Latest news with #TerrySmith
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Shropshire festival celebrates the world of van life culture
Fans of camper vans, caravans and "van life culture" in general have gathered to celebrate this weekend in tents to motor homes and trucks to caravans, 5,000 people are attending the Vanlife Festival at the West Mid Showground in is the third time the festival has been held in the town to bring together everyone who loves the outdoors and Ruth Jones said people from all walks of life visited the festival and shared stories about their travels around the world. "Some people have travelled all around Australia and others have lived in their vans for more than 30 years," she said. A range of performances are featured at the festival including acts like Metz Jnr, Frankie Roe and The is also a large display of more than 100 classic camper vans and caravans beginning from the 1960s in the festival's Field of Inspiring Dreams."You can see what set-up people have and have a cup of tea with the owners, some even have parrots and cats," Ruth Jones added that the displays brought some people to tears as the caravans reminded them of childhood camping with their families. Damo Jones and Terry Smith founded the festival after meeting at camper van shows and wanted to create an inclusive event where every make and model of vehicle was Mr Jones and his wife Ruth started travelling with a tent at the age of 18, they would look "in envy" at people with camper vans."We would meet friends by inviting people around the campfire and we wanted people to feel involved from all walks of life," Ms Jones couple later managed to save up and purchase a van of their own and have been camper van owners for the past 20 years. They have brought the campfire vibes to the festival by introducing faux campfires that everyone can sit around to share stories and get to know one another. Campervan and caravan lovers can explore the festival and be inspired by others until the event finishes on Sunday. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Bruce Mitchell's The Athens NEWS, a powerhouse legacy of local Ohio journalism
Bruce Mitchell, right, oversees a staff meeting in The Athens News offices. (Photo credit: ©1978 Greg Smith/ Photo only for use with original article.) The first time I met Bruce Mitchell, in December 2008, while I waited for our appointment, I noticed a sign hanging in the second-floor front office of The Athens NEWS at 14 N. Court Street in Athens, Ohio. 'A newspaper's duty is to print the news and raise hell,' it said. When Bruce walked in to greet me, I gestured toward the sign. 'I love reporting the news,' I grinned. 'And I love raising hell.' He beamed back with his wide, open smile and laughed his approval. After our conversation that day, I knew kismet had found us — a shared bulldog energy for public accountability against corruption combusting in our professional cores. Hard-nosed and never afraid of confrontation, but not militant or hateful, this energy is fueled not by fear, contempt, vengeance, or resentment, but an absolute love and commitment to community, humanity, truth, justice, and public service. Having for years read and admired the work of longtime Editor Terry Smith, Jim Phillips, and Nick Claussen, I knew quickly after my interviews with Terry and Bruce that The Athens NEWS would mean something in my life. Perhaps, though, I didn't fully recognize how deep and profound its meaning until just last weekend, when many of us were reunited in Athens to celebrate Bruce's life and legacy following his passing on April 29 at the age of 71. As I watched a slideshow last Saturday of Bruce living this joyful, fiercely unique, caring, heart-forward, service-oriented, wildly colorful life, I could not help but be struck by the force and magnitude of all that he and Terry had built. Of course, many others helped, from Bruce's wonderful wife Susan and his business partner Guy Philips, to the countless reporters, staff and sales reps, graphics people and photographers who contributed so much along the way. I joined the NEWS at the very start of 2009, after Terry hired me as a new staff reporter over the holidays. I had been a student reporter for the campus bureau of the paper during my senior year at Ohio University. I used those first crucial professional clips to obtain an internship in Washington D.C., which turned into a job at the National Journal's The Hotline. That led to a job for the New York Observer's Politicker covering the 2008 campaign cycle in then-battleground Ohio. After the election was over, they laid us all off. I needed a new reporting job, and wanted to gain a wider variety of coverage experience. Terry was looking for a reporter with political coverage chops. Bruce had already been printing the news and raising hell for more than three decades as publisher of The Athens NEWS, which he founded in 1977, fresh after graduating from Ohio University and raising plenty of hell as a campus leader and activist. While I was an undergrad, I read every twice-weekly edition of The Athens NEWS. I loved — and still love — the tactile quality of flipping through a physical newspaper: the feel, the sound, the smell, the vibe. The Athens NEWS was free, ubiquitous around the campus and city, and useful. With no smartphones back then, every Monday and Thursday I would sit down to lunch at one of the dining halls and read the whole thing. From the NEWS, I knew every event at every venue every weekend throughout the city and county. I knew all the bands, all the players, all the local personalities, the best bars and food spots, the best deals, all