So Long, Strongsville — It's Been Fun

When Patch came to Strongsville three years ago, it wasn't easy being the editor.

"You're with who?" was the response I got most often when I tried to interview someone for a story. "What's the Patch?"

Gradually, though, word spread. People started subscribing to our daily newsletter and following us on Facebook, and I'm proud to say thousands of people now see Strongsville Patch in their inbox every morning and we're this close to 1,300 Facebook likes.

My last day at Patch is Oct. 15, 2013. You may have read that Patch is changing direction with a number of its sites, and all 17 in Ohio are affected. Strongsville Patch will stay open for your contributions — feel free to keep posting your blogs, events and opinions. But I and my colleagues in Ohio got our layoff notices a couple months ago.

Before I go, I'd like to thank Strongsville Patch readers for making this an amazing three years. I've worked at newspapers in the area for a long time, but I'd never experienced the kind of give-and-take relationship with readers that comes with an online publication.

I tried to put the news out there as quickly as I could, and I think people appreciated it. I hope you did, anyway.

Some stories were fun to cover (like when the Food Network did a makeover at the Mad Cactus) and some were intense (teachers strike; need I say more?), but I loved every minute. 

Thank you to everyone who read Strongsville Patch, who took a minute to offer a comment or posted an event on the site. Patch was designed to be a community website, and the people of Strongsville definitely made it their own.

Strongsville is a great town, and it's been my privilege to be part of it.

— Debbie Palmer