Buyer’s Guide employee retires after 49 years
Acker recalls many fun times working at the Buyer’s Guide and finds it difficult to pick one memorable moment. “This was a great job! I have so many great memories that I can’t pick just one. I have worked with so many different people over the years and I have lots of great memories of each of them.”
The Lowell Buyer’s Guide and News, now published by View Newspaper Group, has seen many changes in 49 years; four owners, the computer and internet age and three different office spaces. One constant in those years was Graphic Artist, Cathy Acker. She was hired in September of 1976 and has now retired, her last day was April 29.
Acker was hired by Buyer’s Guide founders, Ken and Elva Ayers as a graphic artist; she also worked in the dark room, developing film and cutting color manually. “My job title has remained the same through the yearS, but the job I did changed drastically over the past 49 years,” stated Acker on her position.
When asked what the biggest changes were during her time with the paper, Acker replied, “Technology. In the 70s, we used phototypesetters; in 1981, we started using Compu-graphic machines, and in the early 90s, we switched to computers. I was tasked by, then owner, Roger Brown, to research and purchase what we would need for computers and software, to update the design department.”
Acker recalls many fun times working at the Buyer’s Guide and finds it difficult to pick one memorable moment. “This was a great job! I have so many great memories that I can’t pick just one. I have worked with so many different people over the years and I have lots of great memories of each of them.”
She has plans to stay busy during her retirement, including traveling, mostly to Montana to see her son, Cody. She’d like to cross some things off her bucket list, spend time with family, working on all the craft projects that she’s started and catch up with friends.
When asked what she’ll miss the most, her reply was, “Laughing, sometimes until we couldn’t breathe, Good Friday Services, and all those crazy Christmas parties.”
The Lowell Buyer’s Guide and News is sister paper to The Lowell Ledger. Both were acquired by View Newspaper Group in June 2024. Home to 22 locally-owned, locally-connected community newspapers, View Newspaper Group is Michigan’s largest, independently owned newspaper group with print editions reaching more than 352,000 households each week, plus an additional 500,000 monthly online readers. For more information, visit mihomepaper.com or contact View Newspaper Group Brand Manager Emily Caswell at ecaswell@mihomepaper.com.
