What's Going On: Final thoughts: What will I miss most?

It was such a simple question, but I didn’t have an answer.
What are you going to miss most about Red Oak?
Not very often am I left speechless, but when that questioned was asked of me at a Rotary Club meeting, presumably my last in Red Oak, I found myself stammering and searching for something to say.
There is so much I will remember from my time in Red Oak, Montgomery County, and Southwest Iowa, I suddenly had a difficult time answering what would I miss … most.
I have so many great memories here, it almost seems impossible to choose one.
Both of my daughters were born here. That’s pretty memorable.
I remember walking my son into Katie Confer’s classroom on his first day of school. Hard to forget that day.
I remember not one, but two two-foot snowfalls hitting us during my first winter here. I also remember thinking my neighbors were laughing at me using a simple snow shovel to dig out while they had their fancy snow blowers up and running.
I remember a lot of the
stories I covered, including a fatal train derailment, a
county auditor’s rise in politics, and one of my most recent, a 98-year-old man who still flies regularly. In a plane that is. Flying without one would undoubtedly be the memory that stood out the most.
I’m also a guy who likes his food, so I’ll remember the bacon tomato omelets at the Rainbow, the prime rib at the Red Coach, the chicken
taquitos at Casa De Oro, the pizza from Patolis, the sweet potato fries at the Classic Café and those massive funnel cakes you can get at the Montgomery County fair.  
And of course, I’ll remember the tenderloins from just about everywhere.
But as I reflected on that question, and its many options through the week, one answer stood above them all: What I’ll remember most about Red Oak and Southwest Iowa is the people.
There are some remarkable ones here, and many of them have had a tremendous impact not only on my life, but my entire family.
I have made friendships here that will last a lifetime, and that is something I truly value.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one specific group of people who undoubtedly have impacted me more than any other, and that is the great group I have been
honored to work with at the Red Oak Express and Glenwood Opinion-Tribune.
I’m not a great manager by any means, but if I could give one piece of advice I have learned through the years it is this: surround yourself with good people, and they will make you look smarter than you really are.
I have found this to be true several times through the last six years here, as the people I work with are very good at what they do.
As such, all I had to do was come up with good ideas, let them loose on working on them and stay out of their way.
While I may have been the manager, I have never considered the people who work with me as “my employees.” They were my co-workers and my extended family. I shared my joys with them and my
sorrows, and they did as well.
As a result, we forged a bond that will remain well after I have left as they no longer are my co-workers, but my friends.
And those friends, along with so many others here, are what I will remember most, and treasure most as well.
I hope you have enjoyed reading these columns over the years, as I have tried to be as open and honest with you, the reader, as I have with my co-workers.
I know I have enjoyed sharing those thoughts with you.
And thank-you for allowing me to a be a part of your life.