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Snr 411 TA a rs aR SO mes SI NL NG ST 6 "A Family Tradition for 131 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, August 12, 1997 - 11 7 Annabell Harrison retires from Port Perry Star She witnessed a lot of changes over 33 years RN -- By Heather McCrae Port Perry Star OR THE FIRST time in almost 34 years Annabell Harrison didn't set the alarm clock Monday morning to ensure she was up in time to get another early start at The Port Perry Star. Annabell officially retired last Friday. For many years Annabell has been the Star's dark- room technician and also responsible for assembling the classified and real estate ads each week. She remembers it was in September 1963 when Per and Leila Hvidsten of Uxbridge purchased the newspa- per business from the family of the late Samuel Farmer and one of the first things hay ¢ did after taking e over was to hire her hus- Sn band, Bill Harr- ison, as editor. Mr. Harrison was a former employee of the The Port Perry Star, but when" contacted about the job was working at The Chronicle in Colborne. Later that fall Annabell began working at the Star part-time and about 10 years later, when Bill resigned as editor, Annabell stayed on, working there ever since. In an interview with Annabell just weeks before her retirement, she remembered her early years of employ-- ment, when commercial job printing was a big part of the company's business. One year the newspaper got a contract to print about then thousand copies of a publication called, World Day of Prayer. "I folded, collated and stitched them all," she said and Star was sold to Henry Janssen in 1975, Annabell back shop when the racing programs would come in. "There was always a big push to get the racing forms printed in time for the races at Orono Raceway," she said. "The raceway would provide us the race horse stats on Thursday and we had to make sure the programs were printed and ready the next day for the races," she said. Over the years Annabell has seen a tremendous amount of technological advances in the newspa- per business. Hired when much of the work was done manually, she's seen the paper go through major changes and growth over the past three- } and-a-half decades. ! When the printing division of The Port Perry [& continued working at the paper part-time, devoting much of her time to operating the dark room. Since being hired in 1963 she's . worked at only two locations; the "ing company and assisting a professional dntoaradhl in Toronto for two years When Peter joined The Star he and Annabell often worked together on many facets of producing the paper. During the late 60s and 70s she drove the page nega- tives to a Toronto plant which printed the paper. Arriving in the city around noon, she would wait until the paper was printed, then bring them back in the trunk of her car for distribution that evening. * This is a far cry from the truck loads of newspapers that are printed and delivered to the Star office today. Years later The Star switched printers, moving to web lasses in both hides and Bowmanville: During this : period Annabell made towns to ensure delivery of the paper in time for mail- ing to subscribers. "I had some awful drives in the winter, let me tell -you," she says, recalling those dark, early morning trips along snow covered roads. Over the years Annabell has been mostly self-taught as the newspaper business wasn't anywhere as techni- cal as it is now. And she's learned immensely about "the ins and outs of the busi- ness since Peter Hvidsten took over the business in the mid-seventies. If you were to ask Annabell changes she's seen over the years she'd say it was when the newspaper switched from hot type to cold type in the 70s. The other signifi- Annabell and fellow staffers at a 1964 Port Perry Star Christmas staff cant change was the arrival party in the backshop, from left back, Ruby Roach, Archie Farmer, D'arcy of computers in the 80s. Morden, Clive Boyd. Front left, Bruce Beare, Dorothy Mulholland, Annabell (daughter Kim) and Bill Harrison and Per Hvidsten. when completed delivered them to various locations in Toronto. Among the many other magazines Annabell played a large hand in publishing were The Philatelist, a book on stamp collecting, and school magazines for Upper Canada and Havergall Colleges in Toronto. She also remembers the rush every weekend in the "Now, with computers, there's no comparison," she says. "It's unbelievable what we can do with them." Today, whenever you look at an ad in the classified sec- tion of The Port Perry Star/Weekend Star or read the Real Estate section, give thanks to Annabell as for many years she's been responsible for the layout of Al these pages. "Putting the classifieds together is like doing a giant A Aan 3 ers Publisher J. Peter Hvidsten presented Annabell with a original site at 235 Queen Street prone Quill Award for more than 20 years service with ~ and, since January 1991, the new . offices at 188 Mary Street. The Port Perry Star in 1985. In 1967 Peter Hvidsten joined his father's firm, after working for a web print- many 6 a.m. treks to these what major' September her husband Bill will also retire as Deputy gone far bevond the call of duty time and time agaan fa Yea a preset Le Lonuake N] VE irriser n namaery ea teeae [1 ZTE PI Pag me dre Sk an jig-saw puzzle every week," she chuckles. "But I've always enjoyed that challenge," she says. One piece of modern technology Annabell has worked with over the years is a computerized dark room camera. The camera reproduces photographs and 'shoots' the 12" x 18" page negatives of the The Port Perry Star and Weekend Star before being sent to Newmarket for printing. Often the last person to leave the offices on Monday and Wednesday evenings (production days), Annabell says she never ceases feeling proud when a product she's spent hours working on comes off the press and into the hands of the readers. Over the years Annabell has made a lot of friends with several co-workers and it is this she will miss most. "I've had a wonderful carreer," she said. Star publisher Peter Hvidsten says Annabell is the type of person you can ask to do practically anything and she'll tackle the job. "Nothing has ever appeared to be too much," he said. "Annabell will be missed and almost impossible to 'replace. She's been a remarkable employee." J. Peter Hvidsten, publisher "I think very highly of Annabell and I know my father did, too. She has a tremendous work ethic and has always been dedicated to the company." He says they grew up in the company together and over the years have shared many duties. "With Annabell gone, it's going to feel like I've lost my right arm. The knowledge she's acquired over 33 years and her desire for perfection is going to be very much missed and almost impossible to replace.' e." Peter said. "She was a remarkable employee." Now, at 65, Annabell feels it's time to retire. This Chief of the Scugdg Fire Department after more than 30 years with the local unit. "I just feel it's time to retire" Annabell says. "I'm stil) in excellent health and we want to be able to spend some time at our trailer and get caught up on some reading." The Port Perry Star has planned a retirement party for Annabell later in September at which time fornier employees, business colleagues and friends will be invit- ed to drop by and extend their wishes. : It will be a wonderful tribute to an emplovee who us