David Jones, 70, Charlotte

Observer employee for 45 years.

1. What's your job?

Diesel mechanic - care and maintenance of all the trucks.

2. What's your most memorable work moment?

One winter I had to go out on a service call to Newton. The snow was so bad I had to make five other service calls for trucks in ditches, and the fuel was frozen up before I could get back.

3. What do you wish readers knew about the newspaper?

What really takes place to get a paper out every day.

4. What have you learned from your job at the Observer?

Just to be patient with everyone and take one day at a time.

5. What's changed most about the newspaper business?

The increase in technology, such as computers and the Internet.

Marty Fleming, 63, Charlotte

Observer employee for almost 42 years.

1. What's your job?

My job is to supervise the daily operations in the pressroom. This includes assigning the press operators their job positions for the night and communicating with them along with other departments to get the paper out in a quality fashion and on time.

2. What's your most memorable work moment?

Probably when we moved from the old Observer building in 1970. There were so many initial problems that it was really hard to get the paper out on time. I remember a small fire in the new building, which meant the papers got out around 8:30 one Sunday morning. Normal time would have been 3 a.m.

3. What do you wish readers knew about the newspaper?

Plain and simple: The dedication of our employees making sure that the best local news, national news, and sports - along with a quality product - reaches them on time every day. I also wish they knew the dedication of our employees to get the paper out even during bad snowstorms and hurricanes.

4. What have you learned from your job at the Observer?

It takes a diversified workforce to effectively get the whole message out to our public through our newspaper. This takes great teamwork, and I am proud to be part of it.

5. What's changed most about the newspaper business?

Two points to make here. From a pressman's point of view, quality has moved up 100 percent. The printing product is much better due to technology.

Point two: Changing our paper from a national perspective first and then local to a local first followed by national. I believe most subscribers really like the local perspective, which includes maybe seeing your son or daughter's name in the paper for an award to making sure our community leaders and state elective officials are held accountable for their actions.