We often devote this space to letting our readers know about changes in staff to let our readers know why they will no longer see a certain name or face in the paper any longer. Such announcements happen on a fairly regular basis due to the nature of community papers. It is papers such as the Sentry where people come to get their feet wet, cut their teeth and learn not to use tired clichés. So no one is particularly shocked when a reporter showing talent gives notice that they are moving on– such is life.
    It did come as a surprise last week when the staff of Mainely Newspapers, Inc. (now Mainely Media LLC) learned it was our employers who were giving notice. Carolyn and David Flood began the company in 1989 with some rented office space and a card table. Over the past 18 years, the company has grown– adding newspapers and staff– while keeping a firm grip on the day-to-day operations and protecting the overarching philosophy that binds the group of papers together.
    If this company had an organizational chart, it would have shown Carolyn and David at the top and everyone else in the company one level below. It may not have been the perfect way to run a company, but it has proved successful.
    Most if not all of the current and former employees were hired directly by David. Many report that initial interview to have been a disorienting experience. David has what one might call a unique conversational style due to a kinetic and somewhat scattered personality that causes him to abruptly shift the direction of a conversation mid-sentence as he digresses degree by degree from the topic at hand. It’s not so much a monologue as watching a person have a conversation with themselves out loud. We laugh now, but many of us didn’t know if that first interview went horribly or superbly as we sat in our cars and wondered, “what just happened?”
    I share this anecdote not to make fun of my former boss, but to illustrate that behind these pages are human beings who have formed personal relationships and manage to have a little bit of fun.
    The Floods have been able to live and raise two kids on the upper end of the middle class spectrum, but as clear as it is that the Floods live comfortably, it was equally clear maintaining the company that afforded that lifestyle was something of a high wire act. I do not know where the margin between success and ruin lay, but I am sure it was never far from the Floods’ minds. The rewards they afforded themselves never seemed disproportionate to the risks. With the sale, they have parlayed that daily angst and walked away from the table with a lot of chips. Congratulations, Carolyn and David.
    That daily angst has now been inherited by Chris Myles, who has assured the staff of Mainely Media that the new owners have no intention of trying to fix a company that isn’t broken. We have no reason to believe otherwise and welcome Chris aboard. He comes to a company that is largely defined by the personalities within it and a philosophy guarded by a couple no longer here. Change is bound to happen and that’s not a bad thing– Just because something isn’t broken doesn’t mean it couldn’t use a little tune-up.
    It’s tough being the new guy, but being the new guy doesn’t last forever.
–Ward Peck