the clubs and activities, all the festivals, all the opportunities. I knew everything Ohio University was up to, and anything nefarious the administration might be trying to pull. I knew everything the city and county was up to as well, and anything untoward any local officials might be trying to pull. I knew the crime, I knew the scandals. When I joined the full-time team, it was a blessing: With Bruce's passionate, tireless crusade against public corruption and injustice of any kind, I knew I had the freedom to be the best bulldog reporter I could be. With Jim Phillips' extraordinary, polished, and excellent example, I could study a master reporter at work. And with Terry Smith's steady-handed, level-headed, practical, insightful, inquisitive mentorship and guidance, I learned everything I ever needed to know about how to run a newsroom like a true pro. I expected to be at The Athens NEWS for two years. I ended up staying for nine. We held powerful local politicians accountable to the people, and Ohio University accountable to its students and the larger community. We exposed schemes, scams, and abuse. We did all the everyday reporting that the community needed. We featured everybody making a positive impact, told our readers the heartbreaking truth about poverty and all its attendant ills in Appalachia, exposed predatory landlords and corrupt politicians, and produced every kind of special issue, student and visitor guide imaginable. I got to write everything from restaurant reviews and Goo Goo Dolls interviews, to deeply reported issue coverage of addiction in Southeast Ohio. While Terry ran the show in the newsroom — ever-balancing Bruce's intensity and more feverish ideas with Terry's own steady and serious news judgment — behind the operation as a whole stood Bruce, a pied-piper with a wild tie and funny hat, deepening community connections, leading our march in the Halloween parade, handing out turkeys at Thanksgiving and trees at Christmas, taking us to Cincinnati for Reds games, throwing birthday pizza parties, insisting relentlessly on fun. He was one-of-a-kind, never meant for mass production, and others have written lovely tributes outlining the many memorable stories about Bruce and the wonderful things he accomplished, including former reporter Miles Layton and longtime Athens NEWS columnist Dennis E. Powell. In my time there, I got all the invaluable reporting experience I craved, covering local government, crime and the courts, education, health care, energy and the environment, natural disasters, public corruption, protests and riots. After working first in D.C. and then Columbus, I finally saw and learned how policy impacts Ohioans' lives at the ground level. I'd been in their homes. I'd heard their stories. I'd witnessed their tears. What happens at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus is not theoretical to me; I know the repercussions in my heart — I know the faces of the people being harmed. And perhaps therein lies the source of my largest debt of gratitude to Bruce, Terry, Jim, and the whole rest of the entire Athens NEWS team over the years. Everything I learned there became a part of me. I carry it all within me now, at the Ohio Capital Journal, with my own team. So last Saturday, as I sat there in my beloved Athens, reunited for this celebration of life, a wave of gratitude, appreciation, and admiration crashed over me. What a helluva great and noble thing Bruce had done, creating The Athens NEWS and building it into the beautiful community newspaper that it was. Over the decades, an upstart alternative newsweekly became, by the time Bruce retired in 2015 — and for five years after through Terry and Conor Morris — what ought to always be remembered as an absolute powerhouse of local Ohio journalism. Fair, fearless, free, fact-based reporting for the people. Those are actually the mission taglines for the Ohio Capital Journal, but they may as well have been the taglines for The Athens NEWS. I realize now that this whole ethos was inspired and ingrained in me during my time there. And by some wild grace I have the good fortune to continue on with it with States Newsroom, dedicated only to doing the best journalism possible. Before I left Bruce's celebration of life last Saturday, having reflected on all of this, I made sure to tell Susan how grateful I was for the role that she and Bruce and The Athens NEWS played in my life, and how fortunate I feel to be able to try to continue some of that legacy today with the work of the Ohio Capital Journal. Graceful and gracious as ever, Susan gave me a hug and told me that Bruce had followed our work at the Capital Journal and he was proud. That made my eyes well up. I hadn't seen Bruce in the years after I moved to Columbus and they moved to Key West, but I knew that if he ever read the Capital Journal then he would've recognized various reflections of the kind of work we did at the NEWS. That made me smile. Bruce was a man who cared passionately about others and cared passionately about justice and community. He lived with joy, loved deeply, fought corruption relentlessly, and poured himself into his community with no reservations. He was a wild man, with a great big honest heart, and to me, that counts for everything. Bravo, my friend. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Bruce Mitchell's The Athens NEWS, a powerhouse legacy of local Ohio journalism
