I will soon be reviewing the year-end stories for this local news blog and my local podcasts soon.  That is something I do each year.  But there is something else to contemplate as 2023 comes to an end.

This year will mark the completion of my 12th year writing this local Fishers, Indiana news blog, and the 8th year of producing local podcasts.  My thoughts went back to 2012.

After retiring from federal government service in September, 2011, I spent the last 3 months of that year dealing with personal family issues.  As 2012 dawned and retirement in place, what do I do next?  There was that job advising people about their taxes (I spent nearly 20 years as a government tax law specialist) then 5 years in a teaching gig with Indiana University.

But even with all that, there was plenty of time on my hands.  What do I do with all that time?  After all, although I love film, there is only so much film to watch and only so many books to read.

Before entering the federal civil service in 1983, I had spent 14 years in the radio broadcasting business, the last several years as a news reporter & anchor.  Journalism is hard work, but I loved every minute of my time in radio news.

Since I had done news reporting, a survey of the local news landscape revealed local news was hard to find, even in 2012, for my home since 1991, Fishers, Indiana.  I was no technical wiz, but putting a simple blog together and writing local news appeared to be an option, so why not try?  I did.

Looking back on 12 years of writing this blog, several things continue to amaze me.

My goals in 2012 were simple.  Write a news blog by attending Fishers Town Council meetings and Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meetings.  I would also link to other local media outlets when they would write about Fishers (there were no paywalls then).

Perhaps a few hundred government geeks like myself would likely read this blog, I thought.  I would just sit with the public in these meetings, write about what I heard and saw, and that would be it.

That all changed a few months into 2012 when a member of the Fishers Town Council, John Weingardt, walked up to me before a council meeting and asked, “Are you Larry?”

Yes, I responded, expecting to hear a complaint about something I had written,  No, John just told me he had been reading my blog, along with others around town, and he wanted to meet and talk with me.

That’s the moment I realized something was happening here.  I had done virtually no promotion of the blog, but word was getting around.  There is some local guy writing about Fishers.

My blog count of unique visitors was a few hundred in 2012 as this all began.  In 2023, my unique visitor count will exceed 91,000.  For a locally focused news blog in a city of just over 100,000, that is an amazing number.

All I have ever tried to do was write about what is happening in my home of 32 years.  It is clear there is a demand for local news coverage and I have done my best to fill that hole in local news.

In 2016, I discovered that podcasting was making a comeback with cell phone technology.  I used my radio broadcasting background, learned more about the technical side of podcasting, and began the LarryInFishers podcasts in 2016.  I have had well over 100,000 occasions where someone has listened to one of the local podcasts I produced.

While looking back on 2023 and reviewing the entire year, I cannot ignore the fact that you, the readers of my blog and listeners to my podcasts, have made this all worthwhile.  I have been paid a small amount for some of this work, but this news blog and podcast serve as mostly a volunteer endeavor.

The only reason this continues is you.  The messages I receive, the comments you make and the support you have provided gives me the urge to continue.  I tried to quit this blog twice, but it was all of you, collectively, that convinced me to carry on.

I am not as young as I used to be, so there has been some slowdown in my work.  But as long as I have my health, my goal is to continue my news blog and podcasts.

A large thank-you to my wife Jane for supporting me in this work.  I would not be able to do all this without her support.

My most important “thank you” goes out to all of you, the readers of this blog and listeners to my podcasts.  You have made this work worthwhile.

May God bless each and every one of you as I look back on 2023 and buckle-up for 2024.