After 28 years, Delby Seliga retires from Ely Holiday store

For the past 28 years thousands of people have seen the same friendly face working at the Ely Holiday store. Wednesday was Delby Seliga’s last day on the job.

“I can’t be happier to be retired. Well, I mean, I’ll miss people,” said Seliga.

She deleted the alarm on her watch to wake up at 3:30 a.m. and thought back to her first day on the job which was opening fishing weekend.

“I really didn’t know what I was doing. Neither did anybody else. We all learned together. The days were long, but they were worth it. I took a lot of pride in my job. I took a lot of pride in my employees,” said Seliga.

Delby actually stepped down as manager nearly two years ago, turning over the reins to Kari Priebe. But now she can focus on retirement instead of freight orders.

“It’s a bittersweet day. But Kari has done an awesome job. And hopefully Circle K will be here for another 60 years. I mean, the building’s changed a lot. The products have changed a lot. I’ve made some great friends through customers, especially my summer customers. It’s amazing how many people you know, and they remember you.

“It’s been amazing. They just keep coming back year after year after year. That’s kind of neat though, isn’t it? It is. I mean, it is really fun to see them in the summertime again.

“We haven’t seen them all winter and then you get to see them in the summertime again. And then our regular customers, I mean, you can’t thank them enough. They’re the ones that kept the business going. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be here.

“And then you lose a lot of your customers over the years. You get all of them and you lose them. I mean, you miss seeing their faces every day. And, you know, if they don’t show up on time, then you’re wondering where they are.

“Because they’re like clockwork. I mean, I set my day by them. I don’t even have to look at the clock because I know what time they’re going to come in.

“If they’re late, you start worrying. Where are they? Did they say they were going somewhere? Are they in the hospital? Where are they at? What happened to them? It’s amazing how you can do that.

“And then, like all the little kids, this is what amazes me more than anything. These kids that were little and they’ve been coming in here ever since they were little with their parents and now they’re all grown up.”

Delby said she’s worked for the past 40 years and is looking forward to having a summer off.

“And then, who knows, if I get sick of not working, I might go find a part-time job. Things have changed here over they years though. When I first started, we did all the paperwork. We did everything by paper in the back office.

“And then all of a sudden we got a computer. And then all of a sudden we got a handheld. And then all of a sudden we got scanners.

“Like I said, I’m going to miss the employees and the customers but not getting up at 3.30 a.m. In fact, I deleted my alarm today. It’ll be fun to be on that side of the counter.”