I enjoy sharing these weekly stories about my friends and family. The people I know say and do some of the most interesting things — and, every now and then, some of it can be polished up, just enough, to make it onto the printed page. In just a few short months, I will have been enjoying the honor of sharing these tales with you for three years.

Having this opportunity makes this the best time of my life. However, none of this would have happened if a hard charging young man had not come to town a few months earlier.

I was minding my own business one evening, reading the Niles Daily Star, when a small request on the editorial page caught my eye. A new publisher had come riding into town on his magnificent steed and issued a proclamation (pay attention, now — this is my story and this is how I’m telling it).

He had new ideas — big ideas — and was going to turn the lose conglomeration of local newspapers, known as Leader Publications, into something more significant than just something for rolling up and swatting at wayward puppies. This young whippersnapper (he has a child in school with my grandson — so…yeah…he’s a young whippersnapper) was going to turn our local newspapers into something worth reading, again.

That young whippersnapper was Mr. Mike Caldwell. Soon after taking over the reins at Leader PUblications, Mike put out a call for the local folks to share our knowledge and opinions by submitting monthly essays about the special part of the universe, we call home.

Ignoring my obvious inadequacies, I decided to respond to Mr. Caldwell’s call and offer my services by submitting six short stories. I don’t think his original intention was to publish fertilized truths and outright flights of fancy on the Op/Ed page, but Mike took a chance and agreed to share my anecdotes.

Since this piece appears on the opinion page, I’m going to share my honest opinion.

Before Mike came along, our local daily connection to the big ol’ world was in pretty sad shape. Like so many local publications, it was starting to lose the fight against dwindling subscribership and the print eating beast known as the internet.

Honestly, it wasn’t worth reading. Mike changed all that. Now, the pages of the Leader Publications have well-written stories about the people, places and things we care about. Now, the enjoyment has returned as I grab my corner of the couch and read the paper. Now the community connection has returned.

Now, stories about positive change and the things that matter most have returned to the local headlines. And that print eating beast? Mike tamed it with www.leaderpub.com.

Mike has done some really great things and it has been fun watching him make those things happen. Not only has he spruced up the look and feel of the newspapers we bring in from our mailboxes each evening, during his tenure, the Leader building in Niles got a welcomed facelift. Again, the community came out the winner.

But, alas, Mike is about to mount that magnificent steed once more, and ride off to Winchester, Kentucky where he will work his magic at the Winchester Sun. He has done a lot of good things in the few short years that he and his family have lived with us, here at the Center of the Universe.

Mike, good luck at the Winchester Sun. Thanks for bringing pride back to our newspapers and making them worth reading again. Thanks for taking the chance on my silly little stories.

Please…don’t be a stranger.

Larry Wilson is a mostly lifelong resident of Niles. His optimistic “glass full to overflowing” view of life shapes his writing. His essays stem from experiences, compilations and recollections from friends and family. Wilson touts himself as “a dubiously licensed teller of tall tales, sworn to uphold the precept of ‘It’s my story; that’s the way I’m telling it.’” He can be reached at wflw@hotmail.com.