To say the least, I am happy the month of June is over, because I was getting weary of running around covering the heap of stories I had to cover last month. Such as court cases, and a plane crash, and my personal favorite - the floods.
Now that this is behind us, we can turn the page to July - my favorite month of the year in the Battlefords because of the sunny weather we usually get.
Last week we were getting Mexico-hot temperatures. All I have to say is that after the ridiculous winter we had, with all the cold and blizzard conditions, my reaction is simply to say bring it on. It's about time we enjoyed summer in Saskatchewan.
While July is a great month to be outdoors, it does pose some particular challenges for journalists working in the Battlefords.
The challenge involves coming up with something to fill the pages of the paper. It turns out that most of the leadership of our community have this notion that we should take time off to enjoy the summers instead of slaving away working all the time.
Heck, I subscribe to this notion myself. But it does pose some challenges when it comes to putting news in the paper.
On my beat alone, city council meetings have been cut back to once a month instead of the usual two-a-month that we get the rest of the year. Also, the parks and recreation meetings are cancelled and the municipal services meetings are cancelled. The Battlefords Chamber of Commerce meetings are shut down for the entire summer as well.
That's a wide range of story possibilities reduced right there. As well, things are quieter at the federal and provincial levels with both parliamentary and Saskatchewan Legislature sessions wrapped up until the fall.
Personally, I welcome the summer because it is a cooling-off period for the politicians, with a reduction in political mudslinging. Spending some time away from the capital, and closer to home, puts them in a more enthusiastic mood when they go back there in the fall. From a reporter's perspective that's good, because it means they will be easier to deal with and won't be cranky to you on the telephone.
It's not just my beat seeing less activity. The schools are out for the summer, which automatically cuts down on the possibilities on Jayne Foster's beat - education. It's difficult to cover events happening at the local schools when the students are at home doing what is really important in life - getting acquainted with their favourite cartoon characters on TV.
Our new sports reporter, Sean Macey, is quickly finding summer to be a challenge as well. The fall is filled with football, and the winter months are a prime season for sports, with several hockey teams to cover and the curling season going full blast. But right now really is the "dog days" with not much happening beyond those most-welcome baseball and softball games.
There are news stories we are keeping an eye on this summer - such as whether or not the standing water will bring back the dreaded "flood mosquitoes" that inundated our community back in 2011.
There are still court cases going on during July and August, and summer is usually good for the "severe weather" activity that can make summer far more interesting for local residents than they would like.
As well, summer is also the time when the annual ranking comes out for the communities with the highest crime rate in Canada. That announcement is usually a barrel of laughs around here.
Apart from taking as many pictures as possible at outdoor events that fill the summer months - such as the Battleford Parade, the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and North West Territorial Days - we are doing more "first person" stories. Of course, I am writing this silly column to fill up space as well.
Other summer activities you can count on us covering include the annual judging for Communities in Bloom, as well as the annual BridgeFest in the Flats. I'm sure there are also events we can cover at the Dekker Centre.
What? The Dekker Centre is closed for a few weeks? And North Battleford isn't competing in Communities in Bloom this year? And BridgeFest is cancelled?
I guess we're filling the empty space in the paper with a write up titled "2013 - the year the Battlefords took the summer off." Maybe I can get a picture of a bird or something at the Flats on Aug. 24.
Actually, taking time off is kind of the point of summer. Because we have less activity with our own beats, summer is the perfect time for people in the newsroom to take time off and get much-needed relaxation.
But that poses challenges, too. Any time a staffer takes time off, it's a challenge for the newsroom. When someone is off enjoying the summer, it means one less person to handle the news coverage.
What it often means is there will be times when the remaining reporter is stuck covering two things at once. You wouldn't believe how often this happens during what is supposed to be a slow news period for us.
It is always a no-win situation. Inevitably, our one remaining reporter in the newsroom is forced to skip some announcement or cheque presentation to be somewhere else important. This always results in the people holding the cheque being all offended because we weren't there.
To those folks I say, simply: this is summer. Make the best of it. Besides, you really shouldn't spend the hot months of July and August being miserable, because summer is way too short for that.
