Election season is quickly approaching, and it is the job of poll workers at area polling places to make sure the process goes smoothly.

Little Hocking resident Agnes Rose spent more than 45 years as a poll worker in Belpre and Little Hocking and says she enjoyed every minute of the responsibility. She was one of several people honored recently at a poll worker recognition ceremony in Marietta.

Question: How did you come to be a poll worker?

Answer: I remember my son was in kindergarten in Belpre and he's 54 now so I guess it's been over 40 years. I don't quite remember. But I had been working at State Farm for eight years and they moved the business. My husband didn't want to have a sitter so they said I could bring my son to work. But I didn't want to do that so I quit and took the job as a poll worker because it was right there at the school. I had always worked somewhere, though, since I was a kid.

Q: What did you like most about the job?

A: I just like to get out and see people. I met a lot of people in my precinct that way. I've always been active in different things but had to give a lot of it up (due to health issues). I would have loved to have stayed, but I was getting to the point where I couldn't do some things. I retired from being a poll worker in 2007. There was nothing I disliked about the job. We were always busy, so the time went fast and I got to talk with the other poll workers.

Q: Have you always been interested in politics?

A: Oh yes. I was 21 the first time I voted. And I voted for Truman because I liked "The Buck Stops Here." I've always been interested to a certain extent. But now... I can't really read about what's going on.

Q: Would you recommend the job to others?

A: I think it's wonderful that people still do it. It's important that we all know what's going on in the world.

Erin O'Neill conducted the interview.