Happy Trails, Brent

I should've known something was up when Brent Ainsworth walked into one of our recent Marin Patch editor get-togethers, at Gestalt Haus in Fairfax, and started handing out bottles of fine craft ales from Irons Springs Brewery to his colleagues.

Starting today, Brent is the new public information officer for the County of Marin, ending a nearly two-and-a-half-year run as the editor of Novato Patch. It's a major loss for Patch, but that loss is overshadowed by our happiness for Brent in seizing a great opportunity.

The phrase "it couldn't happen to a better person" is an over-used cliche, but it couldn't be more true in Brent's case. We've worked together on multiple occasions over the years, and through the many rollercoaster twists and turns of modern journalism, you always knew exactly what you were getting with Brent, and it usually came with a big ol' smile. 

That doesn't mean every day was a bed of roses. Brent turned himself inside-out for Novato Patch, enduring bouts of exhaustion and multiple back surgeries but always coming back with a full head of steam, passionate and dedicated about giving his community the kind of online gathering place it deserves.

As a result of Brent's efforts, Novato Patch is as ingrained in the Novato community as any of our Patch sites – or any local website, period. The foundation he's laid here will always be used as a guidepost for the right way for us to engage with our communities. We are forever grateful for that.

So it's onto the next chapter for both Brent and Novato Patch. We have longtime Novato resident and stalwart Patch contributor Tracey Ruiz serving as our interim editor in Novato, and we intend to maintain the incredible standard of dedication and high quality that Brent has established. 

You can reach us at novato@patch.com with story ideas, questions and concerns. But as Brent has shown you over the past two-plus years, this site is much yours as it is Patch's. You can continue to upload your events, announcements, blog posts, photos and videos to the site.

And keep those tips coming – whether it's a car crash out on Hwy. 37 or the mathletes winning the championship, we want to know what you know about what's happening around town. Onward...