“Do everything,” he said, “as if you were putting your name on it.” I can’t say I came to newspapers solely because of those words; maybe it was just dumb luck that I would find a craft that would allow me, all of us, to have a byline. All I can tell you for sure is that it’s been an honor to sign my name to this career.

Once upon a time, it took a computer two hours to download a newspaper so someone could read it on a online. Things have sped up a bit.

Various news outlets were there Thursday night to cover the rally. Here’s a collection of stories and videos on the event.

I began writing for newspapers when I was 12 — one advantage of living in a small town — and with the exception of summer jobs working on the state highway department, I’ve never cashed a regular paycheck from any business but a newspaper. I joined the Rocky’s staff in 1985 and have gone from rookie to old-timer in what often seems like the flick of a page.

Here are a few images of those who gathered to show their support for the Rocky Mountain News at the candle light rally Thursday.

If you attended and took photos, share them with us. E-mail pictures to contactus@iwantmyrocky.com, and we’ll add them to our gallery below.

Scores of Rocky Mountain News staff members, alumni, readers and supporters of the paper came together Thursday evening to show their support for the paper. The crowd — 150 of which wore placards representing each year the newspaper has been in business — gathered at the Denver Press Club and made its way to the Denver Newspaper Agency building, where the candles were lit, starting with the year 1859.

Local historian Tom Noel, aka Dr. Colorado, launched the proceedings, speaking in the guise William Newton Byers, who began publishing the Rocky in April of 1859.

This event is open to all: readers and writers, public officials and private citizens, labor and management as well as Post, News and DNA employees both past and present. We’ll gather at 6 p.m. that night at the Denver Press Club at 1330 Glenarm Place. At 6:30 p.m. we’ll walk single file to the Denver Newspaper Agency building at 101 West Colfax.

At the DNA building, the person representing 1859 (dressed in period garb as Rocky founder William Byers) will light the first candle. He’ll then light the candle of the person representing 1860, and so on down the line until we’ve lit up the night. The entire rally will take about a half-hour.

I know after working at the Rocky for more than three years, most of my colleagues would agree that information is power. And day in and day out, we’ve been doing just that —reporting stories as fairly and as accurately as we can so that readers have the tools to make important decisions in their lives.