RSSOn's lead writer bids farewell
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After a little more than six years in Yakima, I've been here long enough to lament the things that are gone (mostly Grant's Brewery Pub), as well as the things I won't be here to write about as they happen (the Capitol Theatre's expansion, the Yakima Light Project, REO Speedwagon at the fair).
It makes my decision to go back to school a bittersweet one. Today is my last day at the Yakima Herald-Republic, the newspaper that taught me so much about the journalist I want, and am still striving, to be.
I'm heading off to the University of Southern California to earn my master's degree in online journalism and hopefully help figure out a way for newspapers to survive in print and on that pesky Internet. It's exciting stuff and an uncertain and uncharted way of doing business for newspapers and journalists. And I can't wait to be right in the thick of it.
But, oh man, I'll miss this place -- something six years ago I never thought I'd say.
Moving here in my mid-20s was tough. Being single in Yakima was tough. Trying to find my niche was tough.
Looking back, though, it was all worth it. The things I learned, the people I met and the friends I made are irreplaceable.
Everything I know about wine I learned here, the same with classical music. I'll forever be in love with these rolling brown hills, the Tieton River, asparagus tamales and the smell of hops.
I'll never forget the truly amazing people I met here on a daily basis who, because of journalistic objectivity, I could never tell how much they touched my life.
I'll miss being treated as a friend more than a customer at my favorite coffee shops, bars and restaurants.
I'll miss using the phrase "Yakima's own Kyle MacLachlan." (OK, I made it up, but I love using it.)
And, of course, I'll miss On magazine. It was an honor to help create this publication and a pleasure to write about the area's arts and entertainment scene. I see great, great things happening here and it's been fun to watch Yakima grow.
People used to always ask me, "What arts and entertainment scene in Yakima?"
They don't anymore.
Taking over On beginning Monday is Pat Muir, who previously covered county government at the paper but who also has a real passion for A&E and pop culture. (And don't worry, all you politicos out there, Pat will continue to contribute to the Checks & Balances blog.)
Pat and I have been friends longer than we've been colleagues at the Herald-Republic, and I know he'll give On a great new voice.
And thanks to that pesky Internet, even in Los Angeles I'll be able to keep an eye on what's going on in Yakima.
-- Kim Nowacki
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