A few weeks ago, we reported that Gan Matthews was “resigning” from News 9 after turning down a demotion to the weekend beat. Gan’s departure hit the local TV news community hard. He was a veteran reporter, well liked by his peers and had great name recognition for a beat reporter. If he was deemed to be expendable by News 9 management, who or what was next?

In response to his forced resignation, Gan’s friends and colleagues have created a Goodbye Gan Matthews Facebook Group. It’s filled with a bunch of farewells, memories of the good old days and even sad letters from current and former local media folks. For some reason, though, there are no posts from wizards, dwarfs or any of the other creatures Gan encountered from his travels in Middle Earth.

Anyway, in addition to creating the Facebook Group, some of Gan’s colleagues have planned a “Goodbye Gathering.” It will take place this Saturday night at Nonna’s in Bricktown. If past media going away parties serve as any indication, the party should be fun.