Bruce Mitchell, right, oversees a staff meeting in The Athens News offices. (Photo credit: ©1978 Greg Smith/ Photo only for use with original article.) The first time I met Bruce Mitchell, in December 2008, while I waited for our appointment, I noticed a sign hanging in the second-floor front office of The Athens NEWS at 14 N. Court Street in Athens, Ohio. 'A newspaper's duty is to print the news and raise hell,' it said. When Bruce walked in to greet me, I gestured toward the sign. 'I love reporting the news,' I grinned. 'And I love raising hell.' He beamed back with his wide, open smile and laughed his approval. After our conversation that day, I knew kismet had found us — a shared bulldog energy for public accountability against corruption combusting in our professional cores. Hard-nosed and never afraid of confrontation, but not militant or hateful, this energy is fueled not by fear, contempt, vengeance, or resentment, but an absolute love and commitment to community, humanity, truth, justice, and public service. Having for years read and admired the work of longtime Editor Terry Smith, Jim Phillips, and Nick Claussen, I knew quickly after my interviews with Terry and Bruce that The Athens NEWS would mean something in my life. Perhaps, though, I didn't fully recognize how deep and profound its meaning until just last weekend, when many of us were reunited in Athens to celebrate Bruce's life and legacy following his passing on April 29 at the age of 71. As I watched a slideshow last Saturday of Bruce living this joyful, fiercely unique, caring, heart-forward, service-oriented, wildly colorful life, I could not help but be struck by the force and magnitude of all that he and Terry had built. Of course, many others helped, from Bruce's wonderful wife Susan and his business partner Guy Philips, to the countless reporters, staff and sales reps, graphics people and photographers who contributed so much along the way. I joined the NEWS at the very start of 2009, after Terry hired me as a new staff reporter over the holidays. I had been a student reporter for the campus bureau of the paper during my senior year at Ohio University. I used those first crucial professional clips to obtain an internship in Washington D.C., which turned into a job at the National Journal's The Hotline. That led to a job for the New York Observer's Politicker covering the 2008 campaign cycle in then-battleground Ohio. After the election was over, they laid us all off. I needed a new reporting job, and wanted to gain a wider variety of coverage experience. Terry was looking for a reporter with political coverage chops. Bruce had already been printing the news and raising hell for more than three decades as publisher of The Athens NEWS, which he founded in 1977, fresh after graduating from Ohio University and raising plenty of hell as a campus leader and activist. While I was an undergrad, I read every twice-weekly edition of The Athens NEWS. I loved — and still love — the tactile quality of flipping through a physical newspaper: the feel, the sound, the smell, the vibe. The Athens NEWS was free, ubiquitous around the campus and city, and useful. With no smartphones back then, every Monday and Thursday I would sit down to lunch at one of the dining halls and read the whole thing. From the NEWS, I knew every event at every venue every weekend throughout the city and county. I knew all the bands, all the players, all the local personalities, the best bars and food spots, the best deals, all the clubs and activities, all the festivals, all the opportunities. I knew everything Ohio University was up to, and anything nefarious the administration might be trying to pull. I knew everything the city and county was up to as well, and anything untoward any local officials might be trying to pull. I knew the crime, I knew the scandals. When I joined the full-time team, it was a blessing: With Bruce's passionate, tireless crusade against public corruption and injustice of any kind, I knew I had the freedom to be the best bulldog reporter I could be. With Jim Phillips' extraordinary, polished, and excellent example, I could study a master reporter at work. And with Terry Smith's steady-handed, level-headed, practical, insightful, inquisitive mentorship and guidance, I learned everything I ever needed to know about how to run a newsroom like a true pro. I expected to be at The Athens NEWS for two years. I ended up staying for nine. We held powerful local politicians accountable to the people, and Ohio University accountable to its students and the larger community. We exposed schemes, scams, and abuse. We did all the everyday reporting that the community needed. We featured everybody making a positive impact, told our readers the heartbreaking truth about poverty and all its attendant ills in Appalachia, exposed predatory landlords and corrupt politicians, and produced every kind of special issue, student and visitor guide imaginable. I got to write everything from restaurant reviews and Goo Goo Dolls interviews, to deeply reported issue coverage of addiction in Southeast Ohio. While Terry ran the show in the newsroom — ever-balancing Bruce's intensity and more feverish ideas with Terry's own steady and serious news judgment — behind the operation as a whole stood Bruce, a pied-piper with a wild tie and funny hat, deepening community connections, leading our march in the Halloween parade, handing out turkeys at Thanksgiving and trees at Christmas, taking us to Cincinnati for Reds games, throwing birthday pizza parties, insisting relentlessly on fun. He was one-of-a-kind, never meant for mass production, and others have written lovely tributes outlining the many memorable stories about Bruce and the wonderful things he accomplished, including former reporter Miles Layton and longtime Athens NEWS columnist Dennis E. Powell. In my time there, I got all the invaluable