Citizen at 40: Malpass navigates parenthood to tell Blyth's stories
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
Sometimes, a correspondent for The Citizen is starting to set down roots.
The village of Blyth boasts not one, but two local writers who contribute to its section of the paper, and Sarah Malpass is one of them. She’s been covering the Blyth beat since Jan. 24, and shares the workload with Deb Hakkers.
Malpass and her family moved to Canada about seven years ago, first landing in Ontario’s “Royal City” - Guelph. They made the big move to Blyth four-and-a-half years ago. Her husband, Mark, works in the poultry industry - a fitting profession for Huron County, where agriculture is a defining feature of the landscape. “There are lots of chickens in the local area!” Sarah pointed out with a laugh.
She’s quite comfortable with the shift to small town living, having spent most of her life in the middle of England, north of Birmingham, just outside Lichfield, Staffordshire. “We love village life,” Malpass told The Citizen. “There are lots of similarities from there to here, in size and a great sense of community… I’d say the people are probably friendlier here!”
Lichfield is most famous for its three-spired medieval cathedral, which is the only one of its kind in the United Kingdom. It was also the birthplace of Samuel Johnson, author of the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language in 1755, and home to 18th century poet Anna Seward, “The Swan of Lichfield.”
Having a lust for the literary must be endemic to Staffordshire, as Sarah has also led a life focused on language and learning. She earned a PhD in plant molecular biology before retraining as an accountant, giving her access to a unique intersection of numbers, words and the largely untranslatable language of plants.
After her daughter, Morgan, was born, Sarah decided to become a correspondent for The Citizen as a way to stay connected to her new community. “I was looking for something to do other than just motherhood at the moment. And this doesn’t take up too much time, and it’s great to write about the brilliant things that happen in Blyth as well… I’d have attended the events I write about anyway, but I’m enjoying it! There are so many wonderful events that go on in Blyth. I’m just trying to cover as many as I can, really, and get the word out there that things happen here.”
When asked what drives her reporting, Malpass’s answer is simple. “To inform people. To try and get everybody engaged. To hear different people’s perspectives on community life.” Reminding readers that small towns are vibrant with activity may seem like a minor mission, but Sarah believes it is also an important one. “There’s such positivity in the village… everyone is just there for each other. There are so many different events,” she pointed out. “As a Brit, we always talk about the weather, so it just comes naturally.”
Looking ahead, she hopes both Blyth and The Citizen continue to thrive together. “I hope the village doesn’t lose that community feeling. I’d love to see even more events and more going on,” she said. “We just love living here. It’s a great place.”