By Marianne Wood, Bruce Peninsula Press
New Reporter Kelly Burgess
Bruce Peninsula Press Reporter Kelly Burgess moved up to the Pike Bay area with her husband Andrew two years ago after retiring from teaching in Stoney Creek and living in Grimsby for many years. Andrew had a family cottage on Lake Huron growing up, and their love of the area contributed to the decision to rebuild and move to the Peninsula permanently.
After graduating with her B.A. in Sociology from the University of Guelph, she enrolled in the Print Journalism program at Sheridan College where Kelly was awarded the Silver Medal of Excellence for the highest GPA in her program. Kelly wrote for the Dundas Review and View Magazine shortly after graduating. Although writing was her true passion, she accepted a job at the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation in Niagara Region where she became a Senior Valuation Analyst for Farm Properties. After 10 years she returned to school to earn her Master of Science in Education at Medaille College and begin her teaching career in Stoney Creek where she taught for over 10 years.
Kelly currently works part-time as a Bookkeeper/Administration Assistant for Burgess Engineering and occasionally supply teaching at Bruce Peninsula District School. After becoming a volunteer Board Member for the Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association, she began writing news articles on their behalf. This ignited her desire for writing again and inspired her to become a freelancer reporter/writer for the Bruce Peninsula Press.
She enjoys researching and writing about local events, interesting people and current issues affecting this beautiful area.
New Reporter Hazel Smith
Hazel Smith grew up in Tobermory leaving in the early 1980s and returning in 2014.
She obtained a degree in History from the University of Guelph (1985) and a Masters in Women’s Studies from Trinity College Dublin (2000). From 1985 to 2001 she called inner-city Dublin home. During her Dublin years she became mom to fabulous and talented twin children, Roisin and Daniel, who reside in Victoria and Vancouver. A first grandchild is expected early in 2022.
Her fiction and non-fiction have appeared in a number of literary and academic journals. She has studied with some of Canada’s finest writers including Michael Crummey, Alison Wearing and Steven Heighton. From 2009 to 2018 she was involved with the prestigious Words Aloud Poetry and Spoken Word Festival, assuming the role of Artistic Director in 2014.
During the summer months she gives her all to the work with the Blue Heron Company as part of the management team. Together with her sister, Martha Aitkin, she has recently purchased the Forest House B&B and is looking forward to hosting many satisfied customers.
Joanne Rodgers
Joanne Rodgers has been a freelance reporter for the Bruce Peninsula Press for 2 years.
Moving from Ottawa to Northern Bruce in 2014, a little ahead of the COVID trend of moving from a larger city to a rural environment, she lives in Lion’s Head with her husband, son and dog. She says she enjoys living in a small village with its strong community spirit. She is happy to be so close to nature and enjoys hiking and kayaking with her friends.
She is appreciative of her family, friends and neighbours keeping her informed of local activities, events and interesting topics to report on.
The community members have been most generous in sharing their time, personal histories and stories to offer a local perspective on current events relating to the Northern Bruce community. She says she is especially pleased to be working for a small town newspaper which actively supports, connects and informs the community on local issues and events that influence their lives.
John Francis
Bruce Peninsula Press Publisher John Francis first got into the newspaper business in 1962 with a Toronto Star paper route. After a 15-year diversion into bird biology, he founded Tobermory Press in 1986 and began publishing the Bruce Peninsula Press two years later. He has been writing news and opinion pieces for the paper ever since.
