Five years ago BP (before the pandemic) we wandered into Wood County to take on the task of publishing the Monitor.

It had been part of a larger newspaper group for several decades (of course, for most of that time as two separate community papers), so wresting it out of that corporate structure was a challenge, and a battle at times.

We had a proven formula for running a community newspaper that included plenty of community interaction, but the aforementioned pandemic waylaid those plans just as we were getting our feet on the ground, putting those activities on hold for more than a year.

We take little comfort that we were not the only ones derailed by that nasty disease and its aftermath. Indeed the country itself still seems to be feeling and reeling from the effects, physical and otherwise. But no more about that for now.

We had not really considered newspaper ownership again until it became the clearest path forward, and the Monitor basically fell into our laps.

It was not our first attempt to venture farther east, but the only one that was successful. I had interviewed with the company that bought up a bunch of East Texas papers probably 35 years ago but didn’t land a gig, and it’s just as well. Those types of companies and I don’t always see eye to eye on running a newspaper.

The boxes of ex-employee files that we trashed which were stored here in that company’s former headquarters is evidence enough about what I mean.

I’ll spare the pluses and minuses of the past five years for fear of where that might land on the scale. But I can say that it has yielded the most precious thing that nearly always portends such a move.

We have met some good and wonderful and amazing people…as well as the rest of you!

We have done our best to continue the tradition of producing a good product for the past 260 weeks.

We were well aware of the tradition here going back many decades, numbering some of the folks who shepherded things along before our arrival as acquaintances, colleagues and friends.

To say that things have changed a bit in these five years is well documented, from the industry itself to the country as a whole and the attitudes that have been spawned, to our personal situation, losing parents/grandparents, employees moving on, changes in community leadership and so much more that could not be detailed in a limited amount of space.

Elsewhere in this edition you will see our wrap up for 2023, with all the good, the bad and the ugly, much like most years.

All in all I’d have to say that we seem to be better positioned in our nook of East Texas than some places around the country, so we’ll stick with it a while longer and see what else might be accomplished.

To those who have welcomed us, stuck with us, understood our challenges and encouraged us, a heartfelt thanks.

Frankly we had no idea whether five years was even doable, yet here we are.

How many more years has not yet been determined, but that finish line does seem to loom larger with each passing week.

From all of us to all of you, Happy New Year. Hope it is a good one and we can meet in this space again in one year to reminisce about all the water that will surely have passed under this bridge.