It is time for me to say goodbye.
After a year and a half with the Lacombe Express and three and a half years working in the newspaper industry, I have decided that my future lies outside the field of journalism and I will soon be leaving the industry to embark upon a new path.
While I am saying goodbye to the newspaper and my life as a journalist, I am incredibly proud of the accomplishments I have made throughout my career, particularly those made during my time with the Express.
Being the editor of a brand new paper, starting from scratch and building it from the ground floor has been an incredible experience for me. A year and a half ago, the Lacombe Express was a publication recognized by few.
When I would show up to cover events, people were confused as to who I was, who I was with and what I was doing there. Over time, the newspaper has grown to be recognizable by most everyone in Lacombe, Blackfalds and area and has become a valued source of local news to our readers.
I am very happy to have been a part of that. In building the Express, I have established and maintained a number of healthy business relationships with several different organizations and individuals in the community.
I have moved around a lot during my time in this business and have written farewell columns at four other weekly newspapers previously. Each time, I have commented on how difficult it is to leave the community I have become a part of through the paper.
Thankfully, I will not have to do that this time. I am incredibly happy Lacombe will continue to be my home for the foreseeable future even though I will no longer be with the newspaper.
Being a member of the media is an advantageous occupation when one is new to the community. It’s a job that requires you to meet with a lot of different people in the community for a lot of different reasons and in a way forces you to become part of that community quickly because of it.
As such, I have never had much difficulty ‘settling in’ each time my career took me to a new locale. And each time my career demanded that I move on from one community, it became harder to leave.
I have greatly enjoyed connecting with the community of Lacombe and have enjoyed becoming a part of this great City through my work. Instead of lamenting on how my time here is over, I am glad to be able to say I am excited to continue being a part of this community as a resident in this fine City.
Lacombe has so much to offer in so many areas as a community and while I feel that I have settled into this community well and am proud to call Lacombe home, I also feel that I have only scratched the surface of what Lacombe has to offer and am looking forward to taking advantage of more of those opportunities in the coming months.
In closing, I would just like to say thank you to all who have supported myself and the Lacombe Express during my time here. I wish you all the best. Thank you and goodbye.