Trip down 44 E. Exchange Street memory lane

 

Click on photo montage to enlarge it

There’s a lot of memories crammed into this old BJ reunion photo with identifications provided by newsroom retiree Roger Mezger.

Photographer Don Roese and wife Maryann Roese are in the photo. They visited former BJ State Desk reporter Cathy Strong, a journalism legend in New Zealand, and Paula and I met Don at the airport when they were leaving and we were arriving for our visit with Cathy.

Another photographer, Tom Marvin, who lives on a farm in southeast Ohio with wife Kaye.

Photographer Ron Kuner, famous for his apples in Stark County, I believe.

Photographer Ott Gangl, famous for his sinday photo shoot in the BJ photography studio on Sundays and skiing around the world with his late wife, Anne.

Photographer Denny Gordon, who has pedaled his bicycle a zillions miles, often 20 miles at a time.

Chief photographer Bill Hunter, responsible for the eccentric but talented crew.

Photographer Lew Stamp.

Betty Lammerding, in the Features Department when I was Television Editor and the late Joan Rice was at the next desk to mine.

Russ Musarra, with the famous temper and talented investigative reporting.

Ken Krause, who moved to Medford, Massachusetts with wife Maura McEnaney.  

Kathy Fraze, who proved me right when I told BJ management that this State Desk reporter would make a great editor.

Bill Hershey, who was the best digging reporter at the BJ during my time there, and quick-thinking when a union organizer put a gun to his head while Bill was talking to me. He told the guy, “They are saying a lot of lies about what you guys are doing and I’m here to prove that they aren’t true.” So the guy said, “Come along with us” as they burned tipples of non-union mines.

Chuck Ayers, whose remarkable political cartoons and “Crankshaft” comic series flashback in my mind when I look at the autographed food container that he signed for me. It’s still in my den, a shrine to my memories.

Former librarian Sandy Bee Lynn, who Paula and I run into regularly because he husband and Paula often play in the same bands or go to the same concerts.

Reporter Jim Carney, perhaps the nicest person I encountered during my 26 years at the BJ, who probably still has the scare from jumping his head into a street sign after crossing is hurriedly to escape traffic.

Pam McCarthy, who had a reunion with Cathy Strong in Ohio that included me.

The erascible Charles S. Montague, aka Chasm, who has even more memories than I do about Ol’ Blue Walls.

Susan Reynolds, newsroom secretary who could match whirling devish Pat Englehart is any discussion.

Roger Mezger, who has become a better chronicle of the old days at the BJ than me even though I publish the BJ Alums blog. Maybe he can take over the blog when I join Harry Liggett in that Great Newsroom in the Sky.

Charlene Nevada, who kept her nose to the ground to get the news and to help us keep track of what was going on at the BJ. As BJ Editor Paul Poorman once famously answered a question with: “I don’t know. Charlene hasn’t told me yet.”

If you’re old enough I’m sure you can conjure up even more memories of your own.

You know what they say: No one ever dies as long as someone has them in their memories.

Thanks, Roger.