SO OLD, IT'S IN BLACK AND WHITE. Volume One staffer Tom Giffey's first local byline appeared 25 years ago.

Earlier this month I passed something of a milestone in my professional career: Sept. 7 was the 25th anniversary of my first byline in Eau Claire. (If you’re counting, that makes it my silver anniversary; gifts of silver can be sent to me in care of this magazine.) If pondering a quarter century spent in local media isn’t enough to make me feel old, then considering that some of my colleagues weren’t even born yet when that article was published certainly is.

If you’re curious, the article in question ran in the Leader-Telegram on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 1999, under the hard-hitting headline “Summer smiles.” In the interest of full disclosure, I shared a byline with The Associated Press, adding a couple of local interviews to a statewide story about the success of the just-concluded tourist season. Not exactly Pulitzer-worthy, but as a recent college grad on the first day of his internship, I can say I felt a sense of accomplishment seeing my name on Page 1 that afternoon.

So what’s the point of my little anecdote? I would have never gotten that byline if the folks I interviewed hadn’t been willing to take a couple of minutes to answer a young reporter’s questions. And, all these years later, what I write and edit still depends on the generosity and patience of all the sources that I and my colleagues pepper with phone calls, emails, and text messages. No sources would mean no career. So, for all of you who’ve been on the receiving end of all my interviews over the past 25 years, I have not a question, but a statement: Thank you!