reporting experience I craved, covering local government, crime and the courts, education, health care, energy and the environment, natural disasters, public corruption, protests and riots. After working first in D.C. and then Columbus, I finally saw and learned how policy impacts Ohioans' lives at the ground level. I'd been in their homes. I'd heard their stories. I'd witnessed their tears. What happens at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus is not theoretical to me; I know the repercussions in my heart — I know the faces of the people being harmed. And perhaps therein lies the source of my largest debt of gratitude to Bruce, Terry, Jim, and the whole rest of the entire Athens NEWS team over the years. Everything I learned there became a part of me. I carry it all within me now, at the Ohio Capital Journal, with my own team. So last Saturday, as I sat there in my beloved Athens, reunited for this celebration of life, a wave of gratitude, appreciation, and admiration crashed over me. What a helluva great and noble thing Bruce had done, creating The Athens NEWS and building it into the beautiful community newspaper that it was. Over the decades, an upstart alternative newsweekly became, by the time Bruce retired in 2015 — and for five years after through Terry and Conor Morris — what ought to always be remembered as an absolute powerhouse of local Ohio journalism. Fair, fearless, free, fact-based reporting for the people. Those are actually the mission taglines for the Ohio Capital Journal, but they may as well have been the taglines for The Athens NEWS. I realize now that this whole ethos was inspired and ingrained in me during my time there. And by some wild grace I have the good fortune to continue on with it with States Newsroom, dedicated only to doing the best journalism possible. Before I left Bruce's celebration of life last Saturday, having reflected on all of this, I made sure to tell Susan how grateful I was for the role that she and Bruce and The Athens NEWS played in my life, and how fortunate I feel to be able to try to continue some of that legacy today with the work of the Ohio Capital Journal. Graceful and gracious as ever, Susan gave me a hug and told me that Bruce had followed our work at the Capital Journal and he was proud. That made my eyes well up. I hadn't seen Bruce in the years after I moved to Columbus and they moved to Key West, but I knew that if he ever read the Capital Journal then he would've recognized various reflections of the kind of work we did at the NEWS. That made me smile. Bruce was a man who cared passionately about others and cared passionately about justice and community. He lived with joy, loved deeply, fought corruption relentlessly, and poured himself into his community with no reservations. He was a wild man, with a great big honest heart, and to me, that counts for everything. Bravo, my friend. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Scotsman
24-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Scotsman Obituaries: Terry Smith, visionary Forth Ports Property Director who helped transform Leith
Terence Smith, Property Director, Forth Ports. Born: February 1947 in Kelvindale, Glasgow. Died: April 2025 at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, aged 78 Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Terry Smith retired from Forth Ports plc in 2006, having spent more than 15 years as Property Director, during which time Leith improved beyond all recognition. Some of Edinburgh's most underused land was transformed into desirable residential property and restaurants. Ocean Terminal shopping and leisure complex was created, the new Scottish Office built and a prestigious home found for the former Royal Yacht Britannia, which has grown into a magnificent tourist attraction, often voted number 1 in the UK on Trip Advisor. Without Terry's vision, creativity and determination, Britannia would undoubtedly have gone elsewhere. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Terry's sense of innovation attracted many designers to the area including the architect Terence Conran, who was responsible for designing Ocean Terminal, which commands incredible views of the port. And Ken McCulloch, creator of One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow, renovated the former Sailors' Home into the boutique Malmaison Hotel on Tower Place along the Shore, which is complemented by Terry's carefully commissioned ornate ironworks. Terry Smith at the time of the 2003 Citizens exhibition in Ocean Terminal Picture: Trevor E R Yerbury By driving the change in this vibrant and attractive community, Terry was even able to lure the famed MTV music awards to Leith in 2003. In his time, the company also launched Forthside, encompassing major developments at Granton Harbour, Western Harbour and Port of Leith, which together cover about 450 acres and over two miles of shoreline. Terry supported the initial bid for the establishment of the Edinburgh Trams, linking the airport, railway stations and cruise liners to the seaport, establishing the Port of Leith as the heart of the waterfront city area. He was a Fellow of the Institute of Building and served as a Director of Leith Enterprise Trust, Leith Chamber of Commerce and Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Not one to rest on his laurels, Terry remained on the Board of Trustees for the Royal Yacht Britannia for the rest of his life. The attraction's website notes 'he played a key role in the regeneration of Leith and was instrumental in setting up The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust'. The Forth Ports team, led by the former CEO of 25 years, Bob Downie, also went on to secure and renovate the Fingal, a former Northern Lighthouse Board Ship, into the award-winning luxury floating boutique hotel that can be seen today, docked not far from Britannia in Alexandra Dock. Terry was born in Glasgow. His parents, Terence and Dorothy, met on shore leave from the Navy – his dad was stationed on mine sweepers in the Mediterranean and his mother was a Wren. They went on to be a builder and shorthand typist respectively. Terry had an elder brother, Hamish, who moved to Trinidad in his early twenties, married Heather and built his life and family out there. He also had two younger twin sisters; Isobel remained in Glasgow with her husband Douglas, but Maggie also travelled extensively for work with her husband Frank and their children. