I finally got the opportunity to work with Phyllis Wiggins. I had heard nothing but praise for Phyllis’ abilities here at the Tribune. Phyllis has a “walking on water” reputation around this place.

Phyllis-for the few of you who don’t know her-worked for the Tribune for 37 years before retiring to the lake. She has done it all and she is good at it.

Well, we needed a little extra help, so I called Phyllis. Keep in mind that I did not know at the time I called her, that she actually lives near Garrison, a commute of 146 miles.

Being the special lady she is, when I called her “out of the blue” and told her what we needed she said, “When do you want me?” We didn’t event talk about what the job would pay until she was here and working for a day. Phyllis knew we needed help and that she had the skills necessary for the job. She was on board, immediately.

She may have regretted it after she got here and learned how much there was to do, but I doubt it. She is a hard worker who is never idle. She easily moved from task to task, figuring it out as she went, if she didn’t already know how to do it.

She is calm, confident, and has a great aptitude for figuring out how to do something new. She said she thought she didn’t know if it would come back to her after so much time off. It came back and real quick. She only asked me about three questions the whole two weeks she was here and the time flew by for us.

She did mention in passing that she didn’t miss the stress of the weekly deadline, which came back to her just shortly after she arrived. If she was stressed, it never showed.

We were happy that her friends felt comfortable enough to stop in and say “Hi” to her, while at the same time realizing she was on the payroll, so they didn’t stay long.

I believe she stayed over in Rugby for a few nights. I didn’t learn until the second week that she had commuted roundtrip to and from Garrison twice during the two weeks. She has my admiration for her dedication.

First of all, she did not have to come out of retirement to help us out. She did say up front that she only wanted to work two weeks, which was a big help to us. I appreciated her straightforward approach.

Thanks, Phyllis. We miss your already.