Another transition period at Chronicle
On Dec. 31, sports editor Josh Randt announced in his column that he will be moving on to other endeavors.
I’ll miss him a lot. Like his predecessor, Lee Ostrom, Josh was tall (sometimes referred to as a giant), had a great sense of humor, and a true passion for high school sports and the kids who play them.
Most mornings, Josh could recount to me, in detail, the feats of our local athletes; the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs. I found his articles fun to read, with their descriptive language and fast-paced play by play accounts.
I wish him well in his new career.
We are now in a transition period; while we have filled in our news reporter position, we were still in a learning curve with that position as we began our search for a new “sports guy.”
We have been fortunate to hire a new sport editor. Tom Carothers, a longtime staffer at the Woodbury Bulletin, came on board Monday morning, bringing with him tons of experience and enthusiam. Like his predecessors — Lee and Josh — Tom seems to have a great desire to showcase the best of local athletes and students.
We’re elated that we found an experienced sports editor in such a short period of time, but I really, truly must say thanks to all those who rallied around us and offered to help us in the short-term, short-staffed interim.
I cannot believe how many people have jumped in to offer help: Kevin Simonson answered my plea for assistance with reporting on wrestling with good grace and enthusiasm.
Dave Pedersen, who has done correspondent work for us in the past, sent me an e-mail and graciously offered his help and took over the County Board beat while I tried juggling other duties.
At a Monday night girls’ basketball game, a parent approached me with an offer to take photographs the evenings I had conflicts with the schedule.
I cannot tell you how heartwarming it is to get this kind of response from our readers and colleagues, which complements greatly the efforts already being made by the fine arts, sciences, agricultural and other instructors’ and advisers’ to provide photographs and write-ups to showcase the achievements of GSL’s students.
We thank you for your patience and kindness during this transitional period here at The Chronicle, and hope to be back at full steam within short order.
Again … thank you.
