May 26, 2019: Can I have too many pictures of the Winding Stairs?
When the Traer Star-Clipper offices closed in 2018, I and others expressed deep concern about the future of the bound volumes of that and the five other Tama-Grundy Publishing newspapers.
About a month ago, they found safe homes.
“Following the resignation of the Telegraph’s publisher Abigail Pelzer earlier this year, the decision was made by Marshalltown Newspaper’s managing editor Robert Maharry to donate the bound archive books including those dating back to the 1800s to the local museum,” says a story in the Oct. 7 North Tama Telegraph. A similar story, with the same happy ending, appears for the Northern-Sun Print archives going to Gladbrook and Garwin.
Robert Maharry was editor of the Grundy Register for about eight years before taking a job in Marshalltown.
In a bonus happy twist, the Star-Clipper archives were brought “back to where it all began – into the former Star-Clipper Newsroom.” Not the one that closed — the one at the top of the Winding Stairs, that can only be reached by going up the Winding Stairs. You can see the doors in the picture above; the bottom of both sections is occupied by the North Tama Veterinary Clinic. The Traer Museum will work with the University of Northern Iowa to restore the bound volumes.