Press guys get a hand

April 3, 2005

Resslin' Around/Cassey Ressler

The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on its new press Thursday night. The event had the usual dignitaries, doing the usual dignitary stuff. What people may not have seen, however, was two guys frantically running around, climbing ladders and flipping buttons.

They were wearing jeans and T-shirts, with no name tags, and you couldn't tell where their elbows were because they were covered with ink. While others schmoozed, they busted their butts. Among the wine and cheese crowd, they are ham-n-eggers, working guys that "get 'er done."

Ray Pfeffer, our new lead press operator, and his assistant, Jon Ehrman, are the two guys who swim in ink, wrap themselves in newsprint and scramble around the press to make sure the pages are right. They've encountered little hiccups, which is kind of like saying the Grand Canyon is a little hole in the ground, but they've been incredibly dedicated.

Just because their faces aren't in the paper or because they didn't wear name tags at the ceremony doesn't make them anonymous. They are important players on the Frontiersman's team, although I'd bet at least 50 percent of my coworkers couldn't tell you their names. The finished product you see is a result of a lot of different people working together - from advertising to production to editorial - but it wouldn't be printed without those two guys, and their boss, Lee Croft. The last few weeks they have also gotten a big hand from Frank Borden of Inland Machinery.

For months they have been putting in long hours, seven days a week in most cases, but I haven't heard them grumble. They are press guys, and getting the press installed is what they do. It would have been easier to complain about the long hours, the setbacks and the problems, but instead, they found solutions.

If you see Jon and Ray, buy the guys a beer and thank them for turning out the very first issues of the Frontiersman on the new press. They deserve it. You won't mistake them - they'll be the guys who are covered in ink, from head to toe, and who are looking a bit ragged.

But they won't be complaining.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor.