By Katrina Boguski

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. As it happened, on Aug. 18 the town of Haliburton made a pretty good impression on me, and that was one of the factors which led me to accept the position as editor of this paper. My work as a staff reporter at another community newspaper was going well. In fact, it was going so well that my mind began exploring the possibility that now might be a good time to consider options to advance my career.
An ad for the position of editor appeared on a job board about the same time this idea was starting to take root. My application was sent off on Aug. 11, and after a few emails and a phone call or two, an interview was set up for Aug. 16. Considering that there was a real possibility this interview might lead to a full-time job in a place I knew little about, I took a road trip to Haliburton from Palmer Rapids the Saturday before the interview in order to check things out.
I had been through Haliburton once or twice before, but it was on route to somewhere else, and on those occasions there was no real reason for me to stop here. Suddenly, there was a good reason to stop and making that stop launched the next chapter in my career.
On that Saturday, in many ways, Haliburton was being interviewed by me. Was this a place I could see myself working? Was this a town where I could live? Was this a community that had some interesting newsworthy stories that would captivate my imagination.? Yes, yes and yes. Haliburton was a place in which I could work, live, and thrive. That realization made my interview at the paper flow much more easily than it might have if I didn’t see Haliburton as a place that would work for me.
This experience is a good reminder that, on any given day, a person could be driving through Haliburton pondering questions such as those that were on my mind a few Saturdays ago. Clean storefronts, a bustling main street, friendly customer service at local businesses all add up to make a strong first impression about the pride people take in their work and their community.
Even after a stretch of time that has put many business owners and their employees through the mill, the folks in Haliburton have the grit to shine when they are under the spotlight.
The staff at The Haliburton Echo have continually confirmed my hunch that Haliburton is a pretty cool little village that punches above its weight in many areas including the arts, sports, entrepreneurship and community service.
It is with some considerable degree of eagerness that I look forward to meeting as many people as possible. It is very important to me to keep up to speed on the issues that are important to the people who live and work here. Free speech and lively discussion, that is both civil and informative, have always been essential for me. It is also important to shine light on those people and stories that would not make the news in a city, but that are nevertheless important to the local community. Thanks to everyone who made a good first impression on me a few Saturdays ago; glad to be part of this thriving community.