I would like to personally invite each and every one of you to our Open House on June 24, which is next Thursday.

The Open House will run from 5 to 7 p.m. and will be held at our Ahoskie office at the end of Main Street and Catherine Creek Rd.

The entire staff of Roanoke-Chowan Publications is proud of our new facility and we look forward to having visitors on this day.

Planning and executing a project as large as this has been, to say the least, an experience I will not soon forget.

It seems like ages ago when the first steps began to take place in late October of last year.

In all actuality, the first stages really took place nearly two years ago around the little conference room table in my office.

We began mapping out a rough plan of what we wanted, what we needed and what it was going to take to make it happen.

This wasn’t easy, but it was not the most difficult thing either. What it was, however, was time consuming and, to be totally honest, fascinating.

I learned things I never knew existed when it came to planning renovations. The people you have to contact and keep track of, the precise instructions you have to give and follow up on, not to mention the day -to-day routine of constant involvement with contractors and sub-contractors.

And to think my wife, Teresa, and I once considered building a house… shoot, we’d be dead or divorced or both. Let me tell you, it’s a trying thing that requires a tremendous amount of attention and time.

And it seems nothing goes quite as planned, yet always seems to fall in to place nicely as you learn to make adjustments along the way.

There was a time when I didn’t feel we’d ever get started, and even more so – after the project began – I didn’t think we’d ever finish.

But as the final days roll around, we are as finished as finished gets for the Open House. Naturally we still have a bunch of little things to do and much outside work as far as landscaping, our signs and flagpole, but we’re winding down quickly.

Those of you who visit us often have seen the changes, but for someone who has been in our office in a year or so would not recognize the place.

In a nutshell, a lot of hard work has gone into this project and we would like to take this time to open our doors to each of you and have you share with us this special day.

Please mark your calendars for June 24, from 5 to 7 p.m. and stop by and say hello.

You don’t have to stay long, just walk in and take a look around, say hello and you can be on your way… it’ll only take a couple of minutes out of your day.

And we’d really love to have you share this with us.

Our readers are the most important part of our operation. If not for you, we’d have no reason to ever write another story and there would be no point in running advertising.

It doesn’t get said enough, but you – the reader – are what it’s all about, and that’s why we want to share this special day with you.

Again, come share in our Open House from 5 to 7 p.m., June 24 in our Ahoskie facility on Catherine Creek Road, right at the end of Main Street.

We look forward to seeing you there.