Year One in the archives

Today marks the one-year mark for me at the Regina Leader-Post. I know one or two of you (hi, mom!) have been checking sporadically in the past year for updates, but I assure you that you didn't miss any.

This year has been an incredible one for me. Working in Regina has been what I needed on so many levels. It's been trying, too. I've survived -45C winter days, Riders fans, trucks driving poorly, grass fire week, floods outside and floods in my apartment. I've made friends, met my boyfriend Jon, and lost a colleague who I wish I had much more time to know (Andrew Matte was the first person to Twitter-welcome me to the paper. He warned me that there may be snow on the ground when I arrived in August). I like to think I won over most of my colleagues by baking two dozen cupcakes about a week into the job, and it seems that most of them still like me since then.

All that aside, there are a few reasons I haven't updated this site for over a year now. Life is busy, finding time is hard, all that stuff. But also, because my role at this paper is so very fluid. I do "website stuff", and I take less photos now than I ever did in school or at my job in Nova Scotia. But that's ok. Instead I write and shoot video to the best of our small daily's abilities. The newspaper business is, as we know, sort of in a weird state. So things change, and we change, and sometimes the answer is to shoot something as best as we can. At the end of the day, I am so glad to have a video background, and so glad to have a job in news.

So here are a few, small highlights from the past 12 months.

Janet Dvernichuk, with a photograph of her son Josh, who passed away in a collision on Highway 39 near Estevan. Janet is a vocal advocate for twinning the road. (Rachel Psutka/Leader-Post)

A boy rides his bicycle atop a dirt mound in west Regina on August 25, 2013. (Rachel Psutka/Leader-Post)

Salma Bibi (back), a student at Regina Public Schools Adult Campus and a recent immigrant from Afghanistan plays with her daughters Arezo and Hediya at the Kids First daycare centre in Regina on Oct. 17, 2013. (Rachel Psutka/Leader-Post)

Fans cheer on the Saskatchewan Roughriders at the 101st Grey Cup in Regina on Nov. 24, 2013. (Rachel Psutka/Leader-Post) 

Rex Roberts of Regina's High Impact Wrestling poses for a photo Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014. (Rachel Psutka/Leader-Post)

Andrew Hamilton holds a handful of dead honey bees that left their colonies during winter on his 60-hive honey operation a few miles north of Regina on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014. At under 100 colonies, Hamilton will not qualify for bee mortality insurance under a new pilot program, but hopes it will help commercial beekeepers who struggle with winter losses. (Rachel Psutka/Leader-Post)

Students practice their Japanese characters for a feature on language schools, often held evenings or weekends, exploding in numbers in Regina in 2013. (Rachel Psutka/Leader-Post)

Julian Wotherspoon, 27, gave birth to her first son Oliver Hein (right), now three years old, in a Regina hospital. Her second son Sullivan was born in July at home with the help of a midwife. Photo taken August 26, 2013. (Rachel Psutka/Leader-Post)

Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Henry Burris, Luke Tasker, and Andy Fantuz celebrate a play at the 101st Grey Cup in Regina on Nov. 24, 2013. (Rachel Psutka/Leader-Post)

Saskatchewan Roughriders Graig Newman and Tyron Brackenridge congratulate each other at the end on the 101st Grey Cup in Regina on Nov. 24, 2013. (Rachel Psutka/Leader-Post)

Next year by this time I expect I will be beaming my videos to you in hologram form. On to Year Two.

New things to come

It's been a busy three months since my last post here, with a couple of really interesting projects coming together. I'm glad they did manage to do so, because the big news for me is that I've been offered a position at the Regina Leader-Post as an interactive reporter - video, photo, writing, online work - and I'll be starting there in August. It's very exciting for me to be moving back west and up to a bigger paper. I'll soon be embarking on another tale of a lifetime, a drive across the country, passenger and cat in tow, but for now here are a few shots from the last three months at the paper here in Antigonish, N.S.

