BAUR: Buy the ticket, take the ride

Dear readers, 

When I arrived in Grundy Center this past March, I did not expect to be writing this column so soon. I have grown quite accustomed to the area and the many bits and pieces which coalesce into the places and people I have come to know in the area. 

Yet, as the seasons change, so do the circumstances of our lives, and it is with some trepidation that I announce this will be my last issue with The Grundy Register, and I will be heading south to write for the Times Republican in Marshalltown. 

This publication has existed long before me and will continue long after my departure - a local institution I merely shepherded, kept alive by those who see its virtue and function in the community. There are far too many people to thank here who have been gracious enough to allow me into slices of their lives.

If there are any places who deserve a proper newspaper, it is the many distinct and noteworthy communities I have spent the past several months writing about. 

But when opportunity crashes through the door and lands on a silver platter, it's hard to deny the chance, as conflicting as it may be. 

I had meant to write more personally in this publication as the weather grew colder, in the hopes that some of you could learn about me in the same way I have been able to learn about so many of you. It feels somewhat selfish to leave now, after so many of those here have been relentlessly kind to me, but I felt I needed to make this career jump when it presented itself, whatever new challenges it may bring.

I can’t thank Mid-America Publishing enough for allowing me to “do the news” here, through all the ups and downs associated with the industry. 

I would also like to publicly acknowledge and extend my gratitude to Jake Ryder, a consummate professional and a much needed mentor during my time here, and to my valued coworkers who I worked alongside each week. 

Due to my fondness for brevity, and my disdain for goodbyes, I will leave you with a quote from one of my favorite authors, who I think more creatively describes my thoughts, and similarly provided the title for this column.

“So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?” - Hunter S. Thompson 

Truthfully, 

Nick Baur 

News Editor