I joined with University of Windsor president Alan Wildeman and Mayor Drew Dilkens of the City of Windsor for the grand opening of the School of Social Work now housed at the corner of  Pitt and Ferry streets on the site of the former Windsor Star. CS&P Architects  retained the entrance and facade of the former Star building, to honour the history of the newspaper that operated at this location in 1923. The Star was at this location till 2012 when it moved to its current location at 300 Ouellette Avenue.

Wildeman greeted four former Star publishers and editors. He said, “Welcome back…Your hands did the work that created the river of news, stories and pictures to which our history is carried. You, more than any of us, understand how much Pitt and Ferry has meant to Windsor.”

My part in the ceremonies was to speak briefly about the 35 years that I spent writing here, but also to read a poem about the old presses that used to roar over a three-tiered facility. I was there representing both the University of Windsor where I am the resident writing professional, as well as the city as its poet laureate. I spoke about how I used to slide down to the press room and watch the men roll out the gigantic newsprint rolls and clamp heavy metal plates to the vast mechanical network. It always fascinated me.

In this photo below by Star photographer Jason Kryk, I am with two old-timers from that paper: Bill Bishop, former photo editor (left) and Jim Bruce, former editor and publisher.

Melanie Renaud of the30.ca from the University of Windsor Digital Journalism program covered the event on Twitter. This is the result: