FRANKFORT, Ky. –
If you have ever needed a snack, drink, uniform addition, or just curious what deals were to be had on your favorite bourbon, you have had the pleasure of meeting Alice Wilson, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service shopette annex manager.
She is better known to those who work and drill on Boone Center as Ms. Alice.
END OF AN ERA
Alice has been employed by AAFES for almost 26 years. She started as an intermittent part-time associate in a troop store at Fort Knox back when there was still a basic training program there.
“I worked there for a little while until I gained a full-time job at the main [post exchange], where I worked for several years in various positions,” said Alice.
In 2015, she saw the position for annex manager come open in Frankfort and applied for it. Her experience at Knox gave her the confidence needed to handle a store by herself. She had the skills, but she would be faced with new challenges.
“I had to be the manager, the cashier, the stocker, custodial worker and reorder associate,” she says with a chuckle when asked about her job title.
Alice then dedicated herself to the Soldiers, Airmen and civilians visiting Boone Center. Her patronage has meant a lot to those who frequented her shopette, and her hard work never went unnoticed by her bosses.
“She’s always done an outstanding job,” said AAFES general manager, Donald Basil. “It’s not easy being a one-man band, but she did this very well and became well known in the community at Boone Center.”
Originally from Indiana, she lived there until she got married to someone in the military with whom she moved around with until he got out and settled down at Fort Knox.
She has three children, and two are in the military. Her oldest son, currently stationed in Germany, has served in the Air Force for 18 years. Her other son served locally in the Kentucky National Guard, while her daughter is serving Hardin County as a schoolteacher there.
Now that the shoppette has closed, Alice is keeping her options open.
“I’m looking for another job here locally so I can stay in the community,” she added. “I’m not ready to retire yet.”
Alice will be missed by all who have come to know her, and we wish her the best as she moves on to something new.