We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby…

As many of you know, Movin’ Out is celebrating our 50th year of publication! I personally have not been with the company that long, however, I first became aware of Movin’ Out in 1979, when I was just out of high school and worked at the Larry’s Truck Stop in Barkeyville, Pennsylvania.  A cute young man with scruffy hair would stop in and leave copies of Movin’ Out and get updates for the ad that Larry’s ran in the newspaper.  We made small talk and finally, 3 years later, when I was working as a secretary (Kwik Fill purchased the truck stop and Frenz Petroleum was leasing the diesel fuel), that scruffy young man, Steve asked me out on a date.  We got married 6.5 months later and I went to work for Movin’ Out.

In the very beginning, Movin’ Out was distributed in just a portion of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. Over the years, our family was worked very hard to grow the distribution to ALL 50 states.  Steve and I got married on a Friday night and were back to work in the office on Monday morning.  When our daughter was born in 1985, I waited until the October issue of Movin’ Out was delivered and then we headed to the hospital so I could give birth.  When our son was born in 1988, I went into labor 3 weeks early, drove myself to the hospital over 30 miles away, called a truckstop up in Toledo, Ohio using a telephone calling card to leave a message for Steve when he showed up that he needed to come back home.  Yep – no pagers or cell phones back then. In 1995, Steve got his first cell phone, which was a phone in a bag.

Steve and I took over the newspaper in 1991 – it was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.  It still is.  We’ve weathered so many recessions and obstacles thrown in our way.  Our first fax machine cost an astounding $5,000!  Our first digital camera was over $1,000 and you had to stick a floppy disk in it!  We still have one of the first computers that  we ever purchased – totally worthless but interesting to see how technology has evolved.

Our kids grew up attending truck shows and sitting on our living room floor stuffing inserts into the newspaper for spending money.  Today, the 4th generation of our family, our 4 grandchildren, can be found at many of the truck shows, picking out their favorite trucks.

A lot has changed over the years, including Steve and I – both of us don’t have long hair anymore and we’ve definitely packed on the pounds. We still have just about daily fights in the office.  But we still enjoy getting out and talking to drivers, taking photos, meeting customers.  And we open each issue of Movin’ Out when it comes back each month from the printer with pride and a sense of accomplishment. 

We have indeed come a long way – and we’re beyond grateful to the many loyal advertisers and readers who have been on this journey with Movin’ Out for the past 50 years!