I did something yesterday that I rarely do.
I got out of the office.
When I appeared before the Delaware County Press Club, I meekly admitted I wasn't sure whether I should introduce myself or apologize. It's true, I'm not a member and I don't regularly attend the meetings.
So what would pry me away from my cubicle (we don't do offices these days), and the laptop that runs my life?
Let me try to explain.
I arrived at the Delaware County Daily Times in June 1982. After a couple of years scuffling at a small daily newspaper in Coatesville (The Record for you history buffs. Hint: It share something in common with the old Philadelphia Evening Bulletin - neither one of them still exist) I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
Actually, I was in Primos.
To be honest, it was not the first time I was there. I had interviewed for a job a month before. I didn't get it. I was crestfallen. A month later Managing Editor Linda DeMeglio called me and said they actually had another unexpected opening, was I still interested. She didn't have to ask twice.
My first job was assistant city editor. Basically, it meant running the newsroom during the day, getting the budget ready for the night desk. Part of that job was running the small army of correspondents who covered most of the towns and schools boards in the county for us.
That's where I first met Barbara Ormsby.
That was 35 years ago. Going on 36.
Barbara Ormsby had already been in the business for 23 years. I was 27 years old.
The truth is I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Some people would argue things haven't changed much in the past 35 years.
Luckily, Barbara and some other very wise women - folks like Dot Reynolds, Bette Alburger, Helen Passaro, Helen Morrison and Linda Reilly took me under their wing.
They were literally the newspaper's eyes and ears in the community.
If you wanted to know what was going on in Ridley, Ridley Park, Eddystone, Morton or the Ridley School District, Barbara was your source.
She covered County Council and was our election night stalwart, always manning the courthouse beat and delivering the numbers we needed for our election stories.
Some things have changed in the newspaper business. Not all of them for the best. We don't use our correspondents as much as we once did. There is a danger in that, but that's another column.
Yesterday was a day to celebrate.
Barbara was feted at the press club meeting as she approaches 60 years in the journalism business. The theme of the day for the March meeting, during Women's History Month, was "Women Overcoming the Odds."
Cherri Gregg of KYW-Newsradio 1060 - the soundtrack of my life - gave the inspirational talk on her background, and how it shaped the kinds of the stories she does today.
Overcoming the odds? Barbara Ormsby has spent nearly six decades in the newspaper racket.
I think that qualifies.
Congratulations, Barbara.
It was my honor to attend.
And thanks for getting me out of the office.
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