Meet the New Editor of Mansfield-Storrs Patch

MANSFIELD/STORRS, CT - The calendar has officially turned to spring (although it's only in New England that you can have 70-degree days in March and snowfall in April), and with the new season comes some exciting news from Patch Media.

Patch has recently launched some brand new sites in Connecticut, including Wethersfield, Newington and Hartford in the north central region of the state. That expansion, coupled with some personnel changes, has prompted a shift in some editorial assignments, which leads to my introduction as editor of Mansfield-Storrs Patch, beginning Monday, April 4.

While I may be new to the site, I am no stranger to the area or to the business. I recently covered Mansfield and Storrs for the Chronicle. At Patch, I was the founding editor of Vernon Patch in 2010, and subsequently added Tolland Patch to my responsibilities before the company's previous owner, AOL, began cutting staff, leading to my departure in January, 2014.

The new owners of Patch, Hale Global, brought me back into the fold in last week, and I am managing 10 sites. I eagerly look forward to working with all of you on news of interest to you.
Here are five facts that may give you some insight into my personality and passion for the media industry. Some of them may actually be interesting:

I have three daughters - a pair of 6-year-olds in kindergarten and a fourth-grader. One of the twins plays soccer in Vernon and the other participates in gymnastics in Somers. The oldest is a lacrosse player in the growing Vernon program. All three dance out of a Tolland studio. They have become fixtures and local and state police have already considered deputizing them and the UConn women's lacrosse team may try to sneak the oldest into a game.

They are following in dad's athletic footsteps. I played basketball at Eastern Connecticut State University while getting my degree in English and Communications. That was before the shot clock and the college three-pointer for those keeping score at home.

I have been writing about snow sports in various capacities since 1999 and am a past-president of the Eastern Ski Writers Association.

Awards have been bestowed on me both regionally and nationally for sports writing, feature writing, news writing and column writing. Oh I also used to cover business news.

I worked as a caddie at a country club outside New York City in high school and when home from college in the summer.

I really do look forward to working with all of you. I can be reached via email at chris.dehnel@patch.com, or by phone at 860-416-6989. I also encourage you to register for free to become a site contributor, where you can post news about upcoming events directly onto the site.

Please let me know how I can be of assistance, and what you would like to see featured on your Patch.

Oh and that photo? That was a while back peeling a potato at an area soup kitchen.

- Chris Dehnel