Since 1913, the Valley Record has been one of the threads that bind this Valley together. For 5,460 weeks, we have told the stories of its amazing people and places, its events and its local businesses – all the elements that make the Valley such a unique place to live, work, create and play.

I have been honored to spend almost one-sixth of my life helping tell the story of this Valley. And like the river that etches its path from the high Cascades to Carnation, many of the people and the stories of the Snoqualmie Valley have also etched their way to my heart.

My first week at The Record (October 2008) was heralded by the near collapse of the U.S. economy. More than a few Valley businesses and the hard-working people who owned/staffed them were also swept away in the Great Recession’s callous wake. During that time, the Valley Record urged our readers to shop local.

In 2009, I learned what c.f.s., “Sum of the Three Forks” and what Floodzilla.com was. I also saw how the Valley pulled together as one during the flood watch – Upper and Lower, kids and grandparents, teens and 30-somethings all lent a hand to fill sandbags in the rain as the river rose. Businesses like Sahara Pizza donated food while residents and businesses prepared for the worst. And when The River flooded fields and back yards and then streets, homes and businesses, we at the Valley Record told the story of how the community again took care of its own during the soggy aftermath.

Fortitude and community: Just add water.

The past 10 years we’ve also covered some sad stories – and whether the headline was about deaths, fires, plane crashes, jumpers, explosions, lost hikers, murder, survivalist bunkers, scandals and even lost dogs, we’ve done so sensitively, professionally and fairly.

But we prefer to shine a spotlight on the good things and the wonderful people that bind this Valley together. People like Laurie and Kevin Hauglie and Anji Donaldson, Dave Battey, Gloria McNeely, Chris Garcia, Cristy Lake, Nels Melgaard, Mary J. Miller, Fritz Ribary, Wendy Thomas, Sherwood Koersjoen and the late Lee Grumman. And Richard Anderson and Peggy Barchi at the Railway Museum, Councilmember Bob Jeans, and Fall City bowyer Jay St. Charles. And who can forget our partners Monica Lynne, Carol Simpson, Earl Bell and Andrew L. Glandon at the Chamber … and other amazing Valley treasures like Silver Moon, and the incomparable Sifu Johann.

We also love covering the real examples of the “Best of the Valley,” our local nonprofits like Snoqualmie Valley Food Bank, Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation, Mount Si Senior Center, Fall City Arts, Encompass, Snoqualmie Valley Tilth, and our amazing service groups like Snoqualmie Valley Rotary and Kiwanis.

My first day at the Record, Ms. Leesa McKean told me that The Record’s success is sort of like a big community potluck —that everybody brings something to the story – the local businesses that advertise their products and services in print or online with us, the nonprofit that sends in a press release, and the local reader that stops by the office to give us a juicy news tip.

Everyone makes a contribution.

Whether you read the Valley Record cover to cover every week or glance at a few online articles a month, we hope our stories have connected the Valley together while informing, inspiring or educating our readers. To help us continue to tell the Valley’s story, I invite you to make a contribution to the potluck. We are not looking for fried chicken, baked beans and potato salad, or even ads, press releases or a news tip. We are looking for your partnership. We ask that you consider helping us continue to tell the stories of the Valley of the future with a paid subscription. All it takes is just $39 a year.

To make it simple just drop me an email at ( wshaw@valleyrecord.com ) with “Hi Bill Shaw, Please Sign Me Up” in the subject line – and then give me your name, address and phone number and you will begin receiving your weekly Snoqualmie Valley Record within a week to 10 days. Or, you can also visit www.valleyrecord.com/subscribe and fill out the online form.