Bidding Farewell to Former Chatham Patch Editor Zach Subar (A Q&A By New Patch Editor Laura Silvius)

Zach Subar has earned a reputation for being everywhere at once since the Chatham Patch launched on Dec. 28. He's covered the community garden, the Fishawack Festival, a the Parrot Mill Inn and school construction in Afghanistan, all as it relates to the Chathams. As he announced in his farewell column last week, Zach is now moving to Philadelphia to open up a new Patch site in Mount Airy. At his farewell party on Saturday, Chatham Borough Mayor Nelson Vaughan presented Zach with a going away present: the keys to the city. "Zach has done an incredible job," Vaughan said.

Zach leaves some big shoes to fill, and now it's my job to fill them. I sat down with him last week to ask him about his experiences in Chatham, his new role in Philadelphia, and about being a tough act to follow.

Laura Silvius: Why are you moving to Philadelphia?

Zach Subar: Well, first let me say that Chatham has been very good to me and I will miss Chatham a lot. But when I knew that Patch was moving to the Philadelphia area--my girlfriend lives there, and I have family that lives there--I knew it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. And it's definitely exciting to be a part of Patch as it continues to move on.

LS: You're starting up a brand new Web site.

ZS: Yes, the Mount Airy Patch, which will have the same format at the Chatham Patch. I hope some of you will check it out when once that comes out. I'm not sure when that will be, hopefully it will start in October.

It'll definitely be a challenge because, unlike Chatham, it's a neighborhood in Philadelphia, not a town with government and meetings I can cover.

LS: What is going to be the most challenging thing about starting a new Patch down there? This will be the second time now.

ZS: It's always hard to move. I've gotten used to hearing from people, "Patch, what is that?" right when I started, so I'll have to get used to that all over again. It's very nice to have people know what you're doing and know who you are, and say, "Oh, I've heard of that!" It's going like starting all over again, but I am looking forward to it.

I think it'll be a challenge. I think the hardest part for me will be getting to know a whole new set of people, who will hopefully help me out as much as Chatham did.

LS: What is your level of familiarity with Mount Airy, as compared to when you started in Chatham?

ZS: I know it relatively well, and I'm secure about my knowledge of the general area. But that's it. I'm sure it will be just as hard establishing myself.

LS: What souvenirs will you take with you?

ZS: I do have a Chatham Cougars blanket that I will take with me. It's very weird, I was just sitting around my house in Morristown one day, and from the corner I saw this blue thing, completely out of nowhere. I pick it up, and it's a Chatham Cougars blanket. I think it must be some kind of a sign that it was there, this thing from the past that was left in my house. I have no idea where it came from.

LS: Was this before or after you started with the Patch?

ZS: After.

LS: Maybe somebody snuck it into your bag.

ZS: Yeah, whoever you are, please tell me!

And I will always have my T-shirt that I wore at the Fishawack Festival that says "Patch" on the front that I wore during the Fishawack run. After the run, and with the help of Marcy Wecker who is involved in the community garden, she wrote on the back of my shirt, "See more photos at chatham.patch.com," and I walked around like a billboard all day. Maybe I'll even wear it around Philadelphia so that people will see it and say, "I don't know what that is, but if I need to see more photos, I will check it out."

LS: You did pretty well on that run, didn't you?

ZS: (Laughs) I was happy with my time. I was happy to do the run, it was fun to run. I had a few people along the way saying, "Yeah, we love Patch!"

LS: How would you particularly like to be remembered?

ZS: I guess I'd like to be remembered as somebody who was as much reporting about the community as I was a part of it. I think a lot of reporters do their own thing, write their own stories, work in a newsroom, that's it. I think if people think of us as able to interact with different parts of the community, if they remember me as someone who was a part of the community, I think if people say that about me then I will feel very pleased.

I hope the site just continues to thrive, and that people continue to read it. I think if people continue to tell other people about the site, and it continues to be a presence in Chatham, I think I will be happy. Because I know the site will continue to produce good content, but it's a matter of the site still being established in the Chatham community. And if that continues, I will be very pleased.