Leave it to me to quote Taylor Swift in my goodbye column headline. If you ever leave me in charge of the paper, it will involve Taylor Swift. If you doubt me, check out the Wednesday, July 10 edition of the paper — there are three Taylor Swift references.

What I’m trying to get at is my tenure at the Monroe Times has been utterly amazing — from the experiences to the people.

I was thrust into the job pretty quickly, as Monroe football and Monticello volleyball made trips to state in the fall of 2022. Darlington football went deep into the postseason, too. I remember covering Monticello at state in Green Bay that morning, driving to the Milwaukee area to cover Darlington football and night, and driving back to Green Bay to catch the Ponies in the championship game the next morning. A week or so later, I watched my cousin and the Monroe football team complete their undefeated state championship season.

Perhaps my craziest state run was that spring, when I covered track and field, softball and baseball on back-to-back-to-back weekends. Needless to say, I was ready for summer and a break.

In addition to the high school level, I’ve been grateful for the talented athletes that have competed at the collegiate level and allowed me to continue their story. Games that come to mind include Bailey Butler and the UW-Green Bay women’s team in the Horizon League postseason tournament; Natalie Leuzinger and the UW-Madison women’s team in the WNIT; JT Seagreaves and the UW-Madison football team against No. 1 Oregon; and Clay Ritschard with Ripon College football on Homecoming.

But those don’t even compare to being on the field for Pecatonica baseball coach Jim Strommen’s first pitch at the Brewers game. I will forever be grateful to the Blanchardville community, especially Joslyn Gant, for letting me be a part of that.

For all of these experiences, I’ve saved my credentials. I’ve even saved thank you notes and emails from parents, coaches, players and community members. All of them hang in my office space as reminders of the events and people I’ve met along the way.

I was reminded of this again since announcing my departure. In that time, I’ve received so many ‘good luck’ and ‘congratulations’ messages. At sporting events, multiple people have come up to me to inquire where I’m going next and chat one last time.

Don’t worry, I won’t be going far. My next position is in Monroe and I’ll still be heavily involved in the community. In my spare time, you’ll still catch me at some sporting events — this time for fun.

Thank you for all of the support the last two-plus years. I truly appreciate it!

— Natalie Dillon has been the Sports Editor of the Monroe Times since October 2022. Her last day with the newspaper is 

Sunday, Dec. 22.