The people behind The Nugget...

Erin Bordonaro wasn't looking to get into the newspaper business when she answered an ad looking for a bookkeeper at The Nugget Newspaper. She was just looking for a job.

"A job opened up in my field and I was hired the next day," she recalled. "I lucked out, because it's a great place to work."

That was 13 years ago - and now Erin feels like she's part of the news business, and she likes it.

"It's fun to see what goes on in town and the community," she said. "I like being involved in the community from this end."

Perhaps her main pleasure in coming to work each day is working with the people she's been in the trenches with for over a decade - and some new faces, too.

"That's the most fun - working with my co-workers," she said. "And seeing the new and different product come out every week. I like opening the paper every week - and seeing the public open the paper every week. I enjoy being part of that."

The feeling is mutual among her co-workers.

"Erin is such a trouper," said Editor in Chief Jim Cornelius. "She's got a work ethic like nobody I've ever known and a tremendous amount of integrity. She is also utterly unafraid to call BS when she sees it, which is wonderful and refreshing. And she's got a great sense of humor, which is an absolute requirement for somebody who has to share an office with me."

Like many folks in Sisters, Bordonaro is a California refugee. While she works hard, she is committed to a slower pace of life.

"I came from California, and was living such a fast-paced life," she recalled. "Transitioning to this small community was so surprising to me - in a good way. It forced me to pick up that (slower) pace."

When she's not crunching the numbers for The Nugget, she's likely to be out in the woods.

"I love to be out in the woods," she said. "I love to cross-country ski, hike - enjoying this beautiful place we live in."

Her son Spencer is 17 and working at Sisters Meat and Smokehouse, and most of her family lives in close proximity in Crossroads, which is important to her. And her Nugget family is important to her, too, and the paper's role in the community.

"We really care," she said. "Not only about the community, but about the individuals, and we care about this product. We're not after the dollars, we're after the quality of the product. It's a business, but we care about the quality and the product and the community."