Many islanders already know me. I have been a member of this community since I was six years old. My family moved to San Juan Island in the late 1970s. For those who I don’t yet know, I look forward to hearing your stories.

The Journal of the San Juans has been in the background of my life from childhood. In elementary school, our class took field trips to see printing presses first hand. Back in the ’80s, The Journal was printed right out of its office. Those presses were huge, and the entire building smelled of fresh ink. We learned what the job of journalists entails, and why local news is important. As a young writer in the making, I was fascinated.

As a middle and high school student, I paid particular attention to the sports section. Seeing my classmates, and occasionally my own name in print was thrilling, especially when accompanied with photographs.

The Sheriff’s Log provided hot gossip. If my friends and I didn’t already know who and what the log was referring to, it was entertaining to speculate.

While attending college at Evergreen State University in Olympia, Washington, I kept tabs on my hometown. I read about the latest comings and goings, controversies. Hearing islanders’ voices, and keeping up with issues they cared about kept me from becoming homesick.

I didn’t major in journalism though. Evergreen does not have majors and minors. Most of my credits were in history, literature and creative writing.

With novels, short stories and poems swirling in my head, creative writing was the direction I thought my career path would go. Those stories remain in my brain. I continue working on them all these years later.

It wasn’t until the early 2000s when I wrote naturalist articles for the Island Weekly while working at the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, that I got my first taste of journalism.

I began developing a passion for helping tell people’s stories when I began writing for the Journal. It was amazing learning about fellow community members and elevating voices that are not usually heard.

With COVID making everything in the world feel insecure and upside down, I took a job at a law office but continued writing as a freelancer. The experience gave me a broader perspective, which hopefully improved my skills.

Taking on the role of the editor is an honor and privilege, and one I do not take lightly. It comes with a number of challenges. The news industry has been working hard to adapt to a changing world and rapidly evolving technology. Local news has struggled, and COVID only added to those difficulties.

As the editor, I have ideas about how to meet and overcome those challenges so that this little local paper may thrive well into the future. I have set high goals for myself and our staff.

If we are going to achieve those goals, however, we are going to need help from each of our readers, and the community at large. We cannot be everywhere at once, unfortunately. I need citizens to reach out to me when they hear stories that need to be told or see issues that are not being covered. You can reach me at heather.spaulding@soundpublishing.com.

The Journal is our voice, our story, the record of where this community has been and where it is going. We are all in this together.