Mom: The Miller Press - "Gilbert-York News"

Mom, Margaret Ellen Wade Heinzerling, wrote a column for the weekly local newspaper, The Miller Press. She was officially a correspondent. Her job was reporting on the activities of the neighbors and local clubs and other groups, for the past week. It was labeled, “Gilbert-York News.” Gilbert and York were the names of the two townships covered.

On Sunday evenings, Mom began her phone calls. She sat at the kitchen table, with the phone tucked between her ear and shoulder while she wrote down the information she received. Some things she already knew:

“The Beulah Community Church Ladies Aid met Thursday at Gertrude Paustch’s home. The lesson was on Matthew 5.5-23, the Beatitudes.” Mom listed the names of each member, present and absent. There was some information about the treasurer’s report, who led the Bible study, who the president was, what projects were pursued. I can recite the last line by heart because it wasn’t only used by Mom. There were similar columns for other neighborhoods in The Press. Each meeting item ended the same: ‘Lunch was served and a good time was had by all.’ ”

Mom’s column was chiefly made up of items like this:

“On Wednesday afternoon, Mrs. Bill Joy had coffee with Mrs. Milo Seigling.”

“Sunday visitors to the Ralph Watkins home were the Mr. and Mrs. Merlin Heinzerling and family. The adults played cards and the children played games. Mrs. Watkins made snacks for everyone.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Bob Jones attended the graduation of their granddaughter, Sally Jones, at Wessington High School Saturday. Following that, they enjoyed the reception at the Legion hall.”

To make it easier, Mom had a cheat sheet that listed the neighbors, and underneath their names she had written their children, grandchildren, nephew, nieces, and locations of them. Then, when Edna Ward told Mom that Edna’s granddaughter had been visiting, Mom knew that was granddaughter Marcy from Chula Vista, California.

Mom was paid by column inch, so she tried to get everyone called, and reported everything they told her. Her focus was to include whatever each individual wanted. Mom quickly got to know their preferences: How they wanted their name to appear, what types of activities they considered appropriate for the column, etc.

Mom really cared for her neighbors, and wanted the best for them. The families frequently in her column were Virginia and Walt Jenner, with 3 children, 2 girls and one boy; Floy and Stanley Conkey, with one son and four girls; Gertrude Paustch, who was pianist at Beulah Community Church; Ethel and Harold Carr; Audrey and Bill Oligmueller, with two girls and one boy; Delores and Darrel Jones, with two or three children; Eunice and Milo Seigling, with 2 girls and 2 boys; Derla and David Simons, with about a dozen children; Edna and Dick Ward; Gertrude and Bill Joy.

An effective casual interviewing style worked well for Mom. Some of her neighbors were an irritation to Mom, as they were to many other neighbors, too, as is the case in any community. I can remember Mom putting the phone down at the end of an interview, with a perturbed expression, and muttering about someone's inane behavior. It took all kinds to make that community, just as any other.

Work like the Gilbert-York News was prime territory for a gossip, a gold mine, in fact. To Mom's credit, she was not a gossip.


When I was in high school I became more sensitive to Mom’s column. It was mostly a teenage angst issue for me. My siblings and I showed up in Mom’s column more and more often as we increased our independence and activity. I was horrified to see my name in the column saying that I had babysat for the neighbors. What would my peers think?!

When I was in college, Mom entrusted me with the column a few times when she was away on a Sunday night. I complained loudly about the absurdity of me writing about our neighbors visiting one another, or their stupid meetings!! (Maturity came late for me.) Mom was insistent. Though the column didn’t pay much, every cent mattered. So I called.

In our community, talking with The Press correspondent, in this case - me, was the woman’s job.  So I talked with the ladies of the generation who preceded me. I took down the information they gave me, asked questions regarding names and other details, trying to be sure to get it right. Although I resented the job, I did want to do it right because it would be in the paper for everyone to see!

In the mid-70s in central South Dakota, gender roles were still quite traditional and rigid. I chafed under those limits more all the time. Something I had noted in The Miller Press, and most other local publications, was that women did not have names. There was Mrs. Stanley Conkey, Mrs. Dick Ward, Mrs. William Joy. There was no Floy, Edna, or Gertrude. I didn’t like that, so I resolved to write my column using the women’s names.

Gertrude Joy, Floy Conkey and Edna Ward attended the school play. So there! I felt that I had struck a blow for womankind everywhere!

The Press came out on Thursdays via the mailman, to our mailbox at the end of the driveway. It wasn’t long before Mom got a phone call. It came from Mrs. William Joy. She was highly offended that her name had been incorrectly given in the story, and she wanted to be sure that would never happen again!

I was safely away at college and oblivious to Mrs. William Joy’s ire, and Mom’s apologies - until I was home again. Actually, Mom wasn’t all that angry with me. She didn’t object to a woman using her own first name, and noted that none of the other women had complained.

I learned that, even though they didn’t write the column or get paid for it, people included had the right to make their preferences known, and it was the writer’s job to respect that. Okay!

Mom was a working fool, and her Press column was only one example of that.
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By the way, The Miller Press continues to be published, and still includes neighborhood columns. There are many fewer in the first decade of the 21st century, than there were in the middle of the 20th century. The “Gilbert-York” column no longer exists. The population has dramatically decreased, and modes of communication have multiplied widely. The columns are no longer necessary.

In 2012, The Miller Press can be found online at   http://themillerpress.atomicnewstools.com/pages/