'Tis the season for gift giving! I recently received one from Pierce County Journal owner John McLoone and News Editor Sarah Nigbor. It wasn't a Red Ryder BB Gun like Ralphie received on his ninth birthday, but it was the next best thing: a full-time job covering high school sports and writing feature stories for the Pierce County Journal. I will still be doing "my other job" during the summer with River Ridge Builders and owner Jeff Pizzi helping replace shingles, siding, and windows, but for the nine-month school season, it's 100% covering sports and human-interest stories.

It was like "the old man" in “A Christmas Story” telling me there was one gift left for me hidden behind the desk. 

For me, the last few years during the winter has been like Ralphie being pushed down the slide after telling Santa he wanted a football, when he really wanted a Red Ryder BB Gun.

I have been writing a story or two each month for The Journal the past six years on a volunteer basis and it was always the highlight of my week when I did.

Mr. McLoone's and Mrs. Nigbor's recent job offer was like Ralphie's rubber golosh stopping the descent, only there wasn't a psychotic elf telling me I'd shoot my eye out.  

I had my first official newsroom meeting in Ellsworth this morning. We were deciding what stories we'd be working on this week. News Editor Nigbor said it's tradition the newbie has to introduce themselves in a story column. Mrs. Boss Lady, here is my Pierce County Journal introduction.

The newspaper business can be a tough business. It costs money to pay for reporters, sales people, and all the other parts of what makes a local newspaper tick. Our local newspaper employees wear many hats and they are a dedicated bunch. Speaking of bunches, I think I’ll fit in this new role like Sam “The Butcher” did on “The Brady Brunch.” He brought the meat and added a couple cheesy bowling jokes per episode to help the cause.

A Sam “The Butcher” Brady Bunch reference will likely fly right over the younger generation’s head; however, most of our readers are not the younger generation. It’s my job to help change that. We will be doing some new things online to grow our readership and our communities in print and digital.     

What makes our hometowns, "our" hometowns, are the people living in them. Sharing stories about each other helps keep our communities strong. When you see an advertiser in the Pierce County Journal, those advertisers aren't just trying to promote their business, they're supporting their community by supporting their local newspaper.

When communities lose their hometown newspapers, they lose a big part of their soul. Without the constant community relationship builder, otherwise known as The Pierce County Journal, we are just a suburb and you might as well call us East Wissota.

When McLoone invests in another sports reporter, he is investing in our Pierce County communities.

Among other things, I'll be writing "Citizen of the Week" and "Athlete of the Week" stories, having youth sports coverage, pre-game and in-depth coverage about our kids competing in high school sports across our area.  

I have lived in River Falls for 20 years, but I will be growing and improving my relationships in Prescott, Ellsworth, Spring Valley, Elmwood, and the rest of Pierce County. 

If you are a coach, please reach out to me at: greg@piercecountyjournal.news. If you don't, have no fear because I will be reaching out to you. If you are a local business owner and would like to discuss investing in your community by sponsoring some of our new story features, please do so. If you do not, again, have no worries, as I will also be contacting you. There aren't too many sports reporters that also have "ad sales" in their job description. I suppose I'm not your average local sports reporter. The Pierce County Journal will not be your average local newspaper either.

One of my former coaches told me, "Greg, if you do the little things right, the big things will take care of themselves."

To create informative, inspiring, and entertaining stories about the people in our local communities, I will have to continue to build relationships every single day. The stories will be better for it and so will our communities.

So please, if you have a story idea, let me know. If you don't have a Pierce County Journal subscription, give it a try for one year and see how we do. Our kids and our communities will benefit.

I promise, we won't shoot your eye out.