Edie Gilles leaving Montrose Daily Press; McCombs succeeds
|
MONTROSE – After almost 14 years, Montrose Daily Press office manager Edie Gilles is leaving. She was honored with a party on Dec. 10 at the home of Stephen and Susan Woody and about 25 well-wishers, friends and staff members.
“I’ve enjoyed working at the Daily Press. It’s been a good experience,” Gilles told the gathering. Edie’s last day is Dec. 31, 2010.
Gilles was the first department manager hired by Woody in the spring of 1997, right after the Feb. 12 purchase of the Daily Press by Wick Communications.
“It was a difficult time in our transition from the former owners and I needed someone competent, someone I could trust and someone with a good work ethic to take our accounting department forward,” Woody said. “Edie was it.” Wick Chief Financial Officer Don Root also assisted with Gilles’ hiring. “The office manager is unique in that the person has one foot in the Daily Press office, and another working closely with our corporate office in Sierra Vista.”
Gilles is credited with reorganizing the Daily Press’ purchasing, streamlining its accounting with Wick, installing software upgrades, and being the “go-to person” involved in human relations, office management and assisting Woody with various and sundry assignments related to the Daily Press while he was a group manager for Wick for 10 years. “Edie was essential. I’m blessed that in 30 years of daily newspaper publishing for Wick Communications, I’ve worked with just three office managers.” Gilles was also the leader for the Daily Press’ annual budget, working with other department managers on income, expenses and forecasting.
Edie was also a key component backstage at the bi-annual ‘Taste of Home’ home/cooking school that was sponsored by the Daily Press. “She was one of the reasons the show, which was always a sellout, ran smoothly behind the scenes,” he said. Gilles told the party gathering that working at the Daily Press was “the longest job I’ve had. I was surrounded by good people,” she added, citing longtime assistant Barb McNally and Rhonda Boyles, both who attended the party. Ms. Boyles works at Walgreen’s; Ms. McNally is the A/R and credit person for the MDP, along with many other office duties.
Edie says she plans to garden, travel with her husband Steve, play more golf locally and possibly work at local accounting firms. Edie and Steve and others have often represented the Daily Press in fund-raiser golf tournaments, several of which the MDP has won. “We could always count on Edie’s shots being in the fairway; she sank some big putts for us,” Woody added.
Succeeding Edie is Tisha McCombs, the customer service manager for the main Wells-Fargo Bank branch in downtown Montrose. She began training with Edie in early November.
Tisha was the former classified advertising manager for the Daily Press for almost three years and has also worked as a newspaper’s circulation manager and as an office manager at newspapers in Nevada and South Carolina.
“Tim and I thought Tisha would be the ideal successor given her successful history at classifieds and her exposure to other departments of this demanding business. She has an institutional memory with us, understands complex software programs and is our ‘math person’, when the Daily Press enters the Montrose High Quiz Bowl Tournament ever March,” Woody added. “With Tisha back on board, we may likely rise from our usual sixth, or seventh place finish.”
Tisha has a son, Tyler, five.