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"Where did the year go," is a phrase you usually here this time of year. In my case the saying is, "Where did the last 150 years go." In two weeks we will be ending our 150th anniversary page that included news, gossip and just about everything else that happened in the area since The Dodgeville Chronicle started in 1862.
We started planning for our 150th anniversary last year and the idea of reprinting items from the newspapers was discussed and we decided to go for it. We didn't have any idea what our readers would think or even if they'd like reading all this "old news." It didn't take long before we found out.
After the first week we started getting calls from excited readers who spotted a relatives' name. We also heard from people who loved how people and reporters wrote in the "old days." As the news moved into the current years we also heard from readers who read something that jogged their memories.
Overwhelmingly though, I think our readers liked the 1800's and early 1900's the best. One old timer recently told me, "I don't want to be reading about things I can remember. I want things I can't remember."
This project started out as a group effort with the Chronicle staff, but it became apparent in the first couple weeks, it would be easier for one person to do it. I volunteered to take the project on, something which my co-workers didn't' really didn't' fight me on.
I must admit there were times during the year that I thought, "And just why I decided to take this on?" To give our readers a perspective of what this project took, I went through 7800 issues of the newspaper. Most were bound in books, but some years had to be gleamed from microfilm or were loose and fragile, wrapped in brown paper bags. On the conservative side of it, I estimated I read 130,000 pages of The Dodgeville Chronicle since January.
I tried to do what I could during working hours, but it is something that is hard to do when you can become distracted. So it soon became a home project on the weekends. As much work as this took and as much as I complained (just ask my co-workers), it all was worth it because of you the readers.
The feedback you gave us truly made me feel it was all worth it! As an added bonus by reading all these newspapers I learned so much about Iowa County and even my own family at times it became fascinating. It has been like a walk in the past.
Since this was so successful, we are discussing continuing this "view from the past" sometime in the future. However, we will be taking a break while we get a plan in place. Plus I need a rest. When you've been on a 150 year journey, a little time off is well deserved.