I always figured I’d be headed into retirement when I typed that sentence. Instead, I’m headed for the Georgetown Times in South Carolina, where I will become managing editor on Monday.

As strange as that may sound, I didn’t pull the Georgetown Times out of a hat. It’s owned by Evening Post Publishing Co. of Charleston, S.C., the same company that owns the Salisbury Post. My leap of faith to Georgetown is just a transfer within the company.

After nearly 29 years at the Post, it’s taken some time for me to get used to the idea of leaving. But now that I’ve said it out loud, it feels right. I start there Monday, right or wrong.

Georgetown is a port town about 50 miles north of Charleston. It’s had a newspaper for more than 200 years. That sounds pretty solid.

There are thousands of people retiring to nearby Litchfield Beach, Pawleys Island and Murrells Inlet. That’s encouraging.

I’ve cleaned out my desk. The covered-dish lunch has been served. I’ll just sort through a few memories, and it will be time to go.

My first day: I was a part-time sportswriter typing up a high school basketball game on a Saturday morning. Managing Editor George Raynor was on the telephone with reporter Heath Thomas. They had removed a duck from City Lake the night before, and it was in Raynor’s basement. I’m thinking: We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Firearms: Thomas brought a pistol into the office one day after a run-in with the Ku Klux Klan. He didn’t fire it, but he was ready. I only saw him mad once — when someone killed three mallards at Dan Nicholas Park.

Great paper: There are plenty of days when it was good to be in the newspaper business, but none was more exciting than the day of the big explosion at National Starch and Chemical Co. It happened near press time. We were holding the paper for a photo, and James Barringer was turning them out as fast as he could. His first few were sort of ho-hum, and we were running out of time. Publisher Jim Hurley was pacing the floor. Finally, there it was. A winner. The shot was one of his all-time best: firemen hunkered down on a hill with flames roaring overhead.

Sad news: Death makes news. Reporters often will volunteer to handle the obituary of someone they know. It’s our tribute. We all felt like that the day after former mayor Don Weinhold, wife Pat and their two children were killed in a plane crash.

Dress code: Rose Post is a treasure. She loses herself in a story. I know this because she came to work once with her dress on backward.

Big boom theory: George Raynor’s ambition was to be a town character. He came into the office on a Fourth of July and dropped a firecracker into a metal trash can. That remains one of Editor Elizabeth Cook’s defining moments. It was her trash can.

All critters great and small: An amazing number of bright youngsters passed through the Post newsroom during my stay here. Most are doing something else today. There are far too many to ever mention but here are a few who come to mind: Richard Boner is a judge. Brad Hamm is a college professor; his twin brother, Benjy, is an editor. John Nielson, the worst speller I have ever had to edit, is a voice on National Public Radio. Carolyn Darken and Ed Norvell are lawyers. Geitner Simmons is writing editorials in Omaha, Neb.

I don’t expect to ever meet another person named Geitner. His name often threw people for a loop. One woman called on a Saturday night and asked for “Critter” Simmons. Of course, the name stuck.

A day that will live in infamy: It was Friday the 13th when Jim Hurley told his employees that the family had decided to sell the Post. It caught many off guard, facing the reality of working for a new company. The uncertainty left us all a little queasy. Advertising salesman Larry Fesperman must have looked the most distraught.

“You still love me, don’t you, Larry?” Gordon Hurley asked.

“Yeah,” Larry answered, “but not as much as yesterday.”

That was more than three years ago. Sure, there have been changes. But the Post devotes more resources to news than ever. We’ve won the award for general excellence among mid-sized newspapers in North Carolina four of the past six years. I am proud of this paper. It’s been my life’s work.

There’s nothing like going out on top.