YORKTON - Bob Maloney has seen Yorkton develop from two viewpoints which gave him a close look.
On one hand he had a 35-year career covering the city for the local television station.
And, then he spent nearly 20 years on Yorkton Council, including two terms as mayor.
Yorkton of course has been Maloney’s home for most of his life, delivered in the city by Dr. Houston, and residing locally with the exception of a few years in Churchbridge and Saskatoon. He was however back in Yorkton to attend and graduate high school.
It was while in high school the door to his career opened.
“While I was in high school I wrote for the Yorkton Enterprise. Dick DeRyk was the editor at the time,” recalled Maloney in a recent interview over a cup of coffee.
Even though just in high school Maloney said he was allowed to cover some political stories, and found it was something he liked.
“Even before I graduated I had plans of going to journalism school,” he said.
But, DeRyk had other ideas for the budding journalist.
“Dick offered me a job probably a month before I graduated,” recalled Maloney.
Maloney said he remembers going to see DeRyk and asking “why would you hire me?”
The reply was a simple one; ‘You I can train,’ said the editor.
Maloney’s course was set, albeit with a medium change ahead.
One week Maloney said “I had three significant stories on the front page,” which caught the attention of the local TV station and when they offered him a spot he took it.
“I was there for 35 years,” he said, adding it was easy to stay as for the most part he loved the career. “. . . I really enjoyed my job.”
It helped to have people like Linus Westberg and Roger McLaughlin to help him grow into the job.
“They were the people who mentored me,” said Maloney
That said, Maloney said he did work through massive changes in media.
For example; “when I started there were 93 people at the TV station … There were 11 people in the newsroom at one time,” he said, adding there are 11 in total today.
Maloney said he was asked once to make a presentation to the CRTC about how small market TV might be preserved, but there simply weren’t easy answers.
“It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the evolution,” he said, adding in a social media world “everybody’s a reporter (through blogs).”
Maloney also was involved in a range of significant and memorable stories.
When asked he immediately went to the Larry Fisher trial which he terms “a huge story nationally.” It revolved around one of the oldest and most notorious murder cases in Canadian history. Fisher went on trial in the city for the 1969 sex slaying of a Saskatoon woman, a crime for which David Milgaard spent 23 years in prison.
Next in Maloney’s mind was the death of two young children found frozen in a field on the Yellow Quill Reserve in 2008.
And a visit by Pierre Elliott Trudeau to Estevan at a time he was hated in the west.
“People threw wheat at him,” said Maloney, adding once in the hall he told the crowd “’I’m not going to talk about wheat’.” Instead Trudeau spoke about Canada and for 15 minutes received a standing ovation.
On the good news side, the arrival of canola mills to Yorkton and the visit of the Queen came to Maloney’s mind, as did an interview with George Morros.
“I was so impressed with how humble that man was,” said Maloney.
Meeting former Roughrider star George Reed also warranted mention.
“It was the most nervous I ever was doing an interview . . . George Reed was my hero,” said Maloney recalling a visit the player made to the school he was attending in Saskatoon. “His legs looked like tree trunks, they were so big.”
For Maloney there would be more than television reporting as he felt the call to help his city develop from a seat on Council chambers. He would run, win and ultimately spend nearly two decades involved with local municipal politics.
“You always feel a debt of responsibility to the city,” said Maloney, adding that is why he coached ball, refereed basketball, sat of the film festival and housing boards and ran for Council over the years. “. . . You feel you have an obligation to the community you live in.”
In Maloney’s case for mayor Phil DeVos “suggested to me ‘why don’t you run’,” so he did.
While he felt the responsibility, it wasn’t always easy on Council.
“It’s a thankless job in many ways,” he said, adding he often had people unhappy with decisions made coming to his office or talking to him at length on the street. He even gets call today, although no longer on Council.
Maloney said in the end it became draining, so he chose not to run again.
So now Maloney is happily retired, spending time with his wife Diane (Spokes), and their three grown children and lone grandchild Coen Ganong.
And there is lots of time for hobbies, golf both ball and disc, reading a book every couple of weeks – re-reading Tarzan at present, and fishing, all of which has Maloney smiling at their mention.
