In the time I have worked with The Evening Sun, a trip to our sister company, Sun Printing, Inc. on Borden Avenue in Norwich, has been a rare experience. From the reporter end, I know exactly what’s going to be in each day’s paper - each story, each by line, and each letter to the editor. I’m sure as much the same can be said from the reader end.

But few people, myself included, are too familiar with the hands-on detailed process of how each newspaper is assembled, a different animal entirely. That’s why for this week’s “Punching the Clock,” I thought it fitting to introduce readers to the other, often less acknowledged world of the newspaper business.

Having been to Sun Printing only once before, I had a vague idea of what to expect: the hustle and bustle that’s more exciting than the cubicle walls of The Evening Sun office, but not quite as magical as what Charlie Bucket saw when he visited the chocolate factory.

I met up with Tim Ryan, who oversees operations at Sun Printing and a four-man crew of Don Prosser, Willie Hatton, Dan Guyer and Dave Montague (Dark Room Dave, as I’ve heard him called hundreds of times in the office. It was months before I learned he had a real last name). Under their supervision, I had the opportunity to live the life of a print press man, if only for a few moments.