|
Growing
out of a job: Nick Wolf bids farewell
to the Kids' Voice
|
Wolf
Tracks
By
Nick Wolf
|
After
three years, the time has come for me to write my last official
column in Wolf Tracks. I have enjoyed writing for The Voice,
but sometimes a change is a good thing and the time has
come for me to work on other projects.
I
asked my mom if she would mind if I stopped writing for
the paper. Her response was not what I expected. She said
"Are you kidding? Stop!!" I guess for her she
was looking at the fact that for the last six years, either
my brother or I have cranked out an article for the paper
and the 20th of the month around my house has meant more
than just the 20th of the month. It has meant that it was
time for either my brother Elliott or me to not only be
close to of figuring out what to write about, but to actually
write it. Let me tell you, it is not easy figuring out what
to write about every month. There were times for sure, when
my mom started many afternoons with the question "Is
The Voice article done yet?"
But
beyond the deadlines, this experience has been wonderful.
I have gotten to know two great people, Julie Wiatt and
Eric Bond. They have included me as an equal along with
the other writers and that has been a great experience.
Both Elliott and I have had the opportunity to put our spin
on life in Takoma Park and have gotten to meet lots of great
people. I think we appreciate our life here more than most
kids because we have gotten a chance to see it in very different
ways. Whether it has been covering the chess tournaments
at Summer Delights, the holiday fair at Takoma Elementary,
the shelters devoted parents build so they can watch their
kids soccer games in the rain, where to get the best food
in town, or Elliott's infamous column about Roscoe the rooster,
(some of you might remember his great line. "if a rooster
died in Silver Spring, would anyone care?") we have,
over the years been a part of all the great things about
TP that make it special. Without the paper, I certainly
would not have attended many of those events. People who
don't know me, stop me on the street sometimes, and say,
"Hey you're Nick Wolf, the writer for the paper,"
and that for sure is pretty cool. Once when I was in the
health room with a bad headache, the nurse asked me if I
wrote for the Takoma Voice.
So
I would like to thank a couple of people. Thanks to those
of you who actually read my column. When folks donated lots
of office supplies to my school last month, in part because
of my column, I really could see in a tangible way, that
people did read it. Often times, unless a writer sells a
best selling novel, one never really knows how many folks
read what is written. I would like to thank my aunt, Bobbie
Wondrasch, who lives in North Carolina, who for six years
has faithfully taken what either my brother or I wrote and
painstakingly, with lots of love, cut it out of the paper
and created, with cool borders and decorations, a scrap
book of every column we have written. Having that means
a lot to both of us and will remind us in our later years
of our life here in TP. I would like to thank Julie and
Eric for giving my brother and me a chance to write for
the paper. Julie, especially would always call with encouragement.
She is such a nice person and I think Takoma Park is lucky
to have both she and Gary Weinstein (her husband) here.
And thanks to Eric Bond for working so hard on the paper
to have it to begin with. I don't think this town would
be such a great place to live, if we didn't have such a
great community paper.
But
I think six years is long enough for Takoma Park to read
about life from the "Wolf" perspective. So farewell.
If there are any middle school aged kids that would like
to take on the column, please contact the paper. I will
also be glad to talk to anyone and give them the scoop.
Eric and Julie know where to reach me.
So
as I officially close the door on Wolf Tracks and
my brother, Elliott Wolf's column Wolf on the Run,
I wish you all the best and remember, just as Dorothy said
in The Wizard of Oz, there is no place like home,
there is no place like Takoma Park!
Thanks,
Nick and the Wolf pack!
Nick
and Elliott have done a professional, creative, and energetic
job for us for years. We will miss your voices here at the
Voice. We have enjoyed and learned from your perspective.
There will always be an open invitation for you to write
or howl. (Thanks too for support from den mother Emily and
dad Thom.)
—
Julie and Eric and all the Voice staff.
