Bio: Zimmerman, Dee - 50 Years At The Shopper (April 2019)
Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail:
dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Zimmerman, Siebert, Slaats
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 1/16/2019
Dee Zimmerman Recognized For 50 Years At The Shopper ( April - 2019)
Dee Zimmerman Recognized For 50 Years At The Shopper
Dee Zimmerman will have worked at the Shopper for 50 years come April. She has
also worked for the Clark County Press for many years, starting when the
newspaper was bought by News Publishing Company in 1989. Valerie Brecht/Clark
County Press
By Valerie Brecht
Well-known to the residents of Neillsville and beyond, she offers a friendly
face to anyone who walks in the door. Her knowledge of local history runs deep.
She has achieved a milestone of years of service that most people will never
come close to achieving
Dee Zimmerman of the Clark County Press and Shopper received the Spotlight Award
at the Neillsville Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet Saturday. The award
was given in recognition that, come April, she will have been employed 50 years
at the Shopper, the shopping guide for Clark and Jackson counties. Dee has also
worked for the Clark County Press for many years.
Dee started working for the Shopper in April 1969, two years after moving to
Neillsville from Loyal. At that time, Earle and Barbara Siebert owned the
Shopper.
“Mr. Siebert’s son Mike lived nest door to us, and he told me that his dad was
looking for help. At that time Mike was the advertising salesman,” said Dee.
When Dee started out at the Shopper, she worked part-time.
“My kids were in school at that time and I didn’t have to go to work until nine
in the morning, so I had plenty of time to make them breakfast and see them off
to school,” she said.
At that time, the Shopper was housed in a building on West 4th Street behind the
Masonic Temple building (what is now Hillside Community Church). The business
moved a few times to different buildings in downtown Neillsville before moving
to its present location at 614 Hewett Street.
When she started at the Shopper, Dee’s responsibilities included advertising
layout, bookkeeping and recording advertisements into the account system, as
well as customer service.
In 1974, she stared working full-time. Dee also oversaw the Shopper’s delivery.
At that time, local carriers delivered the Shopper, not the postal service. The
city of Neillsville was divided into six sections, one for each of the carriers.
“I knew all the routes because I delivered them all some time or other,” said
Dee.
Dee’s job responsibilities continued when News Publishing Company bought the
Shopper and the Clark County Press in 1989 and the two were merged under one
company. She also picked up some newspaper related responsibilities like taking
subscriptions and advertisements specifically for the Press.
A couple years after the merger, Dee began writing her “Good Old Days” column
for the Clark County Press, which contains excerpts from press issues going all
the way back to 1867, often accompanied by Dee’s recollections of the past. It
remains a favorite feature among readers and began largely because of their
requests.
“Some of the local readers would express that they would like to see a local
history column, because the former owners, Gary and Jane Slaats, would weekly
run an old photograph with a cutline about the photo and they missed that,” said
Dee. “And so, they’re the ones that encouraged a local history column.”
Along with the changes in technology, Dee has seen many changing faces of the
staff at the Press and the Shopper. She has served as a resource for the
reporters on staff who may not know what angle to take for a particular story or
need background information on local happenings.
She has also gotten to know the people of the community very well.
“I have enjoyed working with the public and meeting the people of the community.
It has been a good way to get to know people,” said Dee.
She said that her job has given her a way to interact with people and keep busy.
As to how long she will continue at the press and Shopper, “I take it a year at
a time,” she said.
She has already left a lasting impact on her community as a fixture for so many
years.
“I enjoyed meeting and working with the people in the community,” said Dee. “It
was always an enjoyable part of the job.”
Dee Zimmerman, pictured here with her son Greg, received the Spotlight Award at
the Neillsville Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet Saturday. It will be
50 years on the job at the Shopper for Dee as of this April. Ryan Spoehr/Clark
County Press
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