A Letter from Jerry Hayes: It’s time to take off the microphone…
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — As we say in television news, don’t bury the lede, meaning put the most important part of the story first. So here it is – I’m leaving the anchor desk at News 19. I’m retiring.
Those two words are hard for me to write, especially after a career that has lasted at WHNT for almost four and a half decades. I will anchor my last newscast on March 26. And I’m sure I’ll be more nervous that night than I was when I walked into the studio on Monte Sano and anchored my first weekend newscast.
Is there ever a good time to leave a job, a career, you love? I don’t think there is. But this just feels right. On March 26, I will celebrate 45 years of reporting and anchoring at WHNT. Four days later, I will celebrate my 70 th birthday. That sounds like a good time to take off the microphone, walk out of the studio and into retirement.
I’ve been thinking about this and talking with my family for the past few years. And I knew this day would come, but I didn’t know it would get here this quickly. Time seems to move faster when you get older. I’m convinced there are no longer 24 hours in a day. You blink and the day, the moments you are enjoying, are gone. I don’t want to miss those times with my family, my grandkids.