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Page 4, Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, July 4, 1984 The Terrace Bay-Schreiber News is published every Wednesday by: Laurentian Publishing Co. Ltd., Box 579, Terrace Bay, Ontario. POT 2W0. Telephone: (807) 825-3747. opinion EDITOR AND MANAGER......................-2-e cece: Karen E. Park EDITORIAL ASSISTANT .......................0.0..... Lynne Badger ADVERTISING SALES.........................4.005. Vivian Ludington PRODUCTION MANAGER.............. ete Bi veed sh. Sets Mary Melo _DEADLINE: Friday NOON . Subscription rates: $12.00 per annum (local); $18.00 per annum (out-of-town). Second Ciass Mail Registration No. 0867. Out with the Old - Cu In with the New... Editor that is. By the time many of you read this, I shall be busy emptying my desk at the "'NEWS"' office. My desk is crammed full - and just with papers, files, pencils and various other bits of paraphernalia. It's full of a year's worth of memories too! Memories of my year spent here in Terrace Bay ... of running the newspaper, of meetings, of the people of this area. It holds mementos that I shall treasure for many years to come. And I'm finding it very difficult to throw some of those articles out. I look back to mid-June of last year, when I first sat behind my desk in the capacity of Publisher and Editor. It was quiet then. A little frightening too. I knew only a handful of residents in the area, and few knew me. But it was also quiet in the office. I was used to having a store front operation, where people of every description dropped by regularly to offer bits of news and just to generally "chew the fat." I could have counted my number of visitors on one hand during those first initial weeks. When the phone rang, it was generally an advertiser with a question. It didn't take long though for the readers and advertisers to start dropping down either for a quick coffee or just for a chat. I have always believed that a community newspaper should be open to everyone. It's not just there for advertisers and people with news copy ... it's there to hear your opinions and your ideas. It's there to help with your everyday problems that sometimes only a media person can assist you with. And believe it or not, your newspaper if your friend. We need you at the "'NEWS"' as much as you need us. Without our readers' comments, we couldn't survive. A lot of changes have taken place over the past year. Some have been good - others fell through. Staff changes have occured - deadlines have been earlier - Fridays are still crazy - but to me, it's all been worth it. More community spirited individuals have been contributing to the '"NEWS" by informing us of their special projects that their club or organization is participating in. People are once again relying on their newspaper to publicize their events. And I think this is a great accomplishment for a community newspaper. Ican honestly say that I have helped a few projects get off the ground by assisting those who requested it of me. I have also refused for the paper to become involved in a few controversial issues as well. All in all, I have enjoyed my short stay here in Terrace Bay. But there 'comes a time when one must expand one's selt and go on to bigger and better opportunitues ... a time to move on and make some much needed changes. And I'm afraid that my time has come. and I must say farewell to not only the people of this area, but to Northwestern Ontario as well. I've spent ten years in this part of Ontario and it's time for me to go home .... home to my friends and family ... home to»where my heart is. It's time to" say farewell to my outlandish phone bills every month ... to the 2% hour drive to Thunder Bay ... to Nordair Airlines (my lifesaver). But there's a lot that I shall miss about this neck of the woods ... the beauty and serenity of the north ... that's irreplaceable. It's vastness will never cease to amaze me. The waters of Lake Superior will remain a wonderful memory to me, as well as the landscape. In parting, I would like to say farewell to all the friends I have made over the past year; you have certainly made my stay here much more pleasurable. And to those who may actually miss my presence, don' t fret, I'll probably be back in the near future. Please drop by the office to say goodbye sometime this week before I make my final departure. And while you're down here, please make your new Editor, Lynne Badger, welcome. I leave you all in the excellent hands of Lynne and Vivian. Karen E. Park Lynne Badger - New Editor for the "NEWS"' Some sad news came over the wire service last week. A story that said Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins -- a man who jokingly refers to himself as "A Legend In My Spare Time" - was leaving Toronto. Leaving Canada, in fact. How could that be? Since the late fifties Ronnie Hawkins was Toronto for anybody who liked their rock and roll well, raw. His turf was the steamy, seamy area around Yonge and Dundas. Al- ways had been. When I went to college more years ago than I care to tote up, Ronnie Hawkins was already the perpetual headliner in a noisy, watch-yer-wallet joint called Le Coq D'Or. Legend had it that 'The Hawk" maintained a lavish pad above the bar where the booze always flowed and the partying never stopped. Legend also had it that it was easy to crash the party: all you had to do was wear a skirt. Rompin' Ronnie never pretended that he wasn't a bit of a Ladie's Man. Hawkins was a bit of an oddity - even for the weird world of downtown Toronto. A great burly bear of-a man with a bushy bear and a ten-gallon stetson, he was lewd and rude and crude - but he - went the distance. The Hawk was hammering out "Hey Bo Didd- ley" when four lads from Liver- pool were scuffling for pfennigs in West Germany and trying to decide what to call themselves. While human comets named Dylan and Bowie and The Rolling Stones waxed and waned, the Hawk just kept plugging along, never a star, never a flop. Always .. almost famous. _ An incredible amount of music- al talent gravitated toward R.R. Hawkins and swam through his fingers. Robby Robertson, Rick Danko and Levon Helm got their first paying gigs from him. It was Hawkins who taught them the discipline that eventually trans- formed them into the late sixties legend called The Band. They went on to greatness, leaving Rompin' Ronnie on that stage in downtown Toronto, belting out "Hey, Bo Diddley' for the ump- teen thousandth time. He never had a big hit, but -- Hawkins was one of the acknow- ledged enertainment Godfathers of Toronto. When people like Dylan and Jagger and Townshend played in Toronto they always dropped in for a couple of sets. Obligatory. If the Hawk really liked them, they got invited out to his country retreat near Peter- borough for a snowmobile ride. It's whacky, but this loud, garish man with the cowboy hat - and the hillbilly drawl has been the King of Rock and Roll (well, between the shores of Lake Ontario and the MacDonald-Car- tier Freeway) since the 1950's! And now, a quarter of a century later, he's giving it all up, selling his Peterborough estate and mov- ing back to the southern U.S. Why? Well, he says that over the past few years he's had a number of successful tours through Georgia and Tennes- see, and he wants to move closer to what has become a steady source of work for him. But that's not the real reason. Nope. The real reason old Romp- in' Ron is pulling up his Canadian - tent pegs and ---- off to Plumtree Country is . Our winters. Hawkins says that at the venerable age of 49, his Arkansas blood "jes' cain't take them Canadian winters any moah."' Heck, we understand, Ron - that even happens to native born Canucks. If you don't believe me, take your road tour through Florida 1ext February. You'll think you're playing at the corner of Yonge and Dundas.