The Sequim Gazette has hired Matthew Nash as its new entertainment and education reporter.

Nash comes from Portland, Ore., where he finished college in 2006 at Concordia University.

He revitalized the newspaper program at the college and recruited students to increase enrollment from a handful to a full class roster.

Graduating with honors, Nash moved to Tennessee to try his luck in the education field. After a few months, he missed the Pacific Northwest and took a job at the St. Helens newspaper The Chronicle as general assignment reporter. He wrote most feature articles.

Wanting to branch out again, Nash was offered a job in Sequim.

"My first question was, 'What are the people of Sequim called?' I was hoping to be called a sequin, but that was the disco inferno burning inside of me," Nash quipped.

Nash now knows that a native is a Sequimite.

"I'm excited to be given an opportunity to write on the lighter side of the community," Nash said.

"I plan on doing my best to represent the people in Sequim accurately and enduringly."

Jim Casey, Gazette editor, said Nash has started at top speed and continues to search out people and their stories for the newspaper.