When Jackie Jadrnak told a friend in Santa Fe she was going to a reunion of reporters and editors who had worked at The Huntington Advertiser in the 1970s, her friend said, "People who *I* worked with 30 years ago never want to see each other again. You must have worked with some pretty special people!"

See there? Even complete strangers get it.

More than 35 of these special people gathered in October 2009 to remember their Advertiser days, traveling to Huntington from as far as 2,000 miles away and as near as down the street, coming in from Portland and Pittsburgh, from Woodstock and Washington, from New Mexico and New York, from Carolinas both North and South, from Kansas City and Alexandria and cities and towns all in between.

"At times, it was very emotional," LaVonda Singer said. Everybody "had their moments," she added. "It was really great to see each other after so many years and to know we still care a lot about each other."

Jim Leunk, who flew with his wife, Mary Steensma, from Rochester, NY, is still a little amazed. "People," he said, "actually seemed to recognize the paunchy, bald guy with thick glasses and gray beard, a 26-year-old now 56."

It was fun, Susie Peyton added, "to see the kids all 'growed up' and to see the oldsters holding their own!"

"There was such genuine affection," said Mike Hall, "among everyone in that gang of old print reprobates."

The Huntington Advertiser 30-Year Reunion got rolling early on Friday, Oct. 9, with a quick dinner at Jim's Steak and Spaghetti House with the first-responders: Jackie, LaVonda, Mara Rose (Williams), Charlie & Pamela Bowen, Jim Ware and Bob and Sue Ellen Withers.

Then it was back to the Bowens' house to greet the next wave, which included Sara Lowe and Diana Jones, Doug Imbrogno and Dave Peyton, John Klein and Lee Bernard, Dave Walsh and Kevinne Moran and Don and Sandy Hatfield.

By the start of Day 2, the huge third wave came all day long with the arrivals of the Leunks, Jim Hunyadi, Frank Alitzer, Patty Rhule, Katherine Barrett and Rich Greene, Kathy Legg and Joe Elbert, Rick Baumgartner, Mike and Sue Teeter Hall, Bob and Karen Hall, Susie Peyton, Deb Elliotte and Jonathan Thompson and Jim Ross.

"Ah," said Jim Ware, "the stories got better as the night went along."

The talk was about Jack Hardin and "Silver Bells." And John R. Brown and the Elks Club. And Buddy Hayden and the Stone Lodge. And on and on.

"It's nice to pick up the threads of friendshuip where you left them 30 years ago," said Patty Rhule, "and discover the same sense of humor and good spirits we enjoyed in 1979."

And, indeed, it wasn't just backward looking. "Both Susie and I were impressed with the tenor of the reunion," said Dave Peyton. "It was very pleasant and, while there was some talk about the old days, people didn't wallow in the past."

In fact, many wanted to talk about the role that those Advertiser days and people played in careers that were to come.

"I'm still high from the good fellowship," wrote Diana Jones when she got back home to her job as a columnist with The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "and from the sweetness of 're-uning' with people I knew and didn't know so well, but who all mean something very serious to me. We shared a piece of time together that was inspiring to me … monumental, in fact, for my career."

No one was shy about sharing their news. "You get a bunch of reporters and former reporters in a room," as Sara Lowe observed on Day 2, "it's just natural for them to start interviewing each other. It's wonderful!"

And photographing each other. "We all look fabulous!" said Deb Elliotte. We're just now starting to get pictures from participants and we're creating galleries -- click here to see them. As more come in, we'll be adding links to that page.

And, inevitably there's talk of ... hey, when's the NEXT one?

"A measure of its success is how nostalgic and sad I felt when we had to decamp on Sunday," wrote Jim Leunk after he and Mary got back to New York.

"We will have to do it again!" added LaVonda Singer.

Well, honestly, it's waaaay too early to be talking about Reunion Redux. However, what we have done is put up a potentially never-ending reunion in cyberspace. In addition to this web page, which will be periodically updated (and we have your email addresses to alert you to major amendments), we're also establishing a Huntington Advertiser "fan page" on Facebook. For you FB folks, check it out at http://bit.ly/4iFsLT