Mike Rainone
Hammertime
When I was browsing through my mini-archives study full of history books, information, pictures, knick knacks, and old movies last week I realized that it has been 10 years since I left my short but sweet stint as the editor of your Ponoka News and tried to enter into full retirement mode.
Believe me, it was quite a culture shock after finally growing up and living for close to 60 years in my favourite home town of Ponoka, where I somehow managed to raise a family, worked at some great places, hung around with a zany bunch of super friends, team mates, and characters, and a had a whole lot of mostly clean fun along the way.
My greatest pleasures these days while trying to slow down a little and carry on as a senior are my wife and rapidly extending family, keeping my mojo up at board games, bowling with the Golden Agers, mingling with old and new friends, taking regular unplanned naps, watching some old and a few new T.V. shows, and trying to exercise in ‘slow gear.’ Along with some volunteering, weekly assigned chores, and puttering around home, my most enjoyable pastime is writing this column, as well as chasing great stories for the weekly Reflections and Remember When feature in the Ponoka News. Along the way and thanks to the keen support from my very good friend Judy Dick and the congenial staff at the Ponoka News I have been encouraged to put together well in excess of 500 Reflections articles and Remember When photos, as well as continue throwing together the Hammer’s Column, which I started more than 40 years ago as a reporter with the Ponoka Herald.
Writing these historical and ongoing tales about our thriving town and county districts has given me the wonderful opportunity of meeting, mingling, and sharing facts and fun with a whole lot of great people and amazing characters. I have often had the treat of renewing old friendships or making new acquaintances, and on most occasions being tempted with delightful snacks of coffee and cookies. These articles have followed the colourful highlights and challenges of over a century of our proud and exciting local history, as well as featuring the families, individuals, graduations, reunions, clubs, teams, businesses, schools, churches, special events, occasions, and countless milestones that will always be so much a part of our proud heritage and ongoing successes, from both yesterday and today and covering an amazing span of well over a hundred years.
For yours truly it has been most gratifying to be allowed to seek out and share the countless accomplishments, successes, humour, joys, and challenges of others, many of which we may have never realized, but certainly appreciate and salute the efforts. Over this span of close to 10 years I have been very blessed by the wonderful support and ideas that I have received from so many great families, individuals, and groups in helping me put all these stories together, and without that it would never be possible to complete these weekly features. My inspiration has come from the congenial enthusiasm and encouragement from so many in and around the community, including outstanding material, input, and patience from the super staff members at the Fort Ostell Museum.
After spending nearly 25 years in the local newspaper business as the editor of both the Ponoka Herald and the Ponoka News, being allowed to keep on writing these articles and columns has been my very satisfying swan song, and would like to keep it going for as long as I am able. Whatever the case, I really appreciate the amazing support, and I will really look forward to receiving your valuable input, ideas, photos, and information in order to keep Reflections, Remember When?, and the Hammer’s Column going strong. Please feel free to give me a call at 403-341-5750 or email: jrainone@telus.net.
Just a funny view of comparing 1960 to 2018
I really enjoy and chuckle about the great material I get sent to me over the air-waves, most of which carries a message, is hilarious, or totally off-the-wall. Some I love to pass on to my internet family and faithful readers, while others go straight into the recycle bin, but no matter what your age may be please be open minded about these comparisons over the generations.
• 1960 (long hair) - 2018 (longing for hair), 1960 (acid rock) - 2018 (acid reflux), 1960 (seeds and stems) - 2018 (roughage), 1960 (hoping for a BMW) - 2018 (hoping for a BM), 1960 (going to a hip joint) - 2018 (getting a hip replacement), 1960 (Rolling Stones)- 2018 (Kidney stones), 1960 (disco) - 2018 (Costco), 1960 (short-shorts) -2018 (Depends), 1960 (begging the kids to get a haircut)-2018 (kids begging their dads to get their heads shaved), 1960 (passing our driver’s test) - 2018 (Passing our vision test so that we can still keep our driver’s licence).
Please enjoy the Ponoka Stampede festivities heading into the July long weekend, and then keep right on going into the summer-fest, and have a great week, all of you.