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Sayonara and arrivederci Grand Forks

Well, I have a bit of news. That’s something I probably could start most sentences with, but this news is different. As some of you may have heard, this is the last column I’ll be writing for The Gazette.

Well, I have a bit of news.

That’s something I probably could start most sentences with, but this news is different. As some of you may have heard, this is the last column I’ll be writing for The Gazette.

No, it’s not that I’ve been chopped or had a fistfight with the editor but that I’ve been transferred to Rossland as editor of the Rossland News.

Now, this isn’t a decision that I take lightly.

It wasn’t a case of throwing a dart at a yes/no board or shaking a Magic 8-ball.

Over the past eight months, I’ve come to love Grand Forks and even though that’s not a very long time, I feel like I’m leaving home. In much the same way, at The Gazette, my time as a reporter here has been a nurturing experience, where I could stretch out my notepad wings and try to fly.

While I don’t really know what’s ahead in Rossland, I do know that the adventure that is change is something that helps build you into a better person.

When I first rolled into Grand Forks, on a cold, dreary December night, I wasn’t quite sure what kind of place I’d arrived at.

I’d driven from Lethbridge that day and the difference was obviously stark.

No big block stores or places where I could buy coffee all through the night.

I also made the choice to live at the lake through the winter, which other than sometimes being lonely, made for problems when my old car blew two tires, blew two tires again, lost all braking capability and had a total rear wheel seizure on the highway because of the transfer case all in a succession of unlucky weekends.

Now, living in town, if I had problems with my car, no one would even know since I can just bike around. I tried to vary up my subjects; I could probably write a weekly column about car mishaps.

So now, completely out of the blue, Rossland’s going to have to deal with column after column of car-related issues (actually, I seriously hope not).

My time in Grand Forks has been great and I seriously hope that I’ll be led back here someday. More than likely though, since Rossland is so close, Grand Forks will likely see me back soon enough.

– Arne Petryshen was a reporter with the Grand Forks Gazette