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20 Stouffville Sun-Tribune | Thursday, January 21, 2016 | Proudfoot saw change during career From page 7. Accused grabbed machetes From page 11. pinnacle of his career still to come a year before he joined the Witness and Topic, when he received a research grant to index historical editions of the local newspaper. "The paper was The Newmarket Era and Express," said the Toronto-born Proudfoot, who moved to East Gwillimbury in 1962. "And here I am (now), publisher of it." In 1984, Proudfoot was encouraged to approach Metroland about possible employment and landed a job as director of distribution with The Mississauga News. A year later, Metroland purchased the Witness and Topic and Proudfoot was named publisher. In 1986, the newspapers merged with The Era-Banner and Proudfoot earned the position of general manager of marketing. He stayed with the job for a year, but, still enthralled with the idea of being a publisher, left to take the helm at a new competitor paper, the Metro North News. Although Proudfoot said he enjoyed the role and learned a lot, he rejoined the Metroland family two years later as director of advertising. In 1996, Proudfoot was named publisher. "That became, for me, a dream. After working here for a number of years, I realized I really wanted to be the publisher of The Era-Banner. It is a great newspaper, it really, really is a great newspaper," he said. "I still don't know of another newspaper in North America that was named the best newspaper in North America three times." Proudfoot has steered the paper through an era of significant changes. By the time he was made publisher, The Richmond Hill Liberal and Thornhill Liberal had been brought under the York Region division banner. Under Proudfoot's leadership, The Markham Economist & Sun and The Stouffville Tribune were brought into the division's fold, Metroland purchased The Georgina Advocate, The Stouffville Sun and printing plants from Citizens Communication Group and, new papers, The Vaughan Citizen, King Connection and East Gwillimbury Express, were launched. In 2012, he was named publisher of Metroland's central division, which includes newspapers stretching from Toronto to North Bay. "For whatever reason, our business attracts really fabulous people, it really does. We get to work with wonderful clients in our communities and we have great communities. And the relationship we have with our community, that is just so much fun," he said. "The business we're in is extremely important. That's been the fun of it. That's why I stayed so long." In addition to overseeing changes within Metroland, Proudfoot has been at the helm during a period of tremendous change in the media industry. "I don't think you can say that anything stands out more than the digital influence. The digital piece is what really changed. That was the disrupter. But I don't think, necessarily, disrupters are always bad. They can be if you allow them to be, but I think the company really embraced digital," he said. Through it all, Proudfoot's inspiration has been his dedication to the power of community building. "I'm a big believer that doing the right things for the right reasons is the only way to run a business and if you choose profit, you're going to make bad decisions. And I wish more companies understood that. You can create a tremendous amount of pride in your team when you build communities," he said, testament to his ever-ready penchant for praising those around him. "I was scared, I just wanted to get home," he said. Once at home, near where the incident occurred at Burkholder Street and Rose Avenue, Wirag said he retired to his basement bedroom and planned to put on his pyjamas. However, he heard men yelling his name and threatening his life from outside. "At that point, I was cornered, there was nowhere else I could go," he explained to the court, noting that he was also fearful because there were access points to the home that were unsecured. Wirag said it was at that point he grabbed two machetes and exited the house telling those inside to call the police. He insisted he didn't grab a hammer or a 2X4, which were located nearby, because he thought a machete would keep Sauro at a safe distance from he and the property. Wirag said he exited the home alone and smashed two windows on Sauro's friend's car, after finding part of the vehicle parked on the home's property. He was then hit and saw Sauro holding a gun, he said. Sauro earlier denied having a gun. When he went to hit him hand in order to disarm him, he said the gun was "flung" and then Sauro fell to the ground. As Wirag walked away, he says he was hit by a car He could not explain the glass from the car being located in the middle of the road if the car was on the home's lawn. Nor did he know why the front driver side window was broken, considering he claimed to have only broken the rear windshield and the rear driver's side window. Wirag also admitted that a white iPhone in a case appeared to be on his bed next to a charger even though he said he had lost it at the party. "That's not where my phone was when I left my room," he said. The trial is expected to wrap up in the next two weeks. Looking to Grow? w? 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