On June 12, 1988, a Star was born.
From the ink-stained fingers of The Morning Star’s founding fathers, and mothers, the newspaper has grown to become the trusted source of news in print and online.
Outlasting any other print/digital media sources locally over its 35-year history, the community-minded media company strives to deliver the stories, features and photos that matter to readers.
Many of the staff working in the office have been here for years, while some are new and learning the ropes of community journalism, business marketing or just earning their first paycheque delivering physical newspapers.
Stars in the business like Stephanie Stecyk and Carol Williment have stuck with the company for 30 years.
Anyone who has ever entered the Okanagan Landing office knows the kind smile and comforting presence of ‘office manager’ Williment at the front desk. She is seen as the office mom, looking after all our needs – from pencils to lending an ear when troubles weigh us down.
Anyone with an ounce of style has marvelled at the grace of Stecyk, whose charm has long sold over advertisers. As now this powerhouse woman leads the sales team as manager.
She’s also managing the office, even in her stilettos, while publisher Keith Currie spends the summer back east with his family. Currie came to the Star earlier this year to help the team with his years of experience. In fact, he came out of retirement and has given more than news to the community. You may recall the recent Valley Vonka chocolate bars being sold around town earlier this spring. That idea was all Currie’s, to hold a Willy Wonka-type contest. Along with five lucky winners of some awesome prizes, the event raised $6,680 for JumpStart, the Canadian Tire charity which funds getting kids into sports.
Currie also brought the Ads by Kidz supplement to life, where we partnered with schools to have kids design ads for businesses for a chance to be featured in the special section. It was a hit among all!
He also put together (well Stecyk did most of the work) a Women in Business gala, where advertisers were invited to an evening with guest speaker Jennifer Barroll on May 24.
The inspirational speaker shared a story of an eagle, raised among chickens. “I believe that we live in a world full of chickens, that want us to scrape and bob and peck,” she said. “‘Don’t think too big, don’t dream too big. Don’t you go get too big for your britches.’
“What I believe is that we are actually all eagles, we all have a special little eagle thing inside of us.
“That is ours to not only use and do and enjoy and thrive in, but also to help others with.”
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