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
