In keeping with the stories in the PRESS of the 125th anniversary, I have fond memories of the building and its busy workers. I was born in the house directly across from the Senior Center building and in close proximity to the Press. 

We called Mr. Peterson “Grandpa.” As youngsters, we were allowed to come into the Press and watch the painstaking type-setting of the line of letters to create the weekly newspaper and the flip of the press as it was being printed. 

They also made colorful sale bills to advertise upcoming auction sales in the community.

There was a box in the back filled with small scraps of the pink, blue and yellow leftovers, and we could help ourselves to them. I especially liked the sliding ladder, and we would go up on it to ride, with supervision.

Later during High School, Mr. Emmel would assign us to write and report on a current event. It was not an easy task because, at our house, we only had the Press and no TV. The local scribes’ articles about who motored to the “cities” or who had a new baby were not acceptable. 

So we headed to the PRHS library where there might be a copy of the Fargo Forum or Minneapolis Tribune to hopefully get something that not all 92 of my classmates had found. So sometimes the Press articles did fit the bill pertaining to happenings of a City Council vote on a local issue.

I thank the men at the Press for their patience in putting up with a bunch of neighborhood kids in the early forties. 

I think it provided me with a love for newspapers, and I still get the L.A. Times, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, and The PRESS, of course.

Janet (Engebretson) Avrderson
Covina, California