Saying Bye to Reminder and Patch...Starting a New Chapter

A new chapter in my life is about ready to begin allowing me to return to journalism full-time for the first time since March 2008. I will be officially saying goodbye to writing for Patch and Reminder Newspapers (owned by Hartford Courant).

I will be a full-time reporter for The Chronicle, www.thechronicle.com, as of Sept. 10, 2015, a daily newspaper in Willimantic, CT. Specifically, my beat will be Lebanon, Columbia, and Coventry.

I do plan to continue to be Executive Editor for The Connecticut Times website, www.theconnecticuttimes.com, which I first started a year ago. I will continue to write about issues I care about, places I have visited, discuss my viewpoints, and share my photos.

As for Patch, I have been writing and taking photos for the past eight years. Articles have been featured on the front page of Patch websites throughout Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island depending on the topic. I am proud to have written more than 240 articles and taken over 500 photos.

Ellyn Santiago, who served as Senior Local Editor for AOL/Patch Media explained, “While we worked together, Corey was primarily a blogger and an extremely popular one. Readers loved his blogs, written with passion about otherwise seemingly pedestrian subjects like Connecticut highway rest areas or curious local ore, like his comprehensive coverage of the Norwich State Hospital. His columns engaged readers who often commented and shared his posts; his blogs brought in the page views. He’s a conscientious worker, passionate and devoted. And a nose for news!”

I provided extensive coverage to the multi-million dollar project that renovated all of the state’s 23 service plazas. Coincidentally, the project recently wrapped up with the reopening of the I-95 Madison Southbound Service Plaza. My friend, Dan, joked with me that I visit rest stops more often than anyone he knows!

I wrote about the improvements they went through and highlighted what they were missing. I pointed to the lack of water fountains, public pay telephones, and adequate truck parking at all of the plazas. Now, all plazas either offer water fountains or water courtesy cups and some plazas have pay telephones.

I reported on the fact that the smaller I-395 and Route 15 plazas fail to have the amenities that the larger I-95 plazas feature such as seating, restaurant diversity, and Wi-Fi. I also reported on the fact that diesel fuel was removed from some of the plazas.

On the other hand, I also wrote about the positive changes the renovated plazas bring which included additional retail and restaurant offerings, upgraded security, “green” elements, and backup generators.

Additionally, I reported on topics that were not written by other media outlets or not reported on as extensively or from the focus that I provided. These include the continued closure of the Cochegan Rock area, installation of cameras at Fort Shantok, emergency turnarounds on I-395, a detailed list of old and new exit numbers for the exit renumbering project affecting I-395 and Route 2A, and a lawsuit which pitted Macdaddy’s against Mac N’ Out.

  I recently ended my two-year career as a freelancer for Reminder Newspapers. I wrote 11 feature stories and had 14 photos published for the Colchester, Windsor Locks, Windsor, and Plainfield-Killingly editions. My last article for them, which was recently published, was about a new postcard book produced by the Plainfield Historical Society. Other articles that stick out in my mind include one on the Salem Apple Festival and a guest speaker who spoke at the New England Air Museum regarding the latest efforts to recover Amelia Earhart’s airplane.

I will soon end my seven-and-a-half year job as a Marketing Representative for Foxwoods Resort Casino working in the Foxwoods Rewards Department. I used my journalism skills in this position to be an editor-in-chief of a departmental newsletter for about a year. I also wrote articles and took photos for the company’s internal website. My friendly and helpful demeanor allowed me to win three customer service awards during my time there.

I’m looking forward to reentering journalism full-time. Please wish me luck, think positive thoughts, send me a prayer, and continue to provide support. Thank you Patch for providing me the medium to communicate interesting information to residents in so many towns.