In the past week, I celebrated two major events. On Aug. 29, I celebrated my first anniversary as publisher of Leader Publications. It is amazing how fast a year can go by when you are having fast-paced, stressful fun on a job.

The organization went through more change than it has in the 10 prior years combined. Change is difficult for most people. And with each change I heard just how difficult I have made the lives of some of my employees and readers.

My job is to steer the Leader Publications ship into the future. And it is a mysterious future for sure. Our print readers are mostly made up of people who grew up prior to the internet revolution. Those of you would only prefer to see your newspaper in print. And many of you had a challenge when we reduced the size of the page from the old bulky format.

Fortunately, you have grown to enjoy the new easier-to-read pages that contain about twice the local content than a year ago.

Many of you don’t realize it but there is an ever-growing population that utilizes a smartphone to gain nearly all of their information. Hard for me to believe it can be enjoyable, but some of these folks actually enjoy watching movies on their tiny screens. While I find the devices useful, I still have a heck of a time typing on those devices.

So while we continue to try to produce the best print products possible, we have to also stay on top of how people want their information delivered. It could be through our website, email news blasts, texts, Facebook, Twitter, QR codes and who knows what else may come down the line. For our long-term survival, we must be nimble and be able to adopt the latest and greatest information delivery technology. And it changes too quickly.

Don’t expect nearly as much change in the coming year. We will continue to try our best to improve local content. Help us out. Let us know of any interesting local community story.

Heck, if there are any good writers or photographers out there who would like to help us out, feel free to send us your stories and or photographs. We can’t promise to use them all, but we will use those that make the editor’s cut.

I’m thinking of starting a “Leader Press Club” for community journalists who would like to volunteer their services. More to come on that idea.

Tuesday marked my 60th birthday. I dreaded this one more than any other. Fifty-nine didn’t seem old, but 60 seemed ancient to me.

The good news is when I woke up Tuesday and looked in the mirror, I was surprised and pleased to see that I didn’t look any more decrepit than I did the day before. And like they say, it’s better than the alternative.

Thanks to my family, staff and friends for making this a great birthday.