Published: November 12, 2008 08:06 am            

Meet your Neighbor - Annie Rogers

Former Kmart employee of the year is a country music fan with a large, loving family

After Hurricane Frances, Annie was cleaning her yard of debris and saw something shiny amidst the mess. It turned out to be her daughter’s 1980 high school class ring, lost for seventeen years.



Annie Rogers is a people person and has the awards and honors to prove it. She has one wall of her home covered in testimonials to her hard work and the admiration of her former employers.

A native of Suwannee County, Annie has lived in her current home in front of Suwannee Middle School for 47 years. With five children, 19 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, holidays in her home are crowded, with family members wall to wall. Three of her children were born on the 13th day of the month, but not on Friday. She proudly says she graduated from Suwannee High School in 1949, the only high school graduate of six brothers and sisters.

The job Annie loved best was at the Top Value Stamps store that was located in the Suwannee County Mall. She had lots of good times there with her co-workers. In the late 70s, she, along with 14 other Top Value Stamp managers, flew to Dayton, Ohio to see the distribution store. At the airport in Jacksonville she was able to recognize a fellow manager by the umbrella that could only be purchased with Top Value Stamps.

Annie also managed the Super Dollar store that was where the Veterans Park is now located. The store was bought by Dollar General but later closed. Annie worked in the Lake City Dollar General store for a while, but didn’t like the commute.

In 1990, Annie was named Employee of the Year at Kmart, where she worked for five years. Her boss said that she could sell anyone anything. Many of you will remember their blue light specials that Annie coordinated.

Her first trip to Nashville on the bus with one of her daughters was memorable. Annie loves country music and dancing. But the most memorable trip was about 44 years ago when she and her five children flew to the Bahamas for a two-week vacation. Her youngest son learned to swim in the pool there - swimming in the ocean was unsafe due to barracudas. Annie enjoyed the beach, crabbing, shelling and observing the natives as they made their hats and bags and various items for sale.

Some years back, Annie and daughter Cindy Rogers Macy were featured in the Suwannee Democrat because of an unusual discovery. After Hurricane Frances, Annie was cleaning her yard of debris and saw something shiny amidst the mess. It turned out to be a ring. She cleaned it and showed it to her daughter - who realized it was her 1980 high school class ring, lost for seventeen years.

Annie is a very busy woman. She is a member of First Advent Church, the food coordinator for Live Oak Senior Citizens, walks a mile-plus every day, mows and maintains her large yard and many flowers, loves music and dances at the Spirit of the Suwannee a couple of times a month (with boyfriend Calvin).

Life did not start out easy for Annie as she was the daughter of a sharecropper, but as you can tell, she lives everyday with a big smile and lots of laughter, family and friends. Thank you, Annie, for being the smiling friendly face that so many Suwannee Countians remember.

        

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