Montana-raised reporter excited to finally join Columbia Gorge community

My name is Alana Lackner, and I’m new to the Gorge. I just recently graduated from Washington State University (Go Cougs!) with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, and now I’ll have the pleasure of working for Columbia Gorge News as a staff reporter.

I grew up in Montana, in a small town you’ve never heard of. A really small town. A very, incredibly small town. We’re talking an almost-200-people small town, a one-lane-bridge-across-the-river small town, a school-is-kindergarten-through-12th-grade small town, a the-nearest-McDonald’s-is-an-hour’s-drive-away small town.

As a kid, I was surrounded by mountains and trees. We had a herd of elk that slept in our backyard and a rafter of turkeys (yes, that really is the collective noun for turkeys) that came to our front door and begged for scraps of bread (which I got in trouble for giving them). I loved nature, and once tried to tie myself to a tree with a jump rope to prevent my dad from cutting it down (it didn’t work).

With my nature obsession came a fascination with Oregon. We went camping by the coast several times when I was a kid, and I remember staring out the window in awe as we drove through the state. The coast was pretty, I loved the ocean, but I remember having a special interest in all the different types of trees, rather than just pine trees like home had, and how different the mountains looked here.

I remember Mount Hood especially, thinking it was so pretty, capped with snow when nothing else was. I liked the way it stood out from everything else around it, and couldn’t help but wonder what type of people lived near it.

Now, years later, I am one of those people.

It was a series of almost coincidences that got me here: Meeting a bunch of people from the area at WSU who encouraged my fascination, falling in love with a guy who used to live in Portland and wanted to return to Oregon, the school newspaper I worked for getting an email about a reporter job in Hood River right before I was about to graduate.

I’ve lived in the Gorge, The Dalles specifically, for almost two weeks now, and I’m excited to be a part of such a great community. The ability to be surrounded by nature but with more opportunities than where I grew up is pretty amazing. After all, there’s four whole McDonald’s around here.

I’m excited to get to know you, Columbia Gorge. To be a part of this area as a reporter, where I get to go out and meet people and learn about the heart and soul of this community, is something I’m very lucky to get to do. I hope to see a lot more of you and, if all goes well, hopefully you’ll be seeing a lot more of me too.