PAQTNKEK, N.S. (21/04/13) - Kathleen Denny is a single mother to two year old Lyam, a StFX university student and a young leader in her community of Paqtnkek Mi'kmaw Nation. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (22/04/13) - A soaking, but alive, family dog is rescued from an Antigonish home after a fire tore through the mobile home Monday, April 22. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (03/05/13) - Scott Williams, a piper with a lifelong love of the Antigonish Highland Games and piping, is one of the inaugural members of the Antigonish Highland Game's Hall of Fame. He is seen here in the piping room of his Antigonish home Friday, May 3. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (04/05/13) - StFX senior students are illuminated by their candles outside St. Ninian Cathedral following the Baccalaureate ceremony held Saturday, May 4 in advance of Sunday's graduation ceremonies. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (04/05/13) - Bagpiper Brennan MacDonald leads the graduating class of St. Francis Xavier University to St. Ninian Cathedral for a Baccalaureate ceremony Saturday, May 4. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (05/05/13) - Students await the beginning of their graduation ceremony Sunday, May 5 at St. Francis Xavier University. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

CLOVERVILLE, N.S. (07/05/13) - Volunteer firefighters from Antigonish town, county and 4 Valleys fire departments responded to a billowing brush fire in a wooded area off Cloverville Road Tuesday, May 7. Photo by Rachel Psutka. 

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (17/05/13) - Bob Murray of Antigonish has participated in the New Glasgow Music Festival for almost it's entire 75 year run. He rejoined the festival this year in a special performance on violin. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (26/05/13) - Walkers head out on the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada's five kilometre walk Sunday, May 26 in Antigonish. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (25/05/13) - Dancers participate in the Antigonish Creative Dance Association 35th annual recital Saturday, May 25. Photo by Rachel Psutka. 

MALIGNANT COVE, N.S. (27/05/13) - Evacuated pets and neighbours gather on the road near a Malignant Cove home fully engulfed in flames Monday, May 27. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (09/06/13) - A muddy Jamie Lamb, racing for Oakley Atlantic, heads to the finish line of the "A" Men's race Sunday, June 9 at the Highland Grind XC race at Keppoch mountain. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (14/06/13) - Members of NSGEU Local 88 along with members of the Canadian Auto Workers union and the StFX Association of University Teachers held a rally outside the Keating Centre during a meeting of the Board of Governors to protest job cuts at the university, Friday, June 14. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

On June 15, I had the fairly unique experience of a ridealong on a lobster boat to produce a feature story with photos and video to mark the end of the Northumberland Strait's two-month lobster fishery. I ventured out onto the relatively calm waters with Darrell Neary and his crew aboard Hey Man's Honey for a very early start to the day. (We left the wharf, Ballantyne's Cove, at 4:30 a.m.)

I also had the opportunity to finish my long-term documentary project with a local man whose life was changed drastically by a car accident six years ago. Here is the layout for those three pages that ran on May 15, as well as a video produced with Darrell Lake. A photo story of this project is best viewed here. 

Passing the post

I attempted to post a few photos about a month ago, then blogger ate the post. Defeated, and not fond of staring at computer screens at the end of the day, I'm suddenly three months behind in photos.

A few quick notes first - I was nominated for two awards recently, one for novice reporting through the Ontario Newspaper Awards for work from the Guelph Mercury and the second for a photo essay with the Atlantic Community Newspapers Association. No results yet, but very glad for the nominations.

On top of the daily grind of photos, multimedia and writing, I also completed a few interesting projects lately. One was a freelance assignment for the New York Daily News on St. Francis Xavier University long-time basketball coach Steve Konchalski. The February shoot marked my debut south of the border.

New York native Steve Konchalski took his game north to Canada half a century ago. Now 67, Konchalski is a legend in Canadian basketball, coaching the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men. He has over 800 wins to his name. Photo by Rachel Psutka for the New York Daily News.

New York native Steve Konchalski took his game north to Canada half a century ago. Now 67, Konchalski is a legend in Canadian basketball, coaching the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men. He has over 800 wins to his name. Photo by Rachel Psutka for the New York Daily News.

New York native Steve Konchalski took his game north to Canada half a century ago. Now 67, Konchalski is a legend in Canadian basketball, coaching the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men. He has over 800 wins to his name and has coached hundreds of players. Photo by Rachel Psutka for the New York Daily News.

