Willis and Theresa Bieberle just may hold the record for the longest number of years as Great Bend Tribune subscribers. The Great Bend couple have taken the paper for 67 years, “ever since we were married,” Willis said.

They now live in  Great Bend but they lived in Claflin when Willis worked for Northern Natural Gas in Bushton. His job later took him to Beaver, Oklahoma. In all, he worked for Northern Natural Gas for 35 years before retiring. Then they moved back to Kansas, settling in Great Bend.

They stopped by the Great Bend Tribune on August 17 to renew their subscription at a discounted price during the newspaper’s 146th-anniversary celebration. Those who dropped by that week were also treated to Dairy Queen ice cream.

“We enjoyed the ice cream,” Willis said.

“We had the Tribune by mail (in Oklahoma) so we could keep up on what’s going on here,” Theresa said. They still like to read about people – obituaries, weddings, babies, etc. – to see if there’s news about anyone they know.

Willis will be 90 years old on Oct. 15 and Theresa is two years younger.

As to whether or not they hold the record for the longest subscription to the Tribune, our computer system doesn’t go back to the 1900s. We’d love to hear from any other long-time subscribers.