As you may know by now, Payton North has moved on as executive editor to pursue another opportunity, while Chris Maza has assumed the role and is leading our news department. With Chris moving up, I am happy to announce that I am going to be sliding into his previous position as the managing editor for the East Longmeadow, Springfield, Agawam-West Springfield and Enfield-Somers Reminders, while Lauren LeBel will be taking over for my previous role in charge of the Hampshire County Reminder, The Original Pennysaver and the Holyoke-Chicopee Herald.
For me, this move really represents a homecoming, as my entire life has been spent between Springfield, Hampden and Wilbraham. Other than a few short years in Springfield that I can’t really remember, I have lived in Hampden my whole life. I went to Green Meadows, Thornton Burgess and Minnechaug, and have spent so much time in many of the communities I will now be overseeing coverage for. I am incredibly excited to hit the ground running and to be a part of the work our team does covering an area that is so near and dear to my heart.
This is also a full circle moment for me in terms of what I’ve worked on during my five-plus years here at The Reminder. I initially started out as a part-time reporter, with a large focus on the Pennysaver communities, but also with a weekly story covering either the Longmeadow Select Board or the East Longmeadow Town Council, so it’ll be fun to circle back with some of the communities I started with. Since then, however, I have been all over the place, serving as the lead reporter for the former Northampton Reminder, the Ludlow-Belchertown Reminder and as the Hampshire County managing editor, so I am looking forward to having my feet planted where part of this journey as a journalist started.
I also am thrilled with the team I am going to be working with. Ryan Feyre, our lead Springfield reporter has been a reporter for me for all but the last couple of months as we underwent some changes here, so I cannot wait to work with him once again. Sarah Heinonen is a one-of-a-kind person that I have not had the opportunity to directly work with since my days as the reporter for the Ludlow-Belchertown edition, so I am so excited to work with her as she covers the communities in our East Longmeadow edition.
You might be asking by now he mentioned change being difficult in the title, so why is he so excited about this opportunity? The change for me is that Payton no longer works here. You might be asking why that is a huge shift for me, but it’s because I am a very emotional human being and my friends mean the world to me, and few people have been the friend and mentor to me that Payton has.
This week was the first one that Payton was not in the building, so it all felt strange when I came in on Monday and we didn’t have our weekly little weekend catch up. And then I didn’t have to make the trek out to Westfield Tuesday as has been my routine for over two years now. And we had our first department meeting without her leading the charge on Wednesday. This whole week has felt weird.
For all but my first two years with The Reminder, Payton has been my direct supervisor, and I credit her with my development as a reporter, writer and editor.
After a bit of uncertainty about my future in 2021, a couple years into the job, I made a request to move a little closer to home and worked with Payton to launch the Ludlow-Belchertown edition and the amount of growth I experienced working for her in terms of my skills was amazing, not to mention a rekindled love for the work we do. Not long after my move there, former executive editor Mike Dobbs announced that he would be retiring, and I had the opportunity to become an editor.
Me, an editor? If you had told me when I started here in what I thought was a stopgap role as I looked for an opportunity as a sportswriter fresh out of college, I would’ve called you crazy. But with Payton’s guidance I feel that I was able to continue to grow and really flourish as an editor, working with my team and trying to impart some of the knowledge that she gave to me. Now I love having my own team and being a resource to them as a coach and someone they can lean on.
Above everything, over the course of the past year especially, Payton and I have grown close as friends, whether it was through tough times with the changes the staff went through in November or in our personal lives, when things were great and we couldn’t wait to tell each other about the exciting things happening in our lives, or even the silly bloopers I caused on the podcast because I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old. From celebrating her recognition as one of BusinessWest’s Forty under 40 winners, to The Republican’s 200th anniversary gala, I have so many great memories with Payton, and I know we have so many more to come.
So, while I’m a little sad I won’t be working directly with her anymore, I am so, so happy for her and her opportunity, and the fact that she’s just switching to the opposite side of this profession, so I’ll still be getting emails and news from her.
In her last column she mentioned that at a training session we all did she said change was “exciting,” for me I think I said that it was scary. I think scary was the wrong assessment and I would say it’s weird more than anything. In this new era for The Reminder, for me it’s incredibly exciting as this is the role I have always wanted and it’s going to be a little weird without Payton here, who has had an impact on me professionally and personally like few have. I cannot thank Payton enough for all that she’s done for me and everyone here.
I do, however, have full confidence in Chris and our future here. Chris is a veteran reporter and editor who has been with The Reminder for a very long time so I can’t wait to see how he helps shape the future of the company. I also can’t wait to take everything I have learned from Payton to not only help support Chris as he takes this new role, but to continue the great work we do here and will continue to do, whether it’s our weekly news coverage, working on the podcast or finding new ways to deliver the news to folks in our communities.
While it’s going to be weird at first, I’m ready to take this change in stride and continue the amazing work we do here.
