Baby Blue

This week, the newsletter celebrates its third anniversary. (Well celebrate might be too strong a word- observes, marks, ponders, passes through, struggles to overcome...) Therefore, we'd like to indulge ourselves here for a moment, and look back at some of the history of this publication.

June 1992: The first decision made by the newly formed editorial board is to name the newsletter- The Cheapo Record it is so christened. Unfortunately, there is not enough Applause in the name, so a committee is formed to come up with the ultimate all encompassing newsletter moniker. Hopes and ideals run high and spirits soar.

June 1992: The original editor, Leave it to Beaver's Tony Dow, resigns due in part to a clamor from the stores that he is too devoted to writing about his favorite folk singer, Donovan, and not enough about actual store news. The announcement stuns, yet delights the Cheapo empire. Al makes a teary announcement at a well attended staff meeting, saying, "Things just didn't work out."

August 1992: The name committee submits a list of potential newsletter names to all stores. The feedback is underwhelming, to say the least, and the committee goes back to the drawing board.

June 1993: The newsletter marks its first anniversary by printing an award winning issue devoted entirely to the rewards of good, effective, cat grooming.

July 1993: The newsletter goes bilingual, sparking controversy by selecting Pig Latin as the second language of choice. The powerful swine industry raises an amazing racket in protest (itay oesn'tday elphay attersmay anyay hatay orfay omesay easonray hetay uzzlingpay ecisionday isay ademay otay insertay hetay ordway "ruffletay" etweenbay everyay aragraphpay).

January 1994: The name committee tries once more, submitting the name, Cheap Clap Talk. The silence is deadening and the look on the editor's face is even more confused than ever.

June 1994: The newsletter's second anniversary is marked by the naming of Sandra Bullock as the newsletter's official spokesmodel.

September 1994: The newsletter goes electronic as David nearly electrocutes himself spilling a cappuccino into his printer.

April 1995: Things slowly quiet down following the publication's biggest misstep: crusading to make Chicken Gumbo soup, a requirement in all employee's diets. Employees cry fowl, and the experiment is shelved as being a little bit before its time.

June 1995: The name committee tries once again, declaring that in a few weeks, the newsletter will once and for all have a permanent name...

Last week, Steve Danuser wrote a column that underscored what we, and when I say we, I mean the newsletter, are all about. Steve has been a regular contributor over the years, and his articles and input are always a welcome source of thoughtful and well expressed ideas. Any company of any size is going to go through some communication difficulties. 99 percent of life's problems can be attributed to some problem in communication. I personally always hoped that the employees of our company would find the newsletter a good source of information, and a vehicle they could freely use to express their opinions about what is going on from the front lines. We wanted to enhance dialogue between us all. The newsletter was never meant to solve problems. It was meant as a means to communicate and spark common ideas throughout the organization. We haven't succeeded as much as we had hoped when we began this venture, but we have been around now for three long years, and somehow managed the nearly unthinkable: delivering an issue each and every week during those three years. That is something I'm very proud of. It has truly been a lot of work, and I would personally like to thank people like (and including Steve) who have devoted time by contributing and raising issues they see affecting the company as a whole. I also would like to thank Al and Mary who have stuck with us all these years, letting us have a lot of fun along with the work. The company itself has undergone a lot of changes since the newsletter began. It has been a challenge for everyone and the work will of course, never be done. One thing that occurred to me this past week as I ran into a whale of a first basemen during the heat of a softball game and saw what has passed for my life speeding before my eyes, is it isn't so much about the peaks and valleys, good times and bad, it's about all the stuff in between. That's what matters. Thanks everybody!