Another round of goodbyes

Friday began with a plate of iced polar bear cookies and a to-go container of Starbucks coffee. It continued with a mid-afternoon buffet of rich desserts and a token plate or two of fresh fruit. It ended with rounds of beers at the Lucky Lab brewery on Southeast Hawthorne.

The occasion? Another bittersweet day, marking a premature end to the careers of 31 newsroom colleagues at The Oregonian. More accurately, it was the last day of work for these folks at the newspaper, not necessarily the end of their careers, although it's clear many of those leaving are stepping away from journalism for something new. Also, it's more than these 31. Another handful or two who took this buyout had already left in the preceding weeks.

It would be easy to dwell on the negative, this being the third round of buyouts at the paper in the past two years. But this time around, I sensed a greater sense of relief and possibility for renewal among those who are leaving. For some young moms, it's an opportunity to spend more time with their children. For others, it truly is a question mark of what comes next, but their skill sets (photography, graphics, editing, writing) are such that I'm certain other opportunities will come their way.

In our department, we said goodbye to editorial assistant Ralph Wells, one of those indispensable folks who answers the phone with good cheer, knows how to operate all the office equipment, handles the mail, keeps stacks of back issues in good order and helps our boss, the editorial page editor, stay on top of his schedule.

We gathered in the editorial board conference room for cookies and coffee and learned more about him than I think any of us realized, including a stint driving cab for a few years. What a surprise to learn that one of his fares one evening many years ago was...none other than the aforementioned editorial page editor. Good thing he didn't do anything to embarrass himself then. Or else Ralph had the wisdom to keep it to himself.

Tomorrow brings another celebration/wake/farewell at the home of Inara Verzemnieks, a super-talented feature writer who was one of the first young people we hired on my recommendation.

Up next week: A farewell party for our retiring editor, Sandy Rowe. on Tuesday.