A side of Kraut: Change is inevitable

Casey Krautkramer, Reporter, The Record-Review

I realize it’s not possible to make up for Peter Weinschenk’s 41 years as editor of The Record-Review, now that he is retired, but I can assure you I will do my best in getting a quality newspaper out until I receive some help to fill the void.

There’s no way Peter’s 41 years of experience can just be replaced overnight. I grew up in The Record-Review’s coverage area and have lived here most of my life, so I have too much pride to not work hard to put out a quality newspaper each week.

While working at Marathon Cheese, I witnessed firsthand how employees were eager to check out the new edition of The Record-Review each Thursday during their breaks.

I am still unsure of whether I will end up taking Peter’s place as editor of The Record-Review or remain in my current role as reporter that I’ve held the past 7-1/2 years. I am used to covering the village and school boards in Athens and Stratford, and my passion is covering high school sports. By having grown up in Marathon and spending time by my mother’s family in Edgar, I am aware of these towns’ histories and I feel comfortable stepping into the role of covering them. I guess only time will tell where my place is in this newspaper.

We began advertising for Peter’s editor job, but when we didn’t receive any candidates, I told my newspaper publisher Kris O’ Leary to start advertising for my reporter job to see if we’d receive more interest from candidates for this position. At this point I am willing to assume the editor job, if that’s what is needed, unless an editor candidate comes forth. I guess you could say I’m the editor now by default until we find somebody new.

You’ll notice The Record-Review has a different layout this week. There was no way I’d be able to get pictures for each of the locals pages by myself, therefore I combined them into one section in the newspaper.

I also added a community calendar and history corner, because I know many subscribers, like my mother in Marathon, love to be reminded of events that ocurred when they grew up in this area.

Please be patient with the process of finding a replacement for Peter, because like I said before, it’s difficult to fill the void of 41 years experience. I commend Peter for remaining at the newspaper for 41 years, because this type of thing is a rare feat. Just know that I’m going to try my best to keep this newspaper going strong now and into the future.