OK, enough already with the sparkles

As an award-winning journalist and photographer, I have been editor of two weekly newspapers in northern Wisconsin for the past 20 years. I started in the business as a sportswriter at THE-BEE, a weekly newspaper in Phillips, Wisconsin. Within six months of starting as a part-time sports reporter, I was promoted to editor. Spending 10 years in this position, I learned the ins and outs of community journalism. I took his skills to The Lakeland Times, Wisconsin's largest semi-weekly newspaper. As editor for the this family-owned newspaper in May 2000, I have continued in that capacity to present day. During the 12 years at this newspaper, I have been involved in all of the news department's successes, including moving the company from a "cut and paste" production methodology to complete electronic pagination; also overseeing the changeover from film production to all digital photography. I have had the opportunity to mentor and train many reporters who have gone on to dailies as reporters, editors and even one reporter who went on to purchase and operate his own newspaper. My love of the Green Bay Packers moved me to write columns for select websites in the mid- to late 1990s under the pen name of Apackphan. After taking the job with The Lakeland Times in 2000, time constraints, especially in holding down a full-time job and helping to raise three beautiful girls, forced him to give up the Internet-based writings. The opportunity to continue with lombardiave.com has been a joyous event for Rivard. Getting back into blogging on the heels of the Packers' world championship, I do so with a renewed love of a team I have followed since he was a young boy in the 1960s. I hope you enjoy the daily blog and should you like to provide any feedback ... at any time ... send me an email at the website provided or on the website. GO PACK!!!

• @lombardiave
• facebook.com/apackphan
• linkedin.com/Ray Rivard