Regulars(Archives)
Letter From The Editor
Happy Birthday Your McMurray Magazine!
They say time flies when you’re having fun. I know this is definitely true as the last five years have just completely flown by! I still remember our very first issue and my very first press check in November 2012. It was a time filled with so much excitement, unknowns and the nervous anticipation to see how the community would respond to our new little publication. I’m happy to say that we’ve felt that the community has embraced our work and have given us the ability to keep going, year after year.
However, I’m a little in shock when I talk about how Your McMurray Magazine and Balsom Communications is celebrating it’s fifth birthday. That’s five full years of stories and pictures of the people that make our great region home. To say I’m grateful to the hundreds, and probably thousands of people, who have helped put each and every one of our issues together, is an understatement. We truly couldn’t do what we do without you.
This is our second year of celebrating the YMM Top 50 under 50 and we do so again with an incredible creative team of Brandon Cooper Photography and Neville Productions who are helping us share their stories on our pages and on our digital platforms. I would like to thank the team of panelists that gathered in June 2017 to make the selections - it wasn’t easy - but I think they did an incredible job of showcasing the diversity and passion in just some of our community leaders. If you know of someone you think should make the 2018 list, please email me at editor@yourmcmurraymagazine.com and we’ll add them to our list for consideration in next year’s selection process. Congratulations to each and every one of our Top 50 winners this year - the class of 2017 is bright, enthusiastic and proud of our region.
This current issue is full of great stories of people. Not only does it celebrate 50 of our region’s best people under the age of 50, it also celebrates some other important people. The first of those is a look back at the legacy of our outgoing Mayor Melissa Blake by local writer Kevin Thornton. She steered the ship through challenging waters and we must be thankful for her dedication and service. You can read more about her 19 years in office on page 82.
Another person I want to thank for his service is Tim O’Rourke - “The Newspaper Man”. He is a legend in the print media landscape in Fort McMurray and his work as the publisher for both the Fort McMurray Today and the Connect Weekly newspapers saw Tim give back so much of his passion for telling stories and giving local writers a platform to do so. Read more about Tim’s “perseverance against the odds in print and life” in his great story written by Dawn Booth on Page 77.
Thanks for a great five years, Fort McMurray! We can’t wait to see what the next five years bring and we hope you stick around for the journey with us!
Cheers!
Krista Balsom
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
@kellybalsom
@ymm_magazine
