For the past decade, I’ve had what many people call a “cool job.” I’m saying “cool job” in quotes because it’s the kind of job where when you tell someone what you do for a living, their eyes get all sparkly and they say, “Ooh!” because they’ve seen the fun, glamorous side of that job in movies. They’re thinking “Spotlight” or Lois Lane tooling about Metropolis with Superman, not sitting through hours-long town board meetings or waiting by the phone for a source to call you back as a deadline fast approaches.
With its charming mix of the mundane and small-town drama, working in community newspapers resembles NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” more than “All the President’s Men,” and that’s what I have loved about it. While I have enjoyed getting to know the northern suburbs and covering the news there, I have some bittersweet news. After more than eight years with Eagle Newspapers, I am making the transition from professional nosy person to paid chocolate milk enthusiast. I’m moving on from Eagle to join Byrne Dairy as a sales and marketing specialist.
A few years ago, I saw a comment on Facebook referring to the Messenger as “that little rinky-dink newspaper.” At first, I was a bit insulted. That’s my little rinky-dink newspaper you’re talking about! But in the time I’ve spent with Eagle Newspapers, I have realized that the strength of our publications lies in being little rinky-dink newspapers.
While other outlets may have the resources to devote to breaking news and national stories, we don’t have the staff or the bandwidth for 24/7 coverage. And that’s not what our readers are looking to us for, anyway. They look to us for stories about local nonprofits lifting up the community like Griffin’s Guardians or Clary’s Closet. They look to us for coverage of school, town and village board meetings that the big guys are too busy to show up to. They look to our pages for the faces and names of their children and grandchildren, whether they are center stage at the Baldwinsville Theatre Guild or center court at a Northstars basketball game.
When the Marching Bees were selected to perform at the 2020 Rose Bowl Parade, I cheered with you. When the Annal sisters of Baldwinsville were killed in a horrific car accident later that same year, I cried with you.
That’s what working for a little rinky-dink newspaper is about: celebrating the highs and grieving the lows with our readers because we’re a community.
Through my journalism career, I’ve been blessed to witness historic moments, like Micron’s announcement that it will invest $100 billion in a semiconductor manufacturing facility in the town of Clay. I’ve seen the Lysander spray park and the Cicero highway garage go from a dream to a reality.
I’ve interviewed people of all ages and stages of life: from Liverpool’s Willow Wenham, who was overjoyed to turn 5 in November 2021 so she could receive the COVID-19 vaccine, to 100-year-old Carol Mercer, who established the Betsy Baldwin chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, was the first manager of the Baldwinsville Volunteer Center and founded her church circle at Grace Episcopal Church. Mrs. Mercer passed away in 2016.
During my time at Eagle, I have forged what I hope will be lifelong connections. There’s not enough space in print to name everyone who’s left an impression on me, but I would like to shout out a few of you: Sarah Hall, my editor and mentor; Hayleigh Gowans, my dear friend who flew the Eagle coop in 2017 and now works in public relations; Dick Clarke, Baldwinsville mayor and former Post-Standard reporter; Amisha Kohli, my erstwhile intern and Gen Z bestie; Fr. Kyrillos Sadek, priest at St. Mary and St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church in North Syracuse; and Jennifer Covert, executive director of North Area Meals on Wheels.
After she learned that I was leaving Eagle, Baldwinsville reader Megan Sollecito wrote to me, “I feel like I’ve been having weekly personal conversations with you for eight years. I’ll miss that.”
I’ll miss that, too. The communities I’ve covered are very special, and I am grateful to you all for welcoming me into your town halls, homes and hearts. Thank you for sharing your stories with me so I could, in turn, share them with your neighbors and the greater Central New York community.
