‘So long, thanks for the memories’

MILLERTON — As some readers may have read in last week’s paper, this is my last week with The Millerton News. By the time this issue hits the newsstands, I will be about two-and-a-half hours south (as the train ride goes), enthusiastically tackling the ups and downs of city living. I have moved to Brooklyn.Since my first official issue, on Sept. 18, 2008 (but who’s keeping track?), I have contributed to 134 weekly editions of this local community newspaper, which simultaneously sounds like a little and a lot. In the past 80 years the presses have churned out something like 4,000 issues of The Millerton News, and in comparison, 134 doesn’t seem like very much. But, I can assure you, and not in a bad way, it feels like I’ve been here much longer.When I first started my tenure at the paper, I’ll admit I knew nothing about local government, and the first few weeks of the paper were a crash course in the day-to-day operations of the towns in northeastern Dutchess County. Two-and-a-half years later, I still don’t have the whole system perfectly figured out.But writing local news has allowed me to do much more than just try to figure out how the system works. So while covering how the Harlem Valley operates, I also have been fortunate enough to write and photograph the lives and traditions of rural upstate New Yorkers. All of these stories have given me a unique perspective that I don’t think I would have gotten in another line of work.In fact, after my years as a reporter in this community, I can honestly claim that a photo collage of an Easter egg hunt is as important as a hard-hitting front page article about the local budget process to some local residents. Some of my favorite contributions to this newspaper are photos or stories that, on the surface, might appear insignificant. But 20 years from now, those contributions may have captured the essence of Millerton, North East, Amenia or Pine Plains (or any of the communities I’ve had the pleasure of covering) better than any detective work I could have mustered.I won’t add much more; there are too many important things going on as we speak and not enough room on these pages, even before adding in this footnote.But I would like to thank each and everyone of you: the people who answered the phone every time I called, 10 minutes before press deadline; the people whose one phone number was worth 100 others; the people I ran into at all five events I was covering on any given Saturday and know how busy a weekend in the Harlem Valley can be; to everyone who offered me a helping hand, an introduction or just a smile to let me know they appreciated the paper’s interest.I regret not being able to say goodbye to everyone personally, but life continues at breakneck speed. Soon another issue of the paper will hit the stands and you’ll have the opportunity to welcome a new reporter to the area.Until then, I bid you adieu.