People editor leaves for Coos Bay newspaper

by Jo Rafferty

I am sad to say that I am leaving Carson Valley, although most of you may know this already.

Luckily for me, ("luckily" may not be the best word) moving is extremely taxing, so it does not leave me with too much time to dwell on things.

My husband, Jack, and I made a decision in early April to head to the Oregon coast. As we've been saying since then, "We can't afford Santa Cruz, so the next best place is the Oregon coast."

Actually, the Coos Bay area is beautiful, although for some people it may be too cold year-round. As we've experienced in our four weekends up there, there's usually fog in the morning, burning off early to sunshine, then windy, unless it's raining. The summers have highs around 70, the winters rarely get below the 40s. Imagine that.

I've had time to think about it since we made the decision to move there and I realized why it was so important for me to get back to the coast. Growing up, we lived 20 minutes from Santa Cruz where my dad docked his first boat, a 28-foot sailboat. The size of the boat and the place it was docked kept progressing until he had a 65-foot sailboat at Pier 39 in San Francisco. I spent most of my weekends with the salty air blowing in my face. In my teen years my friends and I made the perilous trip over Highway 17 many a time.

I have always craved being at the coast and haven't lived near it in about 25 years. We'll get a heavy dose of it now.

For four years my three boys, Jack and I have lived in Stateline. Since I have lived there I have learned valuable things: I somewhat mastered driving in the snow (over Kingbury Grade no less); how to put on chains and when to put on snow tires and take them off; that you need to shovel your deck or else it may fall down; and how to live with bears around us.

Douglas County has been good to us. While at Tahoe, both older boys graduated from Whittell High School and helped bring back Whittell's football team. In June, my middle son, Bryce, achieved all-star status in football and played in the Sertoma game at the University of Nevada, Reno. Patrick joined the Navy in 2005 and is stationed in Hawaii and Bryce is headed to UNR in the fall. Mitchell always got good grades and made lots of friends.

In our time here, I worked for one year at the Tahoe Daily Tribune until moving over to The Record-Courier where I was lucky enough to meet some of the nicest people I've ever known. From my co-workers, to the People columnists, to the outstanding community members - thanks to you all for being so great. We have a camaraderie here at The Record-Courier that is rare at newspapers, and I grew to know many of my contacts as what I consider good friends.

Well, I am off to The World in Coos Bay where I will try to take with me the ethics and good nature that are ever-present here in the Valley. I only hope that the people there are half as nice as those here. If you're ever up there, please look me up, I would love to see some Carson Valley folks.

-- Sharlene Irete, former business/education/Gardnerville Ranchos reporter, is stepping in for me as the new People editor. She is a conscientious and detail-oriented person, not to mention she is also very nice, so she should serve the community well. She is learning a lot of things all at once, so please be patient with her during this transition. She can be reached at sirete@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 210.