I also completed a photo project for International Women's Week to go along with an 16-minute video. We had just entered a new printing process for the paper that week and the images printed horribly over-exposed. Sad sighs from me, but others apparently didn't notice. Here are the unaffected versions.

Avery Carter (left), Jean MacEachern and Alyson Duff are three Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional High School students making a difference in their school. Avery is active in student council and theatre, Jean is a leader in sports and student council and Alyson is the captain of the debating team and helps with international student orientation. “Everyone always has to prove themselves, that they can fulfill a role, but depending on the situation females may have to try harder,” Alyson said. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

Rev. Rebecca Sample is the fresh, young face of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Antigonish. She first came to the church nearly three years ago and said one of the greatest challenges she faces as a religious leader is not her gender, but her age. “Almost every time I’m introduced, people don’t expect me to be the clergy. I’m hoping I can just break through some of the traditional stereotypes people have about clergy and bring some new energy and new ideas in that other people may not have.” Photo by Rachel Psutka.

Cpl. Shannon Fear is the highest-ranked female RCMP officer in Antigonish, a 15-year member of the service and a mother of three. Balancing motherhood and community service is one of the most difficult aspects to her career, but being a woman in policing isn't a completely unheard of role, she said. "I was pretty lucky that that path was paved for me before I got in. I've certainly been in situations where you're still looked down upon, you're still not considered equal, but that's by the minority." Photo by Rachel Psutka.

Mary Coyle was the first female, and longest-serving, director fo the Coady International Institute. She has worked to promote women's rights and community development around the world. "It's a great thing that there's an opportunity to be a woman in leadership today, and working both to help other women advance in our society and societies around the world, but also playing a leadership role to help all people advance." Photo by Rachel Psutka.

Morgan Gero is the president of the Black Students’ Society at StFX, an education student and a New Glasgow native. She is grateful to not have the same struggles black women only a generation ago faced. “I don’t feel as if I am going through anything like the hardships or anything like that, that my mother and grandmother had gone through. It’s a different age, but at the same time, you still kind of have to work a little harder.” Photo by Rachel Psutka.

And of course, I have daily assignments, standalones, and the like for my paper. Some days and weeks are more content-filled than others, and news sometimes grinds to a turtle-like pace, but overall the experience is still going well.

OHIO, N.S. (31/01/13) - A school bus slid off Ohio East Road early Thursday, Jan. 31. No students were on board and the driver escaped through a hatch in the roof. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (24/02/13) - Sydney Anthony dances a jazz routine at the Antigonish Creative Dance Association annual student choreography showcase Sunday afternoon at St. Andrew Junior School. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (23/01/13) - Despite temperatures dipping to -18C, and a windchill closer to -30C, runner Kevin Sweet takes in a run in shorts along Hillside Drive in Antigonish. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (11/01/13) - Premier Darrell Dexter participates in a roundtable discussion in Antigonish Friday, Jan. 11. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (24/02/13) - Sarah Rogers, and furry friend Fuzzy Wuzzy, watch dancers at the Kids First annual Valentine’s Day dance at the Antigonish Legion Sunday afternoon. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (24/01/13) - Skiers get ready to take on the trails at the snowed-under golf course in Antigonish Jan. 24, 2013. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (04/02/13) - Martin Fleuren clears snow from the side walk of Main Street, Antigonish after a heavy snowfall Feb. 4. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (01/02/13) - Nancy Forestell (left) and Christie Lomore, both St. Francis Xavier University professors, rally Friday, Feb. 1 at the end of the first week of strikes by the StFX Association of University Teachers. The three-week strike would see 400 members of the union picket at campus entrances while classes stopped and students left town. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (28/01/13) - St. Francis Xavier University earth sciences professor Dave Risk pickets wearing headwear matching the golden dome cupola atop the Schwartz School of Business behind him. He was one of around 400 members of the StFX Association of University Teachers striking for three weeks after months of negotiations with administration failed to reach a deal. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (10/02/13) - Dart Hebert shovels snow from the roof of his home after a weekend on heavy snowfall Sunday, Feb. 10. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (23/02/13) - The StFX X-Women bench celebrates a last minute basket in a game Saturday, Feb. 23. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

EDMONTON, Alta. (27/12/12) - Rayleen Brosha is an Antigonish native forced to work outside the province, as jobs decline. She left nearly twenty years ago and now calls Edmonton, Alta. home. She is pictured here with her five year old son Shalom. Rachel Psutka photo.

