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Signing off

As Mayor Ian Sutherland reported in his Council Corner column last week, I am leaving The Chief as its editor. In fact, this is my final week at the helm of this fine ship, and writing in this prime spot.

As Mayor Ian Sutherland reported in his Council Corner column last week, I am leaving The Chief as its editor. In fact, this is my final week at the helm of this fine ship, and writing in this prime spot.

I'd like to thank the mayor for his kind words of appreciation for myself and for the hard-working folks from Squamish's various media outlets. It means a lot to all of us to be appreciated.

But, nobody gets into journalism for appreciation, but rather a need to get to the bottom of things, inform and hopefully better a community, and for the sheer love of telling stories.

It has been both a privilege and an honour to be able to tell at least some of Squamish's stories while I was editor of The Chief. I thank Tim Shoults for the opportunity he gave me, as well as for the steady guidance. He also gave me especially large shoes to fill. But it was an experience I will always cherish, both for the kind of work involved and for the kind of community it involved covering. I've made a career out of covering small communities for newspapers, and Squamish is a rare jewel, believe me.

But all good things come to an end, as someone once said, and I was too lazy to look up who, and although I will continue to live in Squamish, I leave to use my writing skills in other capacity. It was a difficult choice to make, but in the end, I believe there are no wrong decisions, just different experiences.

It has also been an honour and a privilege to work with the many good people here at The Chief. From front desk and sales to our production crew and the ladies who work in the bindery, I have always felt at home, welcome and also in awe of the integrity and hard work they do every week. It was an immense pleasure to work with people like the incomparable John French before he departed, and the talented Sylvie Paillard and Jane Emerick. I will continue to read the paper every week to enjoy Sylvie and Jane's fine writing and reporting sense. They made my job a lot easier.

I'll also miss all the columnists who do such good work and are rarely recognized for their contributions. Thanks to Maureen, Barbara, Paul, Helmut, Jurgen, Marcus, Bryan and the others.

My father, who taught me many things about integrity and the ways of the world, once told me to always leave a job on a good note.Last weekend at the Ma Murray awards, The Chief took home the bronze for General Excellence in its category. I'm proud to have been a small part of the team that earned that award over the past year. So, I do get to leave on a high note, with an award-winning newspaper behind me.

I also want to thank you, the people of Squamish, for letting me into your lives and homes, and for sharing some of your stories with me.

See you around town. Cheers.

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