It was a different feeling to walk into the News Journal office last Monday following the departure of News Journal Publisher Trevor Sherman.
I am now literally the last man standing at the News Journal as the entirety of our remaining staff is female; not that this is a bad thing. We have Publisher Jennifer K. Perkins, Advertising Manager Melissa Hudson, Office Manager Linda Carpenter, Bookkeeper and Classifieds Manager Jennifer Benfield and Reporter Leeann Fragosa.
Ironically, when I first started at the News Journal more than 30 years ago, most of the staff was male.
I have told my female co-workers that they are more than welcome to use the men’s restroom, but to just be sure to put the toilet seat up when done. After being told by women a zillion times to put the toilet seat down, I had to say it … LOL.
We used to have an office in Williamsburg that I worked out of four days a week for 25 years. For most of that time, I worked out of that office with our Williamsburg Office Manager Joyce Morgan.
When I first started down there, Joyce put up a sign up in our lone restroom we shared that said, “Please put the toilet seat down.”
After being down there a few months, I forgot to put the toilet seat down one day. Joyce good-naturedly wrote at the bottom of the sign, “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
I simply replied writing on the note, “Woof. Woof.”
Joyce and I both got a good laugh out of it.
We had fun working together.
Now for a couple of other topics before I conclude this column.
• Last Wednesday afternoon, myself and Jennifer Perkins, who just left WYMT as news director among many other duties, were in a meeting with a couple of other WYMT alum, Forcht Broadcasting Radio and Digital President/CEO Neil Middleton and Forcht Group of Kentucky Chief Marketing and Communications Director Michael Goins.
I first met Neil and Michael more than 30 years ago, when they were still relatively young reporters with WYMT, although Neil had been around a few years at that point. Neil would go on to become the long-time general manager of the station.
I have known many broadcasters over the years. I can count the number of broadcasters or former broadcasters that I know personally and consider first rate journalists on two hands with a finger or two leftover, and about half of them were in that meeting with me last Wednesday. It was good to see Michael and Neil again.
• The City of Williamsburg offering free horse drawn carriage rides last week as part of the “Loving in the Burg” week was a cool thing.
My wonderful wife, Cecelia, and I took a memorable horse drawn carriage ride during a stop in Nassau during the first cruise that we took together.
What made the horse drawn carriage ride memorable was the driver of the horse drawn carriage stopped at a hardware store and went into it for about 10 minutes leaving us sitting in the horse drawn carriage. I can’t say that the view from hardware store parking lot was very picturesque…LOL.
• Travel note: Speaking of horse drawn carriage rides, if you ever go to Charleston, South Carolina, then a horse drawn carriage ride is a great way to see the city and learn about its history.
