Reporter's note: In mid-December my wife, Sherry, and I will be leaving Chinook to live in Whitlash, Montana for a year. She'll be the "pastor in residence" at the Whitlash Community Presbyterian Church and I'll, well, I'll be going with her. That means I'm ending my stint as a reporter for the "Blaine County Journal." It's been a great run for me the past five years at the newspaper and I thank readers for their support, story ideas and helpful comments about the stories I've written.

Sherry came to Chinook in the fall of 2013 to serve as the interim minister at the Chinook Presbyterian Church. I remained in Arlington, Washington where we still had an apartment. I worked that October at the pumpkin patch and then came to Chinook to join Sherry. I realized pretty quickly that I was going to need something to keep me occupied and out from under Sherry's feet. I responded to an ad in the "Journal" looking for a reporter.

Although I'd never had a job as a reporter, I'd written stories when I was the public information officer for a state college in Georgia. I never claimed to be a writer, but I thought I could get the job done. I felt having lived in a number regions of the country, worked a variety of jobs and possessing a natural curiosity about people gave me some skills and perspective to ferret out stories that I believe everyone has within them.

Keith and Keri Hanson, the owners of the "Journal," and I agreed that if I could handle the job I would have it as long as it worked for both me and them. They were always gracious giving me time to do the pumpkin patch each October, visit grandkids, organize the senior bus trips and do other things that came up along the way. Thanks to the Hansons for being flexible for those five years.

My first story, about Chinook's new community Christmas celebration, was published in December 2013. I wrote 1400+ stories for the paper-figure that's close to 800,000 words in five years. I also drew 120+ "It Could Be Worse..." cartoons for the "Journal." I stopped doing the cartoon in May, 2016 when I told the publishers, "I'm not going to do a cartoon for a month and see if anyone mentions they miss it." No one mentioned it and I quite drawing it.

I wrote stories about the history of the area, about cultural and unique aspects of the communities and covered celebrations and events staged by all sorts of community groups. I wrote a lot of human interest stories, which I really enjoyed doing. And I quickly learned that readers, based on feedback they gave me, particularly enjoyed stories about local history and local legendary people. Stories like the one about the old A&W Root Beer stand in Chinook, John Deere Day, Chuckwagon Days and the building of the Fred Robinson bridge across the Missouri River elicited many memories and comments that readers shared with me.

What's next at Whitlash?

For readers who are not familiar with Whitlash, it's a small unincorporated community about 38 miles northwest of Chester in the midst of the Sweet Grass Hills. All but about eight miles of the road to Whitlash from Chester is gravel. The community is at around 4000 feet elevation and currently has six residents, all of whom go to the Presbyterian Church (not many places can say "everyone in town goes to church and it's the same one."). The church has about 30 members, many who live on surrounding ranches, and has relied on retired ministers (Sherry retired from the Chinook church in August, 2016) for the last several years to pastor the church. There is a furnished parsonage provided to the resident pastor.

There will be some new challenges for Sherry and me. In North Dakota we lived 30 miles from a grocery store, but we will have to relearn about stocking up during irregular shopping trips. In Wyoming we lived at 6000 feet so Sherry knows about cooking in high elevations, but we'll have to relearn how that works as well. There will be a learning curve, as there is at any new residence, but the folks at Whitlash seem very supportive and we are really excited about this new adventure and opportunity to serve. Again, readers, thank you for your support and encouragement for the past five years as I've learned so much about our adoptive community and its wonderful citizens.

We'll keep our apartment at the Grande Villa in Chinook with the plan to move back there in a year. So, see you in a year. And if you happen to be passing through Whitlash, our house is next door to the church. I hate when people tell me this when giving directions but, truly, "You can't miss the parsonage" ...if and when you find Whitlash.