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Growing up, Terry displayed a passion for vehicles, and from an early age would cobble together bogies using old pram wheels with built-in brakes. Over the years, this tinkering, turned into a solid hobby and at age 24 his Metron car design was subject to a two-page spread in Motor Magazine. He enjoyed racing several of his creations on the hill-climbing circuit for many years. More recently he developed the unique Marcos Evolution XP, Charterhall Speedster and Unipower Evolution car designs, which were displayed and admired at the Thirlestane Festival of Motoring, among others. His practical upbringing steered him towards the College of Building and Printing in Glasgow, where Terry studied and trained to be a quantity surveyor. After applying for jobs in both the motor and construction industry, it was contractor company Gilbert-Ash that laid the pathway of his future career. He soon became head of their general works department, taking on smaller jobs which led to more lucrative assignments. It was while working on the Cameron Toll development in Edinburgh that he was spotted and approached to join Forth Ports. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In 1971 Terry met Janis, who become the love of his life. By 1977 he and Janis, a primary school teacher, had welcomed their three children, Martin, Julia and Marina, all of whom have gone on to their own fulfilling careers, as film director, ceramicist and Destination Tweed Project Manager respectively. Over the years, Terry renovated and built several properties for his family. First, he converted an Old Coach House in Helensburgh, with the help of his father Terence. Then he moved on to a newbuild on an old market garden site in Edinburgh. And, keeping the Leith legacy alive, he converted one of the few remaining single-level houses, the old Gate Keeper's Office, into a home for his son Martin. There aren't many people who didn't recognise Terry around Leith docks and his combination of practical skills, innovative thinking and approachability made him a well-liked and respected figure. At the time of his retirement Terry was congratulated by his team on his significant achievements and by the Britannia Board for his outstanding contribution and kindness. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Bob Downie, founding Chief Executive of The Royal Yacht Britannia and Fingal Hotel, paid tribute to 'Terry's incredible vision, determination and resulting great success, for which I am extremely grateful'. Terry is survived by his wife Janis, children Martin, Julia and Marina and grandchildren Thomas and Fergus. Obituaries
CTV News
18-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Victoria Day long weekend serves as unofficial start of tourist season in Cape Breton
The May long weekend is the unofficial kickstart to tourist season in Cape Breton so there was a steady number of customers at the High Wheeler Cafe and Bakery in Baddeck, N.S., on Sunday. 'We've already seen in the first week, I think, numbers are up already this year,' said co-owner Nick Pino. The popular cafe along Baddeck's main street just opened for the season after significant renovations for what they expect will be a busy spring and summer. 'The last couple of months too, even with the coffee business we've seen a lot more local support,' Pino said. 'I know people are travelling shorter distances.' Pino said if the rest of the summer is like the first week it's going to be a great season for everyone. Destination Cape Breton CEO Terry Smith said their website's traffic hit record levels last year and is 50 per cent higher so far this year. He said he expects Cape Breton will benefit from people who are hesitant to travel to the U.S. and are instead planning vacations within Canada. 'We expect to be getting a fair number of those folks, and from what I'm hearing nationally it's looking like many people are choosing either the East Coast or the West Coast, so I think we're really going to benefit from that,' Smith said. The Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in Baddeck welcomed its first visitors of the season on the weekend but next weekend promises to be bigger. The Cabot Trail Relay Race takes place May 24 and 25 and finishes on Baddeck's Main Street on Sunday morning. 'It's my favourite day of the year and that is a ginormous head start for our business and all the businesses around here,' Pino said The race typically brings more than 1,000 runners and spectators to the village. Race organizers said they estimate the event brings approximately $1.7 million to businesses in communities along the Cabot Trail each year. High Wheeler Cafe A customer is pictured at the counter of the High Wheeler Cafe and Bakery in Baddeck, N.S. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