HEATHERTON, N.S. (04/01/13) - Art and Charlotte Brosha are empty nesters, with all five of their grown children, including Art's daughter Rayleen, having left the province for work. This is the first Christmas they spent with no family in the home. Rachel Psutka photo. 

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (12/01/13) - Jenny MacDonald sings with Unidentified Funk Object at the Split Crow pub January 12. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (11/02/13) - Cara Sweet, 3, eagerly awaits a slice of cake at Chinese New Year celebrations Monday, Feb. 11 at the MacKay room at StFX. Over 200 people packed the room to celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Snake. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (16/02/13) - Iain Keizer gets a taste of the snow at Keppoch Mountain as he's tossed from dad Greg's sled Saturday at Keppoch Fun Day. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (26/03/13) - Jasmin Desmond (left) and Annice Gingras (right) of the Antigonish Royals Bantam basketball struggle for control of the ball with Abbie Morton (centre) of the West End Steelers as Hannah Bance of the Royals looks on during Saturday morning action at the Bantam Girls Division 1 provincials in Antigonish. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (29/03/13) - Gary Cusack leads Fr. Jonathan Nnajiofor and the children of Saint Ninian Parish throughout the cathedral during the Children's Way of the Cross as part of Good Friday services. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (29/03/13) - Breagh MacGillivray discovers two Easter eggs with her names on them under a swing set on Mountain View Drive in Pleasant Valley, where around 20 children took part in a neighbourhood Easter egg hunt Friday morning. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ST. JOSEPH'S, N.S. (16/03/13) - Jason Haverkort produces maple syrup out of Haveracres Maple Farm in St. Joseph’s. He is pictured here amongst some of the 12,000 tapped maple trees on his property Saturday, March 16. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (16/03/13) - Novice hockey player Parker Flynn celebrates a goal with his coaches and teammates of the Antigonish Bulldogs black squad during the Novice Spring Challenge tournament Saturday, March 16 in Antigonish, N.S. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (15/03/13) - A walker passes by some of the hundreds of luminaries in the Oland Centre gymnasium Friday night during the StFX Relay for Life. (Rachel Psutka photo)

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (31/03/13) - Tristan Gallant closes in on a few Easter eggs scattered across the lawns of homes on Trinity Lane during a neighbourhood Easter egg hunt Sunday morning. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (31/03/13) - Celebrating Easter spirit in her bunny hat, Portia Gallant, one of the younger neighbourhood kids involved in a community Easter egg hunt Sunday morning on Trinity Lane, hitches a ride with mom Crystal. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (13/03/13) - Rosemary Murphy and Terry Piercey opened The Townhouse Brewpub and Eatery in Antigonish last summer and have seen their business expand. They hope to have a small brewery in the building in the coming months. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

HALIFAX, N.S. (08/03/13) - Chris Kirby performs at the R&B/Soul and Blues showcase Friday, March 8 at the East Coast Music Awards in Halifax. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

HALIFAX, N.S. (08/03/13) - Charlie A’Court celebrates a win at the R&B/Soul and Blues showcase Friday, March 8 at the East Coast Music Awards in Halifax. A’Court walked away with the award for both R&B/Soul and Blues Recordings of the Year, beating out local contenders LeeBoy (Liam Brophy) and Working Class. Photo by Rachel Psutka.

HALIFAX, N.S. (08/03/13) - StFX grad Matt MacDougall preps for his Friday evening performances at the East Coast Music Awards experience March 8 in Halifax. MacDougall was nominated for Jazz Recording of the Year for his debut album Familiar Faces. Photo by Rachel Psutka.