Greetings to any and all readers of the Wilton-Durant Advocate and the West Liberty Index!
I’d like to take a moment to officially introduce myself. My name is Andrea Grubaugh, and I’m so happy to be your reporter for the Wilton, Durant, and West Liberty communities.
Some of you who subscribe to Muscatine news may already know me, as I previously worked at the Muscatine Journal for nearly five years. Given how unexpected my brief break from being a newspaper reporter was, I’m definitely happy to be back in the newsroom and am ready to put my best foot forward when it comes to providing local stories.
In a way, it’s still a bit hard to believe that I was eventually able to find so much passion for this field. Having gone to Augustana College specifically for a Creative Writing major, at the time my goals for my writing were the same as they had been for most of my life – I wanted to focus on writing books or short stories or scripts for movies and TV shows, not articles or newspapers.
But we can’t always predict the opportunities that come along, and having the opportunity to work with the Journal, I was able to discover the positives of working in local news and was ultimately able to find a career that I truly enjoy. It’s something that, regardless of what other job fields I may end up exploring down the road, I’ll always be grateful for.
Through my reporting and my various interviews, I connected with plenty of people – residents, administrators, business owners, and members of the next generation – that I might not have even met otherwise. I enjoyed getting to help share the stories of others, from the impressive and the inspirational to the mundane and the bittersweet. In some ways, I was able to see the best of what my hometown had to offer and, in turn, truly shine a spotlight on it so others could see it too. This, without a doubt, was my favorite part of being a reporter.
As I step into this new reporting position in an expanded community that, thankfully, isn’t too unfamiliar to me, I hope to do my part in providing quality information and news as well as spotlight the local stories – and the people behind those stories – that are always worth reading about.
So, if you see me out and about in Wilton, Durant, or West Liberty, please feel free to say hello! I’m really excited to make some new connections in the community and meet as many new people as I can. I should also mention that, outside of the newsroom, I’m a pretty big animation fan. So, if you’re looking for someone who can talk your ear off about some upcoming animated movies that I’m excited about or who can recommend some good cartoons or anime, I’m your girl!
Thank you all for reading, and I wish you all a happy 2025. Here’s hoping that no matter what happens next or what new challenges come our way, we can all still work together to make the best out of these next 12 months.
Contact Andrea Grubaugh at adnews@netwtc.net or indexnews@lcom.net.