SCRANTON, Pa. — Virginia Goodrich is known around the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce as "Ginger." She has been decorating the Christmas tree around the place for 58 years.
"We've long joked that she actually runs the Chamber of Commerce. And in some way, she does. She knows all of the history of the organization. She has both the historical record but also functioning in the role that she has, where she has been central to everything. She has been at the center, sometimes in a supportive role, often a supportive role, but central anyway," said Bob Durkin, the chamber president.
And as she holds each of the ornaments that have been collected over those decades, she simultaneously holds a record for the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.
"She is the longest-tenured employee of a Chamber of Commerce in the United States," Durkin said.
But now, much to her coworkers' dismay, it's time for her reign to end as she retires at the end of next week.
"I don't want to make any plans. I'm tired of making plans. I'm tired of calendars and schedules. I'm tired of being organized," Goodrich said.
Goodrich says a lot has changed since she started in 1965 when she couldn't find the light switch.
"I went back to the section where we had our office and my desk, and I sat there in the dark until somebody came. That was the first day," she recalled.
But she'll always be proud of the economic impact of the Chamber she helped achieve.
"Do you know anybody that works at Scott Technology Park? Do you know anybody that works at the office park at Montage? Do you know anybody that's employed by one of these large companies that the Chamber helped to recruit or sold them land or built them a building? And it just kind of keeps the economy going. That's why it's important."
And it's one of the many reasons she'll remain on the speed dial here at the Chamber.