December 1987.

When Mary Brewer announced to the newspaper staff that job titles and responsibilities were being changed nearly 30 years ago, I had come a long way in a year. From my bartending gig at Everybody's Restaurant, I was asked in April of 1987 to contribute some articles for the newspaper's Summertime supplement — finally, a writing job after four years of journalism school at the University of Maine!

In June, through the urging of staff artist Bill Harris, Mary hired me as a reporter. In July, when Lenny Heselton left the newspaper staff to accompany her husband on his Bath Iron Works job in Australia, I assumed her position as assistant editor. By December, the newspaper changed its management format, where Mary would become the managing editor and I would become editor.

However, for some strange reason, there were still some people out there who still didn't know I have been the editor for 28 years. Just two weeks ago, I was approached by a friend who congratulated me on my new position. I have received similar salutations throughout my career here at the Register. It has been the best kept secret around.

Perhaps it is because people have seen me out and about taking photos at sporting events, covering area events, covering meetings, accidents, fires, etc. Things that reporters do. Well, as an employee of a small-town newspaper, editors are expected to be reporters and photographers as well.

As editor, I have been in charge of getting things covered in the communities of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb and Southport, and now, Wiscasset and surrounds, with the development of our websites. Using our reporting corps, I try to make sure stories are covered by assigning them to various reporters, reporters have their regular beats, and we now have news contributors who are covering beats and any stories that need to be covered.

Since 1987, I estimate that we have had about 30 men and women who have served as reporters for this newspaper — perhaps more, I’ve lost count. We have been lucky that some worked for years as reporters. Others moved on to bigger and better things, while others found another profession.

In the past year or so, we have made a couple of other job title changes. Nicole Lyons, our trusty copy editor, was named assistant editor, and Susan Johns, who covers the Wiscasset area as a reporter, is also an assistant editor. Having Nicole and Susan has been a big help to me. And Lisa Kristoff, who served as a reporter for several years and was once my assistant editor, has become the arts and entertainment editor — she also helps us out in a pinch by doing some "regular" reporting.

So the cat is out of the bag ... and he is the editor. Be sure to read the fine print on page 2.