In 1982, then Windham County Sheriff Bill Graham hired Holly Ellis as a part-time dispatcher. Graham would have known Holly as a girl because he had grown up with her father in Putney. In fact, Holly’s father, Ken Ellis from Putney (and her mother Shirley Stomberg - originally from Wisconsin), were both well-known to Sherrif Graham growing up. So, in 1982, when the previous day-shift dispatcher, Nancy Kent, moved up to the Office Manager position, Graham hired Holly to replace Kent full-time. In May, 2024, 42 years later, Holly will soon be retiring from her role as an administrative assistant in the Sheriff’s Department now located on Old Ferry Road.
Holly was born 1959 at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital but grew up in Putney; she still lives in the house where she grew up with her husband, Marc. After graduating in 1975 from BUHS – “with all A’ and B’s” – she attended UVM for a year and a half “searching for direction.” She left Burlington before the end of her second year to start office work for Vermont National Bank Operations Center on Putney Road in Brattleboro when Rick Hashagen was president. After awhile she moved to Bellows Falls Trust in Putney. But her solid path emerged when, that day in 1982, she received a visit from Sheriff Graham and was hired. She has worked in the Sheriff’s Department ever since: first on Rte. 30, then in what is in fact the location of the old county jail in Newfane for the many years, and now here on Old Ferry Road in (to them) brand new roomy and serviceable headquarters.
“For the past several years I have been Administrative Assistant to Sheriff Mark Anderson. I compile the crime data that gets reported to the state or federal government. I interact with the public, communicate with attorneys or members of the public regarding civil matters and assist people obtaining public records. I manage correspondence between members of the public, and users of our department. I’ve done this for so long I feel comfortable with what it entails. And I’m always aware of how a family or an individual may be impacted by these proceedings. And I put the strength I have to do this challenging job down to my parents who taught us kids to take care of ourselves.” (As I interviewed her over an hour and a half -she dressed in a shirt and slacks, not a uniform - I became increasingly aware of the clear, calm self-assurance from a person who looked me straight in the eye. There was no self-doubt in those eyes and no self-importance either.)
When Holly first started in 1982, the record-keeping system available to her largely gathered around 3”x5” and 5”x7” index cards or maybe a tiny computer screen with a green screen. “Now the computer has utterly changed how I do my work keeping my records, communicating instantaneously. Since around 2003, they have become absolutely essential and make me so much more efficient.
“The computer ushered in a whole new way of working for me. I’m never far from my phone either. I have to frequently reset passwords for all kinds of programs we use, for example. And a lot of information – much of it deeply personal - crosses my desk and every single bit has to be utterly protected. That’s often hard for people to understand. Maybe I can answer their questions but often not. I am a gatekeeper for private information.
“I also volunteered for the Putney Fire Department in the late 80’s and early 90’s. With a fire blazing somewhere or another in our region, the fire chief would call asking me to alert The Red Cross, Green Mountain Power, Mutual Aid or an ambulance service, the state or town Highway Department…. I’ve even gone to a local store to get food to make sandwiches for firemen as they put out a fire.”
In 1985, Holly took a deeper dive into her profession. She graduated from the Vermont Police Academy as a part-time officer. This gave her a deeper understanding of the work the deputies she works with carry out day in and day out. “I also did some road details – transporting prisoners, for example…. I also helped provide site security as a Deputy Sheriff. I was part of the crew that oversaw security at the Volvo Tennis Tournament one year as well as The LPGA golf tournament and snowboard championships, all at Stratton Mountain. I’ve met tennis players Andre Agassi, John McInroe, and Ivan Lendl at Stratton, even Tammy Wynette at The Landmark College Campus way back when. But today, I’m pretty tied to my office.” For just over 33 years, she held certification as a part-time Deputy Sheriff.
The biggest change for Holly came in August, 2022. The Windham County Side Judges purchased this property wholly serviceable but vacant office building on Old Ferry Road and The Windham County Sheriff’s Department moved here. “We now have 35 employees – 26 officers, 6 dispatch staff, 2 office staff – one of them, me.
“My focus now is largely on what is known as civil process. This is a function that ensures legal documents are properly served between people involved in civil court cases to help resolve issues between tenants and landlords, creditors and debtors, office of child support, neighbors, and businesses.”
“And because of the instantaneous communication and fact-finding capacity of today’ computer systems, I am very efficient. I can go to my computer and all the information I need – law enforcement records, court records, license plate and vehicle records, everything - is instantaneously available. When an officer on the road calls in a vehicle stop, even before he or she leaves the patrol car, I can provide precise information about the history of the owner of that vehicle so the officer can protect himself or herself.
“And that brings up one last thing about me and women in this world of law enforcement. When I first started, the world of police officers was a male dominated world and I felt very alone to begin with. But I had grown up with two older brothers (one of whom is Russ Ellis who lives today in Putney) and three boy cousins my age in the same town. I learned early on how to manage myself in a male world. Over the last 10-15 years, more and more women are becoming officers. And that’s a good thing all around. We deal with male and female perpetrators every day. With more and more female officers there is more balance and understanding.”
This is one of a series of some 30 profiles of working people from southern Vermont and adjacent New Hampshire that I wrote and then published in the Brattleboro Reformer newspaper every Friday from Jan 1 - May 30. Do the same with your local newspaper.