I had a dream the other night that I was in a scary movie and some short woman with funny glasses said, “He’s back.”

After nearly four years and many papers, I have landed back in Enumclaw as editor of The Courier-Herald.

Since I helped start The Bonney Lake Courier-Herald I know a few things about the community.

I was raised in Enumclaw and my mother’s side of our family has been here since before the turn of the last century. I think that makes me very old.

I always smile, though, when someone tells me how they represent and know the city of Enumclaw. I figure I should come up with a friendly quiz to see if someone really knows anything about Enumclaw and the surrounding area including Buckley, Black Diamond and Bonney Lake.

Here are a few quiz questions.

1. Spell Van Wieringen without looking it up.

2. How many dead-man corners are in Enumclaw and what are the stories.

3. Where was the Polish district?

4. Where was the rest stop on state Route 410.

5. Name the president of Enumclaw National Bank who played football for Enumclaw High in the 1930s.

6. What was on the four corners of downtown. (By the way, people from Enumclaw of my time don’t know the names of the streets and there is only one downtown. I’m still surprised when I notice there is a second light in town.)

7. Where was the Eaton homestead and where was the original home the family moved from?

8. Who bought the Gulan farm and where in Enumclaw did the Gulans move?

9. When did the Kombol brothers graduate and who was their grandpa on their mother’s side?  (That’s an easy one.)

If anyone is interested in the answers or has better ones come into the office or call me at 360-825-2505 ext. 5050, or just talk to my brothers or sisters. They will tell me.

The good thing is The Courier-Herald is a very good paper and has been for many more than 100 years. It has changed, as has the newspaper business. The change is difficult for all of us. The Courier-Herald is not the same paper it was when I started the Bonney Lake Courier-Herald, and it is not even remotely the paper it was in the 1920s. That is called change, which often makes me whine and want to eat ice cream.

I have been the editor of many papers and was even publisher for a short period. I saw it like Mark Twain saw being editor, “Please God, do anything to me but make me a publisher.”

I am an editor. People look at me and laugh if I asked for money. My mother wouldn’t even give me money, for good reason.

What I try to do is simplify everything, which is very practical for my misfiring brain. When it comes to news coverage we try to tell the truth and be fair. It is that simple, and at times very difficult.

Opinions are not news stories, despite what many in our business think these days. Opinion pieces must be carefully separated from news coverage, or the paper will end up losing.

I was well known in Kent for one infamous act. I tried a scientific experiment where I hard boiled three eggs in the microwave. Who knew after eight minutes the eggs would blow the door off the microwave. They are supposed to be stupid eggs, not bombs. At least that was what I thought prior to the door blowing open.

That has been hard one to live down. I intend to refine that experiment over the next few months and send the triumphant results to Kent – those naysayers.

The Courier-Herald is blessed with a very good editorial, creative and sales staff.  That makes my job much easier.

This should be fun.