“It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder,

It's the forests where silence has lease;

It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder,

It's the stillness that fills me with peace.”

-- From Spell of the Yukon,

by Robert Service

All good things must come to an end – at least that’s how the old saying goes. In this case it could not be more true, and could not be more unfortunate for The Spectator and the residents of Annapolis County.

Reporter Carolyn Sloan, who spent most of her life in Annapolis Royal, is packing her bags and heading out on an adventure that will land her somewhere up north. Selfishly, we curse the lure of the north. We have good reason.

For four years Carolyn Sloan has poured every bit of herself into her job and into The Spectator. She’s weathered change with adaptability, seized opportunity with eagerness, and shouldered responsibility and obligation with great strength and conviction. These qualities alone may seem enough in someone so young.

But Carolyn Sloan is much more than that. Those qualities are just the backbone of a remarkable person who, without exception, has always put others well before herself. She has received a provincial award for her work with mental health issues, has worked with an amazing assortment of people through her People First group, has been a longtime friend and contributor in the arts world, and has participated in or helped organize many community events.

As an award-winning reporter, she has covered events and tackled issues with empathy, honesty, and sensitivity that have endeared her to readers, friends, and colleagues. She approached every human interest story, every subject, and every person without judgment and with respect. Through her writing, she has touched, in a very positive way, the lives of many, many people.

And really, writing has simply been one of many ways she has been able to help improve the lives of others and society as a whole. That’s what Carolyn Sloan is all about. She’s a champion for equal treatment, rights, and opportunity for all people regardless of capacity.

Unfortunately, being the face of The Spectator in certain parts of the county, she has carried the weight of unfair and unjust criticism aimed at the paper after its merger with The Monitor-Examiner. It’s difficult to put your very heart and soul into your calling only to be berated for something that is not of your making and is beyond your control. But with a grace few are born with, achieve, or even aspire to, Carolyn Sloan has conducted herself with dignity, conciliation, and understanding that is a merit to this paper.

As experts talk about melting polar ice caps, the thawing of the tundra, and the thinning of the ice floes, they chalk it up to climate change. We believe that the north will become warmer because Carolyn Sloan is going there.