Deerfield Woman Still Welcomes New Residents In Person

The Welcome Wagon company known for greeting new residents in-person for decades did away with the practice in 1998, instead sending new neighbors business coupons and welcomes through the mail.

But the old-fashioned welcome hasn’t ceased in the village of Deerfield, which has employed former Welcome Wagon representative Nadine Menacker on a contract basis for the last 17 years to give new residents what she had for 21 years with Welcome Wagon - an in-person hello.

The Deerfield Review tells the story of Menacker, who estimates she has paid visits to more than 6,000 new residents of the village that is only home to 18,200.

Among the reflections of Menacker’s career are from retired village staffer Char O’Donnell, who helped ensure Menacker would be the village’s official greeter even after Welcome Wagon opted not to continue with the tradition.

“She came in one devastating day and announced that Welcome Wagon was no longer in business,” O’Donnell said. “I went in to the village manager and to the finance director, and begged that we pick her up as the village greeter.”

Seventeen years, and some thousand new residents later, Menacker is still among the first faces a new resident sees in Deerfield. She provides basic information about municipal necessities such as trash pickup, vehicle stickers and a list of important phone numbers and also talks about the amenities available nearby to those relocating from outside of the region.

Officially, Menacker works through her own business, Home Greeting Cart, but is paid by the village.

more via the Deerfield Review

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