The 2019 Polaris Music Prize short-list features ten artists, all unique, and many I had not heard of before writing this article. My first thought when I saw the list: “Who are these people?”
Homeless in St. Thomas
Recently Andrew Gunn and I met with Sandy Westaway, who runs the Inn Out of the Cold shelter in St. Thomas. Needless to say, I learned a lot about the homeless people in our small town and the details shocked me.
New Street Art Projects Coming to St. Thomas
Feeling the need for a jolt of energy to renew the landscape of downtown St. Thomas, multiple organizations and individuals have come together with the aim of making the city one of the true ‘street art capitals’ of Canada!
Flickers of Light - Part One
What makes a person want to live in a certain place? One of our guiding ideas at young & free press is that we like to feel at home wherever we go, and allow others to feel at home, too – and we know that all this takes work. This is especially true in our hometown of St. Thomas, where we sense the horizons of small-city life acutely – are we content, or do we want to escape?
Exploring Ontario's Southwest
One thing that our young & free press team has learned since we started-up the business is that there are remarkable things happening every day in our communities … we just have to jump in and explore! Well, we now have the opportunity to take this spirit to a whole new level: beginning this spring, we will be collaborating with the Southwest Ontario Tourism Corporation to present some fun new content on our Instagram page!
GROW Time!
Our team at young & free press loves to collaborate with community partners on fun, innovative projects. What’s next? Well, we are excited to help establish new ‘pop-up shops’ around southwestern Ontario, beginning with the first site in our home-base of St. Thomas!
Ten Songs to Check Out by JUNO-Nominated Artists
With the JUNO Awards coming to Budweiser Gardens in London on Sunday, March 17th, our team at young & free press have been busy listening to albums and songs by the artists nominated this year. We have a unique dynamic, of course, as our owner & editor Andrew Gunn is 40 years old, and all our journalists are teenagers!
Top Ten Ways to Re-imagine Downtown Simcoe
Norfolk County feels a bit unsettled ever since the transformational municipal election back in the fall --- and we think that this is a great thing! New leaders are in place, conversations are happening, and there is a healthy sense of optimism (and skepticism) in the air.
Concert Announcement: Hawksley Workman
Our team at young & free press is excited to announce that we are partnering with the Elgin Theatre Guild to present Hawksley Workman at the Princess Ave Playhouse in St. Thomas on Monday, May 20th – the perfect way to finish off the May long weekend!
'Little Free Libraries' Coming to St. Thomas!
Hayhoe Homes, the St. Thomas / Elgin Regional Campus of Fanshawe College, and the team at young & free press have come together on a special project to build 'little free library' boxes for the whole community!
Interview: Matt Mays
On February 8th, our young journalists Jenn Klassen and Emily Stage had a chance to chat with Matt Mays, well-known across Canada and beyond for his distinctive voice and lyrics, thunderous live shows and string of rock radio hits.
Social Media and Teens
Adults don’t look at social media from the same perspective as teenagers. Sometimes adults don’t fully understand the apps. Teenagers use social media differently than most might think. They are more than aware of every picture they post and how those images will be received by
The young & free Short Story Contest for Kids!
Our young & free press team is very excited to announce our first-ever Short Story Contest for Kids! Maddie King, one of our teenage journalists, and Andrew Gunn, our owner and editor, will read the stories and serve as judges.
Top Ten Ways to Make St. Thomas Awesome
Well St. Thomas, set your expectations high! We have a new Mayor and Council at City Hall, our community is growing, and there is a hint of cultural transformation in the air. In our view, we think that St. Thomas can become the next great destination in southwestern Ontario for twenty-something entrepreneurs, tradespeople and makers, young families, and active retirees. Seriously, why not?
Top Ten Ways to Make Norfolk County Awesome
Municipal elections can be boring, but this year in Norfolk County there were some compelling storylines. Consider the set-up: the most recent Norfolk County Council lacked diversity, to say the least – nine white men, no women, and definitely trending older.
Interview: Joe Preston, Mayor of St. Thomas
Joe Preston was elected Mayor of St. Thomas in the October 22nd municipal election with a total of 3,731 votes, defeating the incumbent, Heather Jackson (3,189 votes) and two other challengers, Steve Wookey (2949 votes) and Malichi Malé (338 votes). With four candidates in the running, there was not going to be a landslide, but the margin of victory was still decisive.
Thoughts on the Election & the State of St. Thomas
Our young & free press team has been heavily involved in the St. Thomas municipal election this year. We have interviewed all the candidates for Mayor and several of the candidates for City Council.
Two Interviews: Charlie Luke and Kristal Chopp
Recently our owner and editor Andrew Gunn and young journalist Jenn Klassen had the opportunity to interview Charlie Luke and Kristal Chopp, the two front-runners in the race to become Mayor of Norfolk County.
Erik Olson: Rolling Down the Road
Erik Olson took a motorcycle trip around the United States in spring 2018 and makes some of the people and places that he encountered visible in his new exhibition of paintings, ‘Hold the Line’, on display at the Michael Gibson Gallery in London from September 20th to October 27th.
What the Folk?
Municipal politics may be significant to our day-to-day lives, but it is common to find that the voter turnout rate in municipal elections is well under fifty percent. Why is this the case?