Unlike many people out there, I’ve never really feared change. At least not your run-of-the-mill, they’re renovating the park, building a new Byrne Dairy, P&C has reverted back to the Tops name kind of change. And while there is certainly nothing monotonous about the work we do here at The Evening Sun (one of my favorite aspects of this job), a little shake-up on occasion doesn’t bother me in the least.
And that’s a good thing, because there are definitely some changes on the horizon.
First off, Thursday afternoon will find this intrepid journalist tackling a new kind of story. You may have even seen the ad in the paper over the past few days for our hometown daily’s latest invention, “Talk of the Town,” picturing yours truly and City of Norwich Mayor Joe Maiurano.
And if you haven’t, well, here’s the scoop.
From 2 to 3 p.m. on Thursday, those interested will have an opportunity to sit down with Mayor Joe and I for a little question and answer session, to be held in the Caboose Diner on East Main Street (no matter how hard I try I still call it Millie’s all the time). It’s a new beast for me, let me tell you. For once, you, the reader, will be asking the questions, while I’ll simply be recording the answers for future publication a few days later.
Pretty cool, right?
Even better is the fact that – if you’re out there working the good old nine-to-five – you can still participate. Simply drop me an e-mail (bgolden@evesun.com), give me a call (337-3080) or check out The Evening Sun on Facebook – where I’m told your question may also be posted – and I’ll be glad to ask the mayor for you.
Sounds easy enough to me, now I’m just hoping that people (that means you) get involved with this latest project of ours.
And for those of you who live outside the city, don’t worry, my fellow reporters will be traveling all across the county in the coming weeks and months doing the same thing.
To be honest, I’m pretty darn excited about the whole thing. I mean, it’s not like I don’t get to pepper the mayor with questions on a fairly regular basis (I do), but I’m pretty sure I could come up with at least a few non-work-related queries of my own if I took the time to do so, and so could you. Especially the ‘30 Seconds’ enthusiasts out there who – rather than contact a village, town, city or county official for an answer – dial-up our ever-popular reader reaction line, where – for reasons I would like to think are completely obvious – you’re not going to find one.
Regardless, as I was saying, there’s certainly no lack of debatable topics out there when it comes to our close-knit community and the issues we’re facing, from the dire – drugs, crime, the economy and so forth – to the benign – why doesn’t Mayor Joe dye his hair to hide the gray, where did all the stray cats prowling throughout the city actually come from and – for heaven’s sake – could we please get a few more pizza places, Chinese restaurants and gas stations around here?
Oh wait, I forgot, that new Byrne Dairy’s going to have one of those (a gas station, I mean).
In other, not-so-breaking news, there is one other big change coming up in the next couple of days here at The Evening Sun, namely the departure of my friend and co-worker – and soon to be Albany resident – Tyler Murphy.
I had no idea when I first met Tyler that we’d have so much in common – from comic books to science fiction, even our similar views on politics, religion and the environment. And while I certainly never expected to find new friends like Tyler when I began writing for the paper, that’s exactly what happened, for which I’m grateful.
I guess what I’m getting at is this – Tyler’s departure on Friday will see the end to what is – in my opinion – an excellent team of reporters. Sure, we all have our differences from time to time, but, in the end, our little group has developed into something I’ve found to be truly special. As individuals, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. Put the four of us together (with Jeff at the helm), and we can really kick some journalistic ... well, you know what I mean.
All I can say at this point, however, is good luck and fare thee well my friend. You’ll be missed, have no doubt, and thanks for the laughs, the good times and all your help over the past year-and-a-half. It wouldn’t have been the same without you.

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