by James Coulter

“So this is Christmas

And what have you done?

Another year over

And a new one just begun”

– John Lennon, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”

Yes! 2024 has come and passed, and 2025 is now upon us. And last year was…well, it was certainly a year. I’ll say that much.

Personally, last year was a rough one for me. And the last few years have especially been rough. I won’t go into personal details. Let’s just say last year placed circumstances on me that forced me to move from my home in Florida.

However, two things have provided me light in these dark times: my family and my work. Yes, I can safely and honestly say I’ve truly been blessed to be employed by the Daily Ridge. They have been so good to me ever since I started working for them.

And they have proven to be a major blessing during my big move. Not only have they permitted me to continue working for them remotely, but they have allowed me to accomplish so much more than when I was living in Florida.

This fact has especially been proven true with my work on the Chattin on the Ridge podcast, which has reached a major milestone with its 50th episode being released last month. Hard to believe that what started as a side project nearly two years ago has grown to become a massive feature.

Last year allowed me to create some of my favorite episodes of the podcast. Without a doubt, my most shining accomplishment was being able to interview our own Honorable Sheriff Grady Judd. My chat with him at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office was one of my proudest moments, and it made for perhaps our podcast’s most listened-to episode.

Yet perhaps my favorite podcast episode was with fellow movie critic Jennifer Nanek as we discussed our top picks for the best and worst movies of 2023. As many of you know, I also write movie reviews. So being able to bounce my opinions about the latest films with another critic was quite a pleasurable experience.

I enjoyed a similar experience later that year in May, when I celebrated May the Fourth with a special episode with Syfy Bartow’s Sean Serdynski and local Star Wars enthusiast Ken Heavenridge. While that episode was, admittedly, not my best (I have a self-conscious hatred of my own voice, so I hated how I sounded in that episode, plus editing more than an hour’s worth of audio recording was a pain!), overall, it was fun being able to chat about Star Wars with two other geeks.

As for articles, my favorite assignment last year, without a doubt, was my coverage of Central Florida Comic Con in Lakeland. I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing many famous celebrities, many of whom helped create the media I watched and enjoyed as a kid.

Such notable figures included Tom Ruegger and Paul Rugg, the creators behind such classic cartoons like Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures (I even have an autographed pin from Rugg), Dan Green and Eric Stuart, the voice actors of Yugi and Kaiba from the anime Yu-Gi-Oh!, and perhaps the biggest name of them all, Tom Kenny, the voice actor for SpongeBob SquarePants.

Another favorite article of mine was my coverage of the fundraiser Rockin’ on the Chain. I’ve covered that event for many years, but that year’s event allowed me to return to Polk County with my first business trip. Being able to come back to my old home to help cover the event was quite a delightful privilege, and I hope to be able to have that privilege once more.

Undoubtedly, one of my bigger and newer developments was with helping edit our new Weather on the Ridge segments with our resident meteorologist Omar Gonzalez. The two of us did a phenomenal job tracking the weather with Hurricane Milton last October. Truly, one of the few instances where I was glad not to be living in Florida anymore.

Of course, none of the good work I do for the Daily Ridge would be possible without the support of my employers, Carl Fish and Kip Kirchberg. Both of them have been more than just my bosses. They have almost been like family to me, and they consider me part of their family as well.

So, it really meant something when my editor Carl Fish wrote the following about me on Facebook, especially when it was written during a time when I was feeling especially down and depressed:

“We hit a milestone with our Chattin On The Ridge with J.C. Publication: 50 Episodes! Thankful for James Coulter who conducts interviews, writes and edits all the content including the jingles and advertisements. Many of you know that James is on the autism spectrum, but that in no way means a negative. He is an amazing person. You could not know he has autism and you would be amazed. He is an award-winning journalist, written novels, song writer, content publisher, podcaster and still finds time to experiment with cooking and doing movie reviews! Simply one of the best human beings I know!”

Thank you very much Carl! I appreciate working with such a great editor and publisher as yourself.

Overall, while last year may not have been the best for me personally, it did allow me to create some of my best content. And I hope this year will allow me to become even better.

So adios, 2024! And here’s hoping 2025 proves to be slightly better.