Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

In 1871, John Upton Shaffer founded the Record. The first issue came out in December, and almost didn’t have the second half of the alphabet for the press. The letters were delivered at the last minute, but the first issue of the Record nearly didn’t use the letter N through Z.

In 2010, I began writing for the Record. At an event at Millbrook Playhouse, the publisher asked if I’d be willing to contribute anything. I sent a column about a criminal in Renovo, and then one about a local doctor, and this became a weekly thing for the next fifteen years.

Now, in 2025, the Record is closing. Clinton County’s oldest newspaper. And here I am, writing my last column for this newspaper.

It never occurred to me that this would happen. I’d assumed I was going to write for the Record the rest of my life, and one day, the Record would write my obituary. I never imagined it would be the other way around.

It is no exaggeration to say that I’ve loved writing for the paper. It’s been an amazing experience for me for fifteen years. The Record has always allowed me to cut loose, to be at my most creative and do some of my best work. This paper has allowed me to try different things, without ever telling me that it was too weird or too unusual.

Once I did a series pretending to be an advice columnist, dispensing local history advice. A couple of times, when writing about local poets, I did columns in poetry. In one column I rewrote song lyrics and made them about our local communities. To this day, that one is one of my favorites. More than once, I just reported on my son and how he was doing.

Once I wrote a piece about a local man who claimed to have invented a popular product but didn’t. I got a visit from his granddaughter, who insisted that he had, in fact, invented the product, in spite of what the patent said. (Also, he was eleven at the time.) The Record stood behind me and defended me.

I’ve poked fun at Chris Miller many times. Regular readers of the Record may have the impression that he and I are constantly at each other’s throats—We’re both teased each other in print repeatedly over the years. The truth is, Chris is my best friend, and this has been a running gag between us. Most of the time, I’ve given Chris a warning that I’m about to make fun of him in my column—Though I have surprised him a couple of times.

I’m going to miss all of that very deeply. I had so much more in store, so many more stories I wanted to tell.
The Record has been part of Clinton County for a hundred and fifty-four years. That’s over three-quarters of our history. And for a tenth of that, I’ve been honored to have been a part of it, writing about that history every week.

I’ve been part of our history, part of this county, following the legacy of all the people who wrote for the Record before me. And I have treasured it all.

I’m even grateful for the chance to write this final column. I’ve had times in the past when either a publication has ended, or my association with them has, and it’s been very abrupt. I never got the opportunity to write one final piece about how much it has meant to me. So that’s one last gift the Record has given to me….The chance to say goodbye.

If you’ve enjoyed my work here, please feel free to check out Northcentral PA or the PA Wilds online, where I frequently write. I’m going to miss having this outlet, this place to announce my discoveries every week. I’ve loved this. So maybe I’ll do something new…..Maybe some other publication will pick me up, or maybe I’ll write a book. The future is there waiting, so who knows?

And no matter what, I’ve gotten fifteen wonderful, amazing years of being part of the Record. And I’ll always look back on that, and I’ll always treasure the memories.