As the Hillsboro Dairy Queen opened for the season this month, Sharon Herdman is beginning her 25th year working there.

Her future daughter-in-law told her that the owner needed help almost 25 years ago, so Herdman came in and she’s been there ever since.

“I do just everything in the store,” she said. “It helps to have a great manager, and I like the kids who work here.”

She said she plans to keep working at the Dairy Queen as long as she can. “I told Ron [the owner], I couldn’t put in another 25 years, but I’ll be here until I just can’t work anymore.”

The job has given her an appreciation for ice cream. “I used to not like ice cream, but now I like ice cream pretty good,” she said. “I like getting out of the house; I don’t like sitting in the house.”

Herdman’s manager, Mindy Gall, said she appreciates Herdman’s abilities. “I never have to worry about anything, and I don’t have to tell her to do anything because she’s always got it done,” said Gall. “She knows everything there is to do, and she’s a hard worker — a good worker.”

Gall hasn’t had any other employees with Herdman’s staying power. “When we hired her and she first started, she was here a couple of weeks, and I had the young girls come tell me that they didn’t like her because she worked too hard and she was making them look bad, but she’s been here ever since, and they’re all gone,” said Gall.

The Hillsboro Dairy Queen closes each November and reopens in February.

Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.