As many of you may know, The Covington News is under new ownership, as of Sept. 1 of this year. With the new ownership, a lot has changed with your favorite community newspaper. A lot of the changes can be seen in this very newspaper, whether it is the design, the staff names on the left of this page or the logo we put on the front.

With that being said, I will tell you that I saw one of the biggest changes Thursday evening when The News staff took the evening off to enjoy an evening of fellowship with our sister publication The Walton Tribune.

Patrick Graham, owner of both publications, took all of us out for a night of bowling, arcade games and fun. While, I might not have had the top score in the bowling alley, or even collected the most tickets in the arcade, I will say that I left with a feeling of excitement that I wasn’t expecting.

The holiday spirit is all about celebrating what you have in your life, and I will proudly say that I have the best work family anyone could ask for. We are just that, a family.

Thank you to Patrick Graham for taking the time to let us celebrate together. It was definitely much needed and much appreciated.

Thank you to The Covington News advertising staff. Without you, we wouldn’t have this paper I’m writing in right now and your hard work does not go unnoticed.

Thank you circulation. Without everyone involved, our dear readers wouldn’t be able to see the hard work we all do each week.

Thank you to my editorial staff. I’m going to take a moment to brag on them a little bit more than the other departments because they do so much for me.

Last week, I was out sick all week. I started my money with a 103-degree fever and four prescriptions. This editorial staff kicked butt and got the newspaper out without a hitch. They did a fantastic job and I was beyond happy to see their efforts in print Sunday.

With that being said, they all work extremely hard each and every week and it is amazing to see.

Thank you to everyone at The Covington News and The Walton Tribune for the hard work you put in every day. I am honored to call y’all my work family and I am looking forward to another year together making the news.

Jackie Gutknecht is the managing editor of The Covington News. She can be reached at 770-728-1409 or jgutknecht@covnews.com. Twitter: @jackieg1991