On May 25, 1973 I walked into The Times News Building on First and Iron Streets for an interview with Fred Masenheimer, its publisher, not knowing what to expect. A young 22-year old, I guess I was good enough to impress him because he offered me a job on the spot.

The following Tuesday, I began what would begin a journey as part of the sports department at the paper that has lasted almost 43 years, and ends with today's edition.It's almost unheard of today that an employee keeps a job with the same company that long. I was a lucky guy to be accepted into the Pencor Services Inc. family.Things were a lot different back then. There were no computers, no digital cameras. Everything was done manually. I guess the one bonus I had was when I was named Sports Editor in 1975, I inherited the only electric typewriter in the editorial department.Back then, schools were covered by the same sports writer through the season.The guys who I owe a lot to that helped me start my journey included the likes of Norm McLaughlin in Tamaqua, Mike Cannon, Bill O'Gurek and Pat Morgans at Marian, Joe Boyle in Jim Thorpe, Bob Gouldner in Lehighton, John Faust and Alex Kaslik in Palmerton, Mark Marek at Northwestrn Lehigh and backing me up at Panther Valley, and Ron Gower wherever I needed him.Then along came Maurice Infante in the Panther Valley area, and staffers Emmett McCall, Rod Heckman, Todd Suarez, Linda Roberts, Craig Potter, Dave Bach, Brad Krum, Steve Stallone, Frank Carulli, Kate Huvane, Brian Hunsicker, Chris Berdis, Joe Plasko, Shawn McFarland, Andy Steinmetz, T.J. Engle, Jason Boris, Scott Pagel, Mike Haines, Pete Car, Mike Feifel, Brad Hurley, Rich Strack, Justin Carlucci and Pat Matsinko. Quite a few have are still part of the journalism field today while others have chosen different career paths.In the early going, I couldn't have done it without photographers Bernie Matyascik and Bill Garber. In the day of shooting pictures and having to go back to a darkroom to get their negatives together and print out photos, then run them back to the office that night or have them picked up in the morning for that days edition sometimes made it a late night. Then came the age of digital cameras and when the others retired, we were lucky enough to get a guy like Bob Ford to come on board to take us to a new level.None of this wouldn't have been possible without the support of two editors I worked with for almost 40 years, Bob Parfitt and Bob Urban. They always gave us complete control, but I knew that if there was anything I wasn't sure enough, their door was always open and they would give me an answer I could live with. The past two plus years I've had to work with a new editor in Marta Gouger who has enough enthusiasm to work 24/7 and is determined to take the paper to new heights.The first day I was on the job, I got to help put together an edition that included results from the PIAA Track and Field Championships that were held at Penn State. It was Class A and Class B back then and the best area performance came from Palmerton's Gene Behler who finished second in the Class B 800. There were pictures of Lehighton's Ken Sterling competing in the long jump, Lehighton's distance runner Kevin Koch finding the two-mile run, Palmerton's Mike Dakan and John Kleintop competing in the discus and Jim Hay clearing 5-10 in the high jump.Talk about going full circle, I end my final year covering Spencer Hay, Jim's son in his senior at Palmerton in basketball and track and field. Jim's oldest daughter Kelsey, is competing in the javelin at the University of Pennsylvania as a senior.Head football coaches that first fall included some greats. Walt Ligenza was at Tamaqua, Rich Davidyock was at Panther Valley, Barry Hackenberg was at Jim Thorpe, Andy Silock was at Lehighton, Tom Wargo was at Palmerton, Steve Kun was at Pleasant Valley, Joe Bressi was at Marian, George Yaniger was at Slatington and Joe Czutno was at Northwestern.golf, field hockey and volleyball coaches passed through the area too.Athletic Directors who also helped make things easy to cover events in the early days were Dick Smith at Northern Lehigh, Frank Johannes at Palmerton, "Chick" Rehrig at Lehighton, Vic Pituch at Jim Thorpe, Charlie Williams at Panther Valley, Tom Ackerman at Tamaqua and Hugh "Wink" Gallagher at Marian. In between Jim Shaughnessy was the man in charge at Northwestern, Glenn Rissmiller at Northern Lehigh, Dave Smith at Palmerton, Dale Poe at Lehighton, Dave Malkin at Jim Thorpe, Ron Sandt at Weatherly, Chris Fisher at Pleasant Valley and Mike Lukac at Panther Valley.Now, with more sports on the table for both boys and girls, our coverage couldn't be as good as it is without Stan Dakosty at Marian, Mike Hromyak at Tamaqua, Kristin Black at Panther Valley, Dustin McAndrew at Jim Thorpe, Scott Zoscin at Weatherly, Kyle Spotts at Lehighton, Jake Perschy at Pleasant Valley, Andrew Remsing at Palmerton, Bryan Geist at Northern Lehigh and Jason Zimmerman at Northwestern.I've seen three schools (Northern Lehigh, Pleasant Valley and Lehighton) add turf to football stadiums and another (Palmerton), will have it for the 2017 season. I've also witnessed Slatington High change its name to Northern Lehigh.All but two schools (Marian and Palmerton) have built new gymnasiums. I was lucky enough to cover games in Smith Hall in Slatington before it was torn down.There has also been a number of league changes through the years. Who can forget the close rivalries in the Anthracite League in basketball, the Hughie McGeehan League in baseball, the Lehigh Valley League, the Centennial League, the Mountain Valley Conference and the Lehigh Northampton League. Now you have the Schuylkill League, the Colonial League and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.I was lucky enough to cover Joe Paterno's last game at Penn State, numerous Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles games, NASCAR and Indy Car races at Pocono and a couple of golf majors. The thing I've enjoyed the most, however, is watching our local athletes achieve milestones on the high school and collegiate level. I wouldn't trade those moments for anything in the world.Thank you to the Nicole Levanduskys, the Carl Wolters, the Robbie Freys, the Sean Loves, the John Blicks, the Rob Mikulskis, the Dave Warners, the Danny Blazoskys, the Allysa Vavras, the Semanoffs, the Falcones, the Hackenbergs and all of those I might not have mentioned that have helped make this ride a memorable one.And last but not least, there is an old saying that reads "You're only as good as the people that work for you".Emmett McCall and Rod Heckman have been the two full-time guys who have worked with me forever and I thank them for making The Times News Sports Department what it is today.I was always told, you'll always know when it is time to turn off the computer and walk out of the office for the last time.It's time.