Saying Goodbye: Leaving Edina Patch After Three Amazing Years

I've been reminded several times over the past few weeks how difficult it truly is to say goodbye.

For anyone who might not already know, I'll be wrapping up my tenure with Patch and the Edina community at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 14. It has been a fantastic three years of getting to know the community and its residents, but it's time to move on to new adventures.

My wife and I are going to be moving to Columbia, MO next week, as she begins pursuing her PhD at the University of Missouri. I'll be working for a nonprofit organization down there, managing a medical publication and doing some editing work.

When I first started getting to know the ins and outs of Edina back during the summer of 2010, it was an exciting time to be covering Edina news. I can without a doubt say that level of excitement did not let up, as I was never at a loss for fantastic topics to write about.

Whether it was the controversy involved with changing the Edina High School's dance team's name from the Hornettes, getting to know Edina transplant Leland Lillehaug and learning about his amazing career in music or covering the extreme makeover of Southdale Center, I have truly enjoyed every minute of my time here.

A big thank you to everyone who has made my extended stay in Edina so enjoyable. There are far too many people to thank individually, but know that I genuinely appreciate everyone embracing us long before anyone really knew what Patch was. Thanks for spreading the word about Patch, commenting on hot-button issues on the site and—more than anything else—trusting me to share your stories with your neighbors.

I may be departing, but this certainly isn't the end for Edina Patch. I'll be leaving you in the hands of my colleague, Zac Farber, who has been producing wonderful work with Patch for the past couple of years. Be sure to make him feel as welcome as I always was and send any questions, comments or news tips his way at zac.farber@patch.com.

Once again, thanks to the entire Edina community for being such a pleasure to work with these past few years. And while I'm not an Edina graduate myself, you can rest assured there will be at least one person cheering on the Hornets from Missouri as they look to defend their championship in next year's state hockey tournament.

As we part ways, please enjoy the above blast from the past of a welcome video. It was shot back in the fall of 2010, as we were just getting ready to launch the site. And while I certainly can't speak for all of you, I'd like to think we achieved just about all of the goals we outlined nearly three years ago.