Clipping:People at Work, Special Service

CARROLL

Posted By: Linda Meyers (email)
Date: 11/12/2008 at 21:32:03

People at Work
SPECIAL SERVICE
In each town there is at least one citizen who through service to their fellow man become widely-known to the townsfolk.
Such a person in Kelley, population 244, is Mrs. Grace Carroll who for the past 18 years has been the town's only telephone operator.
Mrs. Carroll knows everyone in town and the surrounding area and everyone knows her. On a typical day, her people will tell you, a mother looking for a boy might call Mrs. Carroll and ask her to check around town to see if she might locate him. She usually does.
"It's all one big family here" Mrs. Carroll says, "I like to be able to serve the people and be kind and helpful. I know most of the children in town and if someone is looking for one of them I know where they might be.":
But even in a small town people sometimes get where they take advantage. When the post office was near the telephone office people used to call Mrs. Carroll and ask her to run over and see if they had any mail.
Another of her duties is to operate the town fire whistle located on top of the water tower. "Fire is the worst emergency. It always upsets me the most. Next to fire, I hate accident calls, especially if it concerns someone in our town" she explained.
In the center of the life and death drama of reality Mrs. Carroll frequently is the first to know of the birth or death of one of the town's citizens. And she admits the constant brush with the tragic and the good leave a mark on her.
"They're your home town people, and if any emergency comes up, you feel the same as they do."

---from the Ames Tribune 1959. A photo of Mrs. Grace Carroll at her switch board was published with the article.