To the Editor:

 

I was unable to attend yesterday’s “goodbye” to John Eby so will take this opportunity to do so. We

 

actually don’t need to say “goodbye” because he’s not really going away. But, because John has been

 

the backbone of the Dowagiac Daily News for so long, it feels like a goodbye. John, not only have you

 

been the backbone, you have been the face, voice, and driving force behind the paper! If it had to do

 

with the Daily News, most local citizens would at least begin with John when they had a question or

 

whatever. While I worked for the Dowagiac Union Schools at Pathfinders, whenever I had a question

 

or wanted to run a story, I simply emailed John and it got taken care of. John always covered our

 

Pathfinders graduations and did it well. During the last graduation ceremony that I worked, I introduced

 

him to the audience and commented that Dowagiac was fortunate to still have a daily paper and to have

 

someone as talented as John guiding it.

 

The good news here is that John is not going far—all the way out to Southwestern Michigan

 

College! John will still be writing and that will be good for SMC and our community at large. John,

 

congratulations on your new position! You were a tremendously positive asset to the Daily News for

 

many years, and I’m sure that you will continue to be that for SMC as well! I look forward to “seeing you

 

around”. Oh, and one other thing—Fire Up Chips!!!