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Patrice Clifton has worked at the Polk County News for about 40 years. After many years in the business, she is retiring. She started working in the paper business after high school for about 1 1/2 years. Then she got married, had children and spent some time in Alaska. She returned to Polk County and came back to the newspaper business. She worked for Alton “Mook” Wilhelms at The Headlight. Then she has worked for Bill and Jan Thompson, Dave and Sandy Thompson and in the last few months John and Anna Sterup. She has worked continuously at the Polk County News (and formerly The Headlight) since 1984. She started just working on advertising. In recent years, she has had to take over almost all aspects of the paper. Her least favorite item is writing sports stories. In the beginning she started on a Justa writer, which is like a typewriter with a strip of paper. Then there was the CompuGraphics which printed strips of type through a photo type process, you had to paste the strips on another sheet to print. So if you wanted to move a line, you had to cut and paste by hand. The paper has been printed in Aurora for the last several years. At one time she had to make the negatives here, and then deliver them to Aurora. Then the papers and plates would bepicked up the next morning. Now it’s nice the files can be sent electronically. When asked about the biggest changes over the years, Patrice talked about how digital technology has made such a huge impact. She said with a smile “computers have made the process easier, faster and sometimes much more frustrating”. The ability to do with a click of a button the same process that used to take hours of hand layout has been a real game changer.
Looking back over the years Patrice described how being directly involved in publicizing the achievements of so many people has been very rewarding. She has also enjoyed seeing the local high school teams compete in stay playoffs and win championships. Covering Curt Tomasevicz during the Winter Olympics was a lot of fun.
Patrice’s mother, Jeanette Hengelfelt, was also a long-time newspaper employee. Working for a newspaper runs in her family. She is looking forward to experiencing life without a weekly deadline, sleeping in, spending time with grandchildren and catching up with friends on the golf course. If you want to express your appreciation, you may drop cards off at the Polk County News, and we will make sure she gets them. Patrons and subscribers throughout all of the Polk County communities wish Patrice the very best as she starts an exciting new chapter in life.
The Polk County News thanks Patrice for her many years of service to the communities and applauds her for a job well done!
