America Pickers most read story of 2012

The American Pickers’ visit to Washington was the most popular story for 2012. The story had more than 4,400 hits on this newspaper’s website: www.washingtontimesreporter.com. It also was the most talked about story on the paper’s Facebook page.

The production team of the History Channel show stopped  by the Washington Square Sept. 14 to take a look in what used to be Herbst Co. The variety store was shuttered in the 1970s and remained virtually untouched until Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz came by to see what they could pick. No word yet on when the episode will air.

The television stars’ visit was a light, quirky change of pace for Washington. This year, the city was busy with finding a new city administrator, renovating the Washington Police Department and dedicating a new bell tower on the Square.

The area schools also had its fair share of the busy work. Halfway through her fourth year as CPS Principal, Molly Kosbab announced her resignation in January through a District 51 press release. Also, the Washington Community High School opened its new addition in the fall and St. Patrick Catholic School earned a National Blue Ribbon School Award from the U.S. Department of Education.

And how could we look at 2012 without mentioning the Washington Community High School varsity football teams’ tremendous run in the post-season this fall?

While there was a lot of events, including the annual Cherry Festival and Autumn Fest on the Square, to add to the community’s highlights for 2012, there were also many good-byes this year.

The community lost several smiling faces including Brian Wisher, long-standing teacher and dean of students at WCHS. The Washington Times-Reporter family also lost long-time TimesNewspaper editor DeWayne Bartels in July.

This year in review is a sampling of the stories from 2012.

Because I started as the editor of the Washington Times-Reporter Aug. 27, this year in review should not be considered a definitive list of the big news for 2012, but glimpses of the year that is now in our rearview mirror as we get started with 2013.