By Kim Hutchison
Staff Reporter:
My name is Kim Hutchison and one week ago, I was a longtime resident of Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. This week, here I am in Ponoka and I can’t express how excited I am to start working as a reporter for the Ponoka News.
I was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on April 5, 1986. My father was an RCMP officer and was transferred to Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia soon after my birth. I grew up there with one older sister who has been living in and loving Edmonton for the past 10 years.
After high school, I went to Cape Breton University for four years and recently finished a bachelor of arts degree with a concentration in English. Like the majority of my fellow east coasters I continuously contemplated relocating to one of our country’s western provinces, especially since my sister has been trying to get me to move anywhere in this one for years, but there was no reason for me to make that move. Luckily this amazing opportunity presented itself, but getting here wasn’t as easy as making the decision to come. I knew I would need my car for this particular position so, instead of hopping on a flight and figuring everything out upon my arrival, I asked my mother if she was interested in taking a cross Canada voyage.
She’s a teacher and hasn’t taken a sick day in years, but this week she wasn’t feeling so great. After the car received a fair amount of repairs, we packed it (packed being a complete understatement) and left at 5 a.m. on Saturday, September 27. Half an hour into our trip, five deer ran out onto the road forcing mom, who was driving at the time, to slam on the brakes thankfully just in time. To give you an indication of just how close this collision was, I had already fallen asleep and at the sound of the screeching breaks, I literally woke up to see a deer bum pressed against the passenger side headlight. After a few moments of zero movement, they sprinted in opposite directions back into the woods from where they came. I saw a deer coming towards the road in Saskatchewan when I was behind the wheel, but seeing it from a few miles away diminishes any threat.
We made it to Ottawa that night where I had a good time catching up with a great friend followed by a visit to Parliament and the Ottawa Canal. The next morning, we hit the road to Sault Ste. Marie and the morning after, anxious to get out of Ontario but still far from the Manitoba border, we made it to Winnipeg. We woke up from our sleep at a Travel Inn and continued across the Prairies. The Saskatchewan sunset is something I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. It was beautiful. We finally made it to Edmonton later that evening and spent the rest of week visiting my sister, brother-in-law and nine month old niece Bhreagh while frantically running around attempting to get everything and anything in order.
I was able to briefly drive around Ponoka and while I am excited to get the official tour later this week, I am even more excited to start informing and entertaining you with what’s happening!