A toast to good work.

• Author: Cutler, Debbiee
• Position: From the Editor

Rarely do we give public praise to the writers and photographers who grace our pages. They get a small byline for articles, an even smaller credit for photos and a little "about the author" if they are guest authors, which mean they write the pieces without payment.

Many of our writers have been contract writers or guest authors for us as long as I've been here, which was 11 years last March. These include Nicole Bohnam Colby, Kent Colby, Patricia Liles, Julie Stricker, Curt Freeman, Greg Wolf, Joan Pardes, Steve Borell, Gail West, Richard Schmitz and Will Swagel.

Many more have been with us at least five years. These include Barbara Morgan, Mike Bradner, Deborah Sergeant, Tracy Barbour, Sarah HardanSmith, David Geer and Vanessa Orr.

Then we have newcomers. By that I mean they have been writing for us for five years or less on a frequent basis: Mary Lou Barry, Heidi Bohi, Brooke Pielli, David Tobenkin, Tracy Kalytiak, Blythe Campbell, Heather Resz, Peg Stomierowksi, Nancy Pounds, Nancy Erikson, Ben Stuart, Cami Woolam, Bryce Coryell, Gale Vick, Lanie Welch, Justin Meyring, Marilyn Blumer, Jody Ellis-Knapp, Wendy Komancheck, and our staff writer/associate editor, Dimitra Lavrakas.

Praise also goes to our many talented photographers: Chris Arend, Judy Patrick, Dimitra Lavrakas, Danny Daniels and Patricia Liles.

Others have come and gone after years of working for us either because they...