Years est. 1954
Vol. 60, No. 16
KITIMAT, APRIL 16, 2014
PRICE 5 CENTS $1.30
$41.65 a year $60.45 in Canada
May Day fun in Kitamaat
(EDITORIAL)
Continuation
Northern Sentinel, 1955
Northern Sentinel, 1954
This is the, well, who knows what issue this is from the first of the “Kitimat Northern Sentinel’, a newspaper designed to serve the people of Canada’s newest community. Or so began the introduction to the Sentinel by Howard T. Mitchell, the paper’s founder and first publisher. (Well, when he wrote it he said it was the first issue of the paper, naturally.) “From the outset and doubtless throughout its whole career, Kitimat will be chiefly a metallurgical centre. It is destined to become one of the world’s great aluminum smelting and distributing centres of an era that is turning dramatically to light metals. The bold planing of Alcan executives and engineers assures this future. No other development is necessary to make Kitimat British Columbia’s third largest centre outside of the Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria communities. But Kitimat can and will be more than that.” Perhaps Mr. Mitchell was a wee bit optimistic that Kitimat could, in terms of scope, compare to Vancouver or Victoria. Certainly when it comes to financial contributions, Kitimat contributed a great deal to the province’s GDP, but in terms of population we never quite got passed stage two of Kitimat’s four stages of growth. Stage two had us at 13,000. But whether we had one or 1,000,000 people the Sentinel has always taken its task with the respect and sincerity it deserves. “We on the Northern Sentinel approach our tasks with great interest and enthusiasm, conscious that we have a duty to help in the laying of foundations — and that it is a privilege to have this opportunity to serve Kitimat and its people.” At this point in history the whole notion of ‘laying the foundation’ may be old hat, considering Kitimat’s foundation is well laid, as far as being an established community. Then again, Kitimat is transforming in a similar way as it was in 1954. Alcan, or should I say, Rio Tinto Alcan, is nearing the end of the modernization of their smelter. Again, like back in the 50s, camps are housing workers quickly getting a new smelter off the ground. Yet we’re also looking at a number of other mega projects proposals for our town, from liquefied natural gas exports to oil refineries. Who knows which project will make it to production in the end, but Kitimat as a “metallurgical centre” is definitely, now, just part of the picture, not the centre of it. For us here, though, there’s one thing that’s been constant since April 15, 1954, and today, 60 years and one day later: the Sentinel has been there. Through numerous editors and publishers, from ad designers to sales people, and for the longest time press workers, the Sentinel has been a local business, employer, and news gatherer. We may be a little different from our start, but who wouldn’t be after 60 years. We’re not printing out of an old diesel generator shed, and we’re not Mitchell’s paper anymore. But whether we’re Mitchell’s Press, the Cariboo Press or Black Press, we’ve always been Kitimat’s community paper. Sure, today we have northernsentinel.com, and sure we’re followed by over 1,000 people on Facebook, and the editor even tracks trends on Twitter, but the printed word, our pages of actual physical newspaper, remain our pride and joy. After 60 years we’re not ready to ditch print. Over 60 years we may have lost some things. Full service gas stations, milk men, and maybe soon from here door-to-door mail. But each week, you can always grab a new Sentinel. Some things never change. Northern Sentinel, 2014
Northern Sentinel, 1957
Women’s Events in Kitimat
Northern Sentinel, 1958
Northern Sentinel, 1957
PM477761
Sentinel 60th anniversary celebration ... pages 1, 2, 14, 15, 16