Everyone has been asking me about La Crete, so I thought I'd post a little information from the email Tom Mahily, my future employer at La Crete, wrote for me. I've edited it a bit and left out some personal information, but you can kind of get the picture of where I'll be heading.
Enjoy!
I am an independent newspaper owner/publisher, with four publications. The reporter/photographer position you have applied for is with a small, community weekly publication with just over 1000 circulation and roughly 20 pages pages per week, on average, in two sections.
The community in northwest Alberta you would be required to live in is a small, rural hamlet known as La Crete, with roughly 2500 population and a surrounding agricultural base of roughly 6000 in the immediate area. You would also be required to cover news and events in neighbouring smaller communities within a distance of 50 km, including other agricultural communities and the hamlet of Fort Vermilion with a predominantly Metis population.
La Crete is a predominantly populated by people of the Mennonite faith. It is a fairly busy community, relative to other towns it's size, with three schools, an arena, curling rink, 5 pin bowling alley, a 9 hole golf course, rodeo grounds, museum, motel, grocery stores, restaurants, and businesses, but does not have any franchise or big box stores or restaurants. It is the type of community where people do not lock their doors or vehicles, as crime is very low.
The community has an equal balance of retired folks and young adults. Life can be as slow or as fast as one chooses. It is a terrific community to raise children and a place to really feel like you belong. However, if city amenities and night-life is what you prefer, then La Crete is not for you. Even so, it is an ideal and quite forgiving community for a rookie journalist to cut his or her teeth and gain valuable experience without serious pressure.As a reporter in La Crete and region, you will cover all aspects of community life... politics, logging and forestry, farming, school and youth news, sports, and many other topics and events. You will be required to submit an average of 10 news items per week, with deadline day being Mondays.
The climate in our corner of the world is not much different than most of Alberta. The climate is fairly dry all year with low humidity. Summers, from May to September are absolutely fantastic, with long days and temps as high as 30 degrees Celsius. Average summer temps are 20 degrees. Snow arrives around the last week of October with spring thaw coming in mid March. Winter temps can be as low as -35 degrees Celsius for short periods of a couple of days, but the average is -15 degrees.
You will be working for a family owned and operated company, so you will be treated like family as well. Time off for a weekend away is not a problem, as we are flexible. Our attitude is if you work hard for us, we will work hard for you!Promotion to Editor is a possibility for the candidate with the correct attitude, work ethic, intelligence and leadership skills, however we would expect a minimum of two years working as a reporter. Every employee who has travelled here to work from elsewhere has always been impressed with the area and enjoyed the superb quality of life.
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Sounds great! Perhaps I should make a blog too, about the emotions a mother goes through when a child flies so far from the nest!
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