Era ends with walk down memory lane

I got up at 3 o’clock this morning.

I had trouble sleeping.

That’s no surprise.

Today, we close the Numismatic News office in Iola, Wis.

We open our new office in Stevens Point on Monday.

For readers, it is supposed to be a seamless process.

You shouldn’t notice. But I do.

How can I help it after all these years here?

Chet Krause founded the paper in Iola in 1952.

The date of the first issue is Oct. 13.

I subscribed in 1969. I joined the staff in 1978.

I will continue to live in Iola, so my ties to the community will remain as strong as ever.

I will continue to work in numismatics, so my ties to this community will also remain strong.

But the change of my daily physical location can’t help but have an impact, even if it is only on the number of miles I drive each day.

Stevens Point is a great place to be. I shop there from time to time. It just isn’t home.

Now, I expect in the coming weeks to at least get a sense that it is my business home.

Why shouldn’t it be? My business colleagues will all be there as well.

I have a few odds and ends left on my desk this morning.

There is my old Rolodex. Remember those?

A Coca-Cola bottled especially for the 1987 American Numismatic Association convention in Atlanta is still here.

Remember that? I didn’t.

It turned up as we were clearing out these premises.

I didn’t have the heart to throw it away. Would you?

The 1987 Atlanta ANA convention itself I do remember. It was quite a shindig.

I became an ANA life member not long afterwards.

Also on my desk is a little American flag. This I do remember.

Chet Krause personally passed one out to each employee when the Gulf War started in 1991.

My flag has been on my desk ever since.

It will be on my desk in Stevens Point.

Some things don’t change. That’s one of them.

I will put this assortment of things into a paper sack, turn off the computer, and call it a day.

Then I will exit the building that Chet Krause built in 1975 to end my last workday at this location.

It’s been an incredible run.

Then, next week, I will start making new memories. Please join me.