From Patch to Print: Editor Says Goodbye After 3 Years with Startup

Thursday is my last day at Patch. What a fun, great gig it's been! 

Three years ago, when I clomped around Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada, snapping photos of City Hall, LCUSD, the fire stations and various stores and restaurants for the website's business listings, it was quite the challenge explaining what "Patch'' was. It's pretty groovy that all these years later, people come up to me in Panera Bread or Buster's in South Pasadena and ask, "Hey, are you the Patch lady? Did you hear about...''

I've met so many great people in La Cañada and South Pasadena, folks who are really proud of their towns and want to share the cool stuff that's going on. We love that! It's the impetus for how the company got started, back in 2009.

And while a lot of Patch editors live in their towns, I never have. I lived in Burbank when I launched La Cañada, and now I live in Downtown Los Angeles. But, beginning Aug. 6, I will live in my coverage area, as I will be reporting for the Los Angeles Downtown News. 

I love community journalism. I've been doing it, roughly, for 17 years. There are so many great stories out there, it's just a matter of unearthing them. That's where you folks come in! Don't be shy! Email the editor listed at the top of the site or, heck, blog about it! Blogging is definitely one of the coolest things about Patch. You can just log on and tell a story, complete with photos or video. 

Some stories that come to mind when i think about my time at Patch include the heart wrenching suicide of a La Cañada High School boy, the murder trial of Marcos Costa, whose runaway 18-wheeler killed a man and his daughter on Foothill Boulevard, the scuffle between a South Pasadena Middle School janitor and a skateboarder, where police have yet to identify a victim, and a South Pasadena Boston runner's shared experience of the tragic marathon bombings.

Thank you for everything, South Pas and La Cañada. Thanks for the great tips, better stories and, as always, the commenters who fill in blanks and point out factual faux pas and typos. It shows us you're reading — and that, we love.