Birth of the Beacon

By Doreen Marion Gee

The genesis of our venerable newspaper is a fascinating peek into James Bay's past. It happened within the context of many developments in services to people in this community. The 70's were a bustling time in James Bay. With an infusion of federal cash, numerous social and health services took root, forming a progressive and inclusive community. The James Bay News was born in 1973 out of this heady era of social development and passionate activism. The JB News bloomed into the James Bay Chronicle/Beacon, and the very first issue of the new James Bay Newspaper Society came out in September 1992. It contains the words of Mary Pankowski, one of the founders of the original JB News along with her husband, Bob Pankowski. Mary eloquently describes the genesis of a forty-year process of recording inspired local voices in print, eventually culminating in our present James Bay Beacon. She recollects her husband as PR man for the newly formed James Bay Community Association in the 70's: " Bob decided that the most effective way to bring a community together was to make them aware of what was going on and give them some pride in their community. So the Association started a newsletter which eventually evolved into the James Bay News." The rest is history.

Lorne DeGirolamo, Carole James's father, was an active part of the original James Bay News. In an email interview amidst his Mexican winter holiday (Sorry Lorne!), he holds fond memories of the early days in the Beacon's evolution. Here are his thoughts: 

"I will give you my recollections. As I recall the first copies of JB News were mimeographed or 'gestetnered' in South Park School. I was a resident volunteer and was involved in the formation of the James Bay Community Association (JBCA), and was later hired as a Community Development Worker by the JBCA, through funds provided by the BC Ministry of Human Resources. My first, temporary, office was in South Park School and I worked closely with the principal, and a number of others, including, members of the JBCA Board, of which I believe Bob Pankowski was a member. We put out a newsletter we called The James Bay News. Over a period of time we established a street front Community Office which was located where the Coffee Shop and Book Store is now located on Menzies St. Dr. Ingram, who just recently passed away, had a medical office there and kindly gave us some space. We had staff mostly paid for by a Federal Government LIP (Local Initiative Project) grants. This was all under the auspices of the JBCA. The JB News was expanded to a different format and we started publishing out of the office of Human Resources which was located in Cathedral School on the corner of Niagara and Medana streets. We began publishing monthly out of that office using their copier and other office equipment. On the day of our publishing, we were allowed in at 4:30 when the Social Workers and office staff finished work and we had to be out before they arrived for work the next morning. We normally worked until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning to get the paper completed. There were a group of us working on this, including Bob, who eventually 'rescued' the paper when energy and interest waned. The JB News at this time was a cooperative community effort. It was actually only one of many activities the JBCA and the Community Office were involved in. Others included establishing James Bay Days, working on down-zoning changes, proposing programmes to meet community needs and more. For the distribution of the JB News, we developed a "Block System". James Bay was divided into 52 block areas, each with its own representative whose main task was to deliver the JB News each month. At this stage there were many community volunteers and community office staff working on publishing and distributing the paper. Outside of Bob Pankowski, I have left names out of this because I can't recall them all and I don't want to mention only a few. Bob's role was special, in that he kept the News going when I have no doubt that it would have ended."