Poll worker honored for service to six county clerks

Veteran poll worker Noble Fry (third from right) is honored for his 41 years of service to the voters of Putnam County. Fry has worked for six different county clerks, including former clerks (from left) Sharon Hammond, Nancy Michael, Opal Sutherlin and Marty Watts, as well as current Clerk Heather Gilbert and Voter Registration Clerk Stacia Hathaway. Fry served his first several years for late County Clerk Glenn Deem. (Banner Graphic/Jared Jernagan)

Voters in Roachdale will have a unique treat when they go to the polls.

Not only will they be helping shape the direction of their town for the next four years, but they will also witness a victory lap of sorts for a longtime Putnam County poll worker.

Noble Fry has worked at the polls in Putnam County since 1974. Tuesday will mark his final election, and even getting him to that point took some doing.

"I said after the last election (2014), that was it," Fry said. "Then a certain lady called me up and asked if I'd be the inspector in Roachdale."

That certain lady was fellow election worker Carolyn Jones, also of Roachdale, who eventually convinced Fry to come back.

"She said, 'We'll do all the legwork, you can do the paperwork,'" Fry said at a recent poll workers training session, before adding with a laugh, "but I had to walk downtown for this today."

Fry's final election will be his first and only working for Putnam County Clerk Heather Gilbert, bringing the total number of clerks he has served to six.

He started in 1974 when the late Glenn Deem was the county clerk. Subsequently, he served Sharon Hammond (1979-86), Nancy Michael (1987-90), Marty Watts (1991-98), Opal Sutherlin (1999-2006), Watts again (2007-2014) and now Gilbert (2015).

In a surprise presentation to Fry on Thursday, the five living clerks, along with Voter Registration Clerk Stacia Hathaway, gathered during the training session on Thursday, posing as fellow election workers until Gilbert made an announcement.

"We have a very special person in our audience today," Gilbert said before asking Fry to come forward.

The five living clerks then gathered around Fry as Gilbert presented him with a plaque "for his lifelong service and dedication to the voters of Putnam County."

Fry shared memories of each one, singling out Sutherlin, who spearheaded the effort when the county modernized its voting machines to the computerized versions that have streamlined the process for poll workers and the clerk's office.

Born on a farm east of Greencastle, Fry has lived in Putnam county most of his life. He describes himself as a "semi-retired farmer" who has milked cows for 50 years. He and wife Edith reside in rural Roachdale.

He has served as a 4-H leaders, on the Putnam County Youth Development Commission board and on a number of county committees. Noble and Edith have been members of the Putnam County Farm Bureau since 1952.

"I've never held office in the county. I've always been a volunteer," Fry said.

The volunteerism may not come to an end on Tuesday evening, but one chapter of it will when the election workers of Franklin North precinct turn in their results to Gilbert and her deputies.

"I have enjoyed being the inspector for a long time," Fry said.