Hello eastern Oklahoma County! The last time my name appeared in a newspaper in this area was almost six years ago when I was working for The Sun.
Back then, my stories had a byline of Victoria Middleton. My family has always called me Vicki, so I figured it was about time everyone else did too.
So, here I am, back hanging around in EOC, but this time I’ll be covering mostly the Choctaw news beat.
On Tuesday, I covered my first Choctaw city council meeting in six years. I was happy to see that there were a lot of familiar faces on the council and at city hall.
Mayor Randy Ross is still heading up things and I can remember many years ago when he won his first mayoral bid in a landslide election.
The excitement Randy had for city government at that time was fresh and infectious, and from what I can tell, he still has the same drive to make the City of Choctaw a great place to live.
Driving along NE 23rd Street this past week, I can see there is a lot of dirt moving around for the new Choctaw Town Square. I am sure everyone is excited about Walmart opening in Choctaw. Randy told me the store is expected to be open this time next year.
Now we will all just have to anxiously wait and see what other businesses will set up shop in the almost 40-acre development led by Eldon Blackaby.
I guess I also need to tell you what I’ve been up to since leaving The Sun. I have lived in Midwest City all this time, but have been driving to Newcastle five days a week to work at the weekly newspaper there.
At the Newcastle Pacer, I started out as the news editor for a few months but then moved into the managing editor’s position. In Newcastle, I gained a lot of knowledge working with the small town newspaper, so I feel as I come back to EOC, I can offer a lot more to not only my employer but the community as well.
From serving on the chamber board as vice chairperson to covering football games, I just about did it all in Newcastle. My husband, Larry, used to always joke that I am also married to my newspaper job, but things changed when our daughter was born.
KatieAnn Rose Middleton was welcomed into this world on August 9, 2010 at the Renaissance Women’s Center in Midwest City by doctor Allison Huebert and the wonderful staff there.
Having this blonde hair, blue-eyed cutie has made me slow down some and not sweat the small stuff as much.
For me, changing jobs has been a fairly smooth transition since I am familiar with the area, but for Katie, it’s been a whole different story.
The folks at her new daycare, though, are helping her settle in just fine, and in time, she hopefully will not cry every morning when I pass her off for the day.
Oh, the joys of having a 22-month-old. But seriously, in the next coming weeks I am looking forward to seeing my familiar EOC acquaintances again and meeting all of the new faces too.
If you have any story ideas for me or just want to say hi, drop me a line at [email protected] or give me a shout here at the office at 455-3491.