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From the day I began looking for a place to live, every hand I've shook has come with the offer of support settling in to my new community.
I think a lot of that friendliness is a result of the community rapport Maggie Rotermund built up as the editor here for the past three years.
It didn't take me long to figure out what size shoes I'd be filling here.
When Maggie sent out an e-mail advising the community that she'd be leaving and to direct correspondence with me, my inbox was flooded with well-wishes to Maggie.
It's no doubt that she made a great impact on St. Clair and I hope to continue what she started.
I'm also very excited to be part of the Missourian family.
It's very important to me to fight the good fight in the newspaper business and there's no better way to do that than work for a family-owned publishing company under people I can learn from and look up to.
As for me, I was born and raised in Macomb, Ill., a small town about four hours to the northeast.
I began my career in journalism as my high school newspaper's editor, which I did to spite a journalism teacher who gave me a D in the class and told me I had no future in newspapers. More than 10 years later, I'm still trying to prove him wrong.
I graduated from Western Illinois University in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
For the past two years, I was the managing editor of my hometown paper in Macomb.
After that paper was bought out by a corporation who then fell on hard times, I decided to spread my wings and take one more step in what I hope will be a long career in journalism.
As anyone, I'm not perfect. I'm the kind of person that embraces criticism and can roll with the punches. I encourage anyone that has suggestions on how I can improve my work to let me know. I'm new to the area, so if there's something I'm missing, I definitely want to know.
Also, I'm looking to build up my list of story ideas.
Story ideas can include the following: An interesting success made by a current or former resident, unusual or interesting hobbies and crafts, upcoming events, and any kind of human interest.
Late-breaking tips are also gladly accepted.
I can be contacted at the St. Clair office Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 636-629-1027, in Washington on Tuesdays and Fridays, 888-239-7701. E-mail is preferred if the information is not time sensitive,
woodsiden@emissourian.com.
Thank you, and I look forward to serving the St. Clair area to the best of my ability.
