Columnists
Another door opens
When I received the email from Editor Tim Meeks that the County Weekly News newspaper (and other local weeklies) would no longer be published and that my County Seniors column was therefore no longer needed, I was devastated. I felt even worse later on when I learned that Postmedia was laying off both full-time and part-time staff. I was an unpaid columnist, so the change didn’t hit my pocketbook like it did for some. Local newspapers are widely read, especially by seniors, and the column was a consistent and efficient way to impart information to the large senior population in the County.
I was on a VIA train for a meeting in Toronto when that email came in. I immediately asked if I could write a farewell column and was told that I could if I sent it within the next few hours. With only my phone to use, I wrote my farewell County Seniors column and sent it off to Tim. It was published online almost immediately and included in the June 25 final print edition of the County Weekly News.
I cried quite a bit about this turn of events. I’ve spent my very long career supporting seniors in the County. When I took on this role in 1981, a part of the job description was to write a weekly column for the Picton Gazette which I did for 43 years until the new owners stopped publishing it in 2024. It was January of 2012 that I began writing a second (different) weekly column for seniors. For 12 years, along with the rest of the things I do in a week, I’d submit two columns to two newspapers. People would often say “I read your column” but not know which paper they read it in.
Sure, Community Care for Seniors has lots of ways to get information out to seniors—our website, Facebook pages, TV show on Cogeco, we answer the telephone, respond to walk-ins, and more. But the newspaper is simply the best and most talked about. The newspaper is what seniors read and want.
I called Corey Engelsdorfer, Owner, Editor and Publisher of The Times. We had a coffee at the Drake on June 24. Corey is a community-minded person who already donates space in his newspaper to charities in this community. He’s a municipal councillor. He organizes clean-ups in Wellington to be ready for Canada Day. Frankly, he genuinely cares about the County and the people who live here. He says a newspaper needs to belong to the people. “Of course I’ll run your weekly column” he said. “We’ll call it County Seniors and then people will know what it’s about.” He said these things and I almost cried right there in the restaurant, and told him so. Relief flooded over me and the way forward seemed clear once again. “When do you want to start?” he said and I replied “next week”, of course.
So here we are, I’m back writing County Seniors without even so much as a week in between my last column in the County Weekly News and my first column in The Times. When one door closed another door opened…and Corey Engelsdorfer was on the other side (at least this time) with arms wide open.
Debbie MacDonald Moynes is Executive Director of The Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors Association.
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