I was at a long local meeting the other day.  There had been several events to cover that week.  I’m not as young as I used to be, so the energy level was beginning to run low.  I then mentally asked myself a question I had not considered for some time:  Why do I write this blog?

In order to answer that question, my mind went back to September 3rd, 2011. That was my last day on the job after 28 years working for the federal government.  Retirement was a feeling of liberation.  After working all my adult life, I was finally about to have the luxury of deciding how I would spend my time.

Some retirees go right back to work in another job.  I didn’t want to do that, at least not on a regular basis.  Many retirees volunteer their time to charitable or other endeavors.  I considered that too.  The rest of 2011 was taken up by handling some family issues.

Toward the end of 2011, I started thinking about something I had always considered.

I worked as a radio broadcast journalist before entering the civil service in 1983.  I had covered education, local government, the police beat and just about any other news assignment one could imagine.  Being a reporter was one of the most rewarding jobs I ever had (not financially, but in other ways).

I had watched the local news scene.  I’ve lived in Fishers since 1991 and always had an interest in following what was going on locally.  I discovered the Noblesville Daily Ledger, a newspaper that covered not only Noblesville and Hamilton County, but other area municipalities, including Fishers.  If I wanted to follow what was happening with the town council or the local school board, I could rely on the Ledger for all the information.

Then, after publishing for over 100 years, the Ledger suddenly went to publishing only two days a week.  I knew that was sadly the beginning of the end for the Daily Ledger.  It ceased publishing shortly thereafter.  Then another company started a daily newspaper in Noblesville, but it was hit hard by the 2008 Great Recession and had to close.

I began to wonder – I miss the daily local news coverage…does anyone else miss it?

So I got this crazy idea to go back to my reporter days.  I would figure out how to put some sort of Web site online and start writing about local events.  It all started in January, 2012. I just quietly sat in on the town council meetings, took notes, then wrote a story on my Web site about what I heard and saw in the meeting.

When LarryInFishers.com was up and running, I didn’t even know how many people (if any at all) were reading the stories I was publishing online.  I intentionally did not put any counters or analytics on the site.  If no one was reading, I didn’t want to get discouraged early and just give up.

My first clue that anyone was reading came from a couple of local elected officials who approached me and had clearly been reading my material.  I began to measure the traffic on the site and found there were other people interested on local news.

My approach has always been this in writing the blog…most people in Fishers are very busy with work and family life (just like I was before retirement) and do not have the time to attend local meetings.  I try to let people know what they would want to know if they were able to attend these local events.

I have been amazed at the number of people reading this blog the past 3 1/2 years.  I guess there is a demand for this type of reporting after all.

This continues to be a volunteer activity for me.  I have no advertisers.  I’m not saying I would turn down ads, but most local blogs don’t see much revenue from advertising anyway, so I plan to keep this a volunteer activity for now.

This blog has opened up other opportunities for me.  I am an occasional contributing columnist for the local weekly newspaper Current in Fishers.  I write political commentary for an opinion blog run by the Indianapolis Business Journal, Indiana Forefront.  I had the honor of moderating a Fishers mayoral election debate in 2014 sponsored by the Fishers Arts Council.

I do want to emphasize there are some very good reporters doing work in and around Fishers other than I.  James Feichtner does great work as the editor of Current in Fishers. Lindsey Erdody covers Fishers for the Indianapolis Business Journal.  Chris Sikich occasionally covers Fishers for the Indianapolis Star.  But all these reporters have other duties.  James has not only Fishers but a Geist edition to edit and partially write.  Lindsey and Chris each cover the northern Indy suburbs, so only part of their attention can be focused on Fishers.

What I try to do now is what I have always attempted to do – fill a news void for those living in Fishers and interested in what is happening here.  I do the best I can as just one guy, who does have some other things to do, even in retirement.

That brings me back to my initial question to myself.  Why do I write this blog?  I have only one answer.  I write this blog because people like you take the time to read it.  As long as my health is good and I’m not overwhelmed with other pressing duties, I plan to continue with this blog.

I want to thank all of you for reading.  It’s the only reason I can come up with to answer the question as to why I continue to write this blog.  It’s because of you.