LITTLE CURRENT—The Expositor is pleased to welcome a new addition to its family. “My partner and I are very happy to be on the Island,” stated Kevin Spikes, director of advertising and marketing for The Manitoulin Expositor. “It has always been a dream of mine to live permanently on the Island and this has come together in the last year.”
Mr. Spikes explained, “In the 1950s my parents (Brian and Sylva) lived in Sudbury, where my dad was a social worker and parole officer. It was in Sudbury that he met my mom. Part of my dad’s work district was Manitoulin Island.”
“My parents used to come to the Island and camp in Providence Bay before there were even trailers and parks,” said Mr. Spikes. “I was born in 1964 (in Toronto) and that was my first year of coming to the Island in the summer. I spent summers with my family when I was growing up, first at Mac’s Camp in Kagawong and then Woodside Beach Cottages in Providence Bay.”
“I’ve been coming up to the Island all my life,” said Mr. Spikes. “We would bring our kids to Manitoulin every summer, when they were younger, so they are the third generation of our family that has been coming to the Island. They are all in their 20s now.
“My partner Tina and I moved up to the Island permanently in 2024,” said Mr. Spikes. The couple lives in Honora Bay. “The original plan was to move up to the Island so we could slow down—it hasn’t worked out so far,” he joked. “There is lots to see and do on the Island.”
“My partner Tina works at the RONA in Little Current, where she manages the paint and stain department,” said Mr. Spikes. The family also has a beloved chocolate lab, Coco.
As for his past work experience and education, Mr. Spikes told The Expositor, “I have spent most of career in sales or marketing, mostly in the IT sector. My employment before joining The Expositor was at GardaWorld where I was the director of business development sales with my focus being commercial property security consulting for large commercial properties in Toronto.”
“I have spent 20 years, probably half my career in sales and the other half in marketing and communications,” said Mr. Spikes.
Mr. Spikes earned a degree in print journalism from Ryerson University in 1985. After attending Ryerson he moved to Australia for a year, and then returned to Ontario and attended Seneca College where be obtained his diploma in Corporate Communications, followed by a co-op program position where he ended up working for IBM for six years.
“I love working for The Expositor. It’s great and I love to get out and meet people, get to know them,” said Mr. Spikes.
“I’ve always loved it here on Manitoulin Island,” said Mr. Spikes. He added, “my dad was always a news junkie. He would get the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star delivered every day and when he came to the Island he would pick up a copy of the Manitoulin Recorder and The Manitoulin Expositor every week and would keep the papers every week. I had the opportunity to read them as well, so it is like I’ve come full-circle by coming to work at The Expositor.”
To reach Mr. Spikes, email him at sales@manitoulin.com, call his cell at 705-968-0580 or pop by The Expositor Office and say hello.