WHITEHALL – Chuck Gauger is retiring after 43 years with the (Whitehall) Trempealeau County Times.
He started with the Whitehall Times — where his father was the publisher — in 1975. He returned during summers while attending UW-Stevens Point and joined the staff full time in 1975 as an advertising salesman. In 1984, he became general manager. In 2002, he purchased the Independence News-Wave in 2002, merging it with the Times. He sold the Whitehall Times to News Publishing Company in 2011 — merging with the Arcadia News-Leader and Galesville Republican to make the Trempealeau County Times. Gauger continued to serve as the general manager until his retirement.
His retirement ends an 80-year stint of newspaper ownership in his family. His grandparents Albert and Elsie bought the Arcadia News-Leader in 1939 before selling it to Harold Blaschko in 1955. His father — Robert Gauger — purchased the Whitehall Times in 1952. He claims 43 years officially working at the Times, but if he were to count the times he was helping his father growing up, his career with the paper is closer to 60 years.
