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9 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,January 31,2019 w aterloochronicle.ca It's about trust. Our re- lationship with our read- ers is built on transpar- ency, honesty and integ- rity. As such, we have launched a trust initia- tive to tell you who we are and how and why we do what we do. This column is part of that project. If you've logged on to our news website, water- loochronicle.ca, over the past four months, you've likely noticed the green banner at the top asking you to register and sup- port local journalism. And if you've read more than two stories in any of those months, you've also seen a message blocking part of the third article asking you to register to continue reading. Many of you have an- swered the call - provid- ing us your name, email address and postal code to get unlimited access to our local news and infor- mation, as well as per- mission to comment on articles and submit your own content. Thank you for your support. Others have hesitated. And some have called, emailed or posted on our Facebook page to ask: Why are you asking me to register? What are you doing with this informa- tion? Who has access to this information? Good and reasonable questions. The simple answer is: We want to get to know you. We want to better understand what news articles matter most to you and provide you with more of what you want. But what does that mean exactly? In the past, journalists worked by instinct. We reported on the issues we thought most important to our communities and assumed you read it all. But the only ways we could measure our suc- cess were letters to the editor, critical or compli- mentary phone calls, and conversations at the gro- cery store. Now, as readers regis- ter on waterloochronicle- .ca, we can use a variety of tools to get hard data on your reading habits. How often do you visit? Twice a day, three times a week or once a month? How many articles do you read when you get there? What subject matters interest you most? Social issues? Local council happenings? Crime? Things to do? Are you more likely to read news local to your neighbourhood or about wider regional issues? Will you stick around to devour longer, investi- gative pieces or are you looking for quick reads? We're not looking at this on the individual lev- el - but rather searching for trends that will help guide us in the issues we research and how we pre- sent that information. We are not selling or sharing this information with anyone beyond our company, Torstar. While this new digital tracking is an important way to learn about our readers, we still appreci- ate a good old-fashioned conversation. We always welcome your opinions on what you read online or in this newspaper. You can reach our editor, Mike Wilson, at mike.wil- son@metroland.com or 519-941-1350. Lee Ann Waterman is editor-in-chief of Metro- land Media, York Region and chair of Metroland's trust committee. You can reach her at lwater- man@yrmg.com. We welcome your ques- tions and value your com- ments. Email our trust committee at trust@met- roland.com. GETTING TO KNOW YOU: WHY WE'RE ASKING YOU TO REGISTER ON WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA OPINION REGISTRATION HELPS US LEARN ABOUT OUR READERS, WRITES LEE ANN WATERMAN LEE ANN WATERMAN Column I've always considered antique cash registers to be beautiful works of art, rich in history and intricate in design. That's why I was fasci- nated to see one recently at the Wave Length Hair & Skin beauty salon in Water- loo, owned and operated by Joe Shannon and his wife Bibi Ally, who live in my neighbourhood. Joe is a writer of fiction with a passion for histori- cal eras, and a bit of an au- thority on old cash regis- ters. He told me how a sa- loonkeeper named James Ritty and his brother John from Dayton, Ohio, invent- ed and patented the first mechanical cash register in 1879. In 1884 an entrepreneur named John H. Patterson bought both the cash regis- ter patents and the compa- ny, then known as the Na- tional Manufacturing Company and renamed it the National Cash Register Company, known today as NCR. Lavishly decorated and ornately detailed, these early cash registers were both visually stunning and the focal point of many stores and businesses. While admiring Joe and Bibi's eye-catching brass cash register with 2,000 parts, I was intrigued to learn it was built in Dayton in 1913, during the brass era of cash registers from 1888 to 1915. From the scrolled cabi- net (designed by Tiffany's Jewelry of New York) to the fancy inlaid patterns and marble countertop, it stands as a unique piece of history in the sitting room of the Shannons' spacious, sunlit salon. The antique cash regis- ter has been in Joe's family since his grandparents, who were Polish immi- grants, purchased and ran a neighbourhood grocery store in Detroit, on the out- skirts of Hamtramck. That's where Joe first laid eyes on the cash regis- ter, while visiting the fami- ly store on summer vaca- tion. Many years later, after his grandparents had passed away, Joe and his fa- ther loaded that antique cash register into the trunk of a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville and drove it to its place of origin, Dayton, where Joe lived and worked at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base. Painted a dull grey, Joe scraped the surface of the register with a steak knife to discover brass, and later had it restored for $100 by a retired tool-and-die work- er, referred by the Dayton- based NCR. Interestingly, Joe would go on to work for NCR for nearly 30 years. I loved hearing how the antique cash register would follow Joe from De- troit to four different homes in Ohio to a beauty salon in Waterloo over the span of five decades. And Joe figures there are many such machines still out there waiting to be rediscovered and restored, tucked away in attics, ga- rages and basements. From salons to saloons, the history of vintage cash registers from the brass era of cash registers is fascinat- ing. Next time you encoun- ter one, whether at Wave Length or any other place that displays a lovingly re- stored cash machine, I en- courage you to take a mo- ment to register its artistry. Marshall Ward is a freelance writer and artist. Email is welcome at mar- shall_ward@hotmail.com. REGISTER THE ARTISTRY VINTAGE CASH REGISTERS STAND AS A UNIQUE PIECE OF HISTORY, SAYS MARSHALL WARD MARSHALL WARD Column RE: 'LOSING MY RELIGION' SERIES BY ADAM JACKSON Dear editor, Kudos for your series of articles about the "future of worship" and the role of churches. You opened church doors wider to peer inside for a view that re- veals Christian congrega- tions have challenges to continue for their own pa- rishioners with additional struggles to provide valu- able services that also sup- port others beyond church walls. You mentioned this to be a "matter of fact" in Water- loo Region referring specifi- cally to the recent demoli- tion of Trinity United's building - now a crumbled topping on the local land- scape. Significant church buildings are a testament to changes that emerged from population growth and prosperity in the earliest days of settlement. They al- so link opportunities to ex- perience heritage, cultures, art, businesses and more. For many generations in Canada, only church doors opened on a Sunday - hav- ing no competition with sports arenas, malls and 24-7 internet entertain- ment. One of your editori- als suggests society's com- plex and competing chang- es don't impart clarity for solutions to "keep them around." I wish reversing these fortunes was as easy as putting both hands to- gether - closed with fingers positioned to wiggle in the middle and index fingers poised upward to show, "here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people." You have respectfully re- ported that, to date, doors closed on faith edifices have resulted in re-development or demolition. No matter why, these changes are a disturbing reality that im- pact the whole community on so many levels. DIANE BONFONTE, WATERLOO CHURCH CLOSURES 'A DISTURBING REALITY THAT IMPACT THE WHOLE COMMUNITY' Got plans for the weekend? FIND MORE LOCAL EVENTS ONLINE AT WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA