspaper editor, John Gardiner. I hail from Wallaceburg these days, but am originally from Hanover, Ontario. I am a small town boy who worked in a variety of southern Ontario locations before moving to Wallaceburg 17 years ago to edit the old Wallaceburg News. I've been involved in the local media scene since that time, serving as editor, reporter, columnist as well as in other capacities.
In the world of print publications, I'm one of the dinosaurs. I can start a paper from scratch and literally do everything necessary to deliver it to the public - including getting it to your house if necessary. Now, I find myself moving onto the internet which is very unfamiliar territory for someone my age. I'm here because I believe this is the medium of the future, and also because it's pretty well the only way a little guy like me can try to compete with the big boys who control and dominate the modern media - even in our own back yards.
I think it's important for a community to have ownership of its own media. I think your local media should be owned and operated by people who have a stake in your local community and who really care about you and your future. That is far too often not the case these days. I hope to make the Chatham-Kent Times a real part of this community, and with your help, grow it out of Wallaceburg throughout the municipality. As those of you who know me are already aware, I'm not a big supporter of amalgamation; something I feel has seriously hurt some of the smaller former municipalities. That said, we only have two options. Either we change it, something a lot of people in my part of the world talk about constantly, or we hold to the belief we're stuck with it, and we try to make it work - better than it has been.
It is my hope that we can use this new product, the Chatham-Kent Times, to help improve communications throughout the municipality by letting people in one area know what's happening in the other areas of Chatham-Kent. People in Ridgetown should know what's going on in Wallaceburg and people in Tilbury should know what's happening in Dresden. If we know what's going on, maybe we can do a better job of supporting each other in our various endeavours. I also hope to improve the flow of information about what our municipal government is up to into the outlying areas of the municipality, something that has been sorely lacking during our first five years of rowing this boat together.
I certainly invite you to check out each of our very fine columnists, each selected from a different area of interest. Whether it's politics with Philip Shaw, or golf with Brad Butzer, or you need some advice for the family pet from Mary Ann Holland, you can find it in the Chatham-Kent Times. Read Inside Home Electronics with Scott Aarssen or check out the latest video and DVD releases with Blade Stanhope Conway. There's even a column on your favourite old vinyl, Journey Through the Past written by yours truly. Recent exciting developments include the addition of Jim and Lisa Gilbert, historians extraordinaire, and originators of the immensely popular Heritage Days, as well as the very refreshing addition of Ridgetown Independent publisher Jim Brown to our Opinion section. Hank Bos will be writing a column with a social justice theme and I'm most glad to be able to add this piece to the Times. It's my hope that this product will have a strong social conscience.
I will be carrying out virtually all functions associated with this "e-paper" at first, but hoping that people from throughout Chatham-Kent will get involved to help me extend coverage to each and every area. I welcome submissions about news and coming events in Chatham-Kent. Send your e-mail to: editor@cktimes.ca.
Thanks to the boys at Internet Kent, Joe Perry, Mike Perry and Mike Hess for major help in getting this going. Thanks for sharing my dream.
If you like what you see on this site, tell a friend. It's the best way to make it grow.
Remember..."Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may."
