Miller hits 50-year milestone at Der Dutchman Restaurant
Now bakery retail manager, Rosy Miller has worked for Der Dutchman Restaurant in Walnut Creek for 50 years.
It was early spring in 1973 when Shirley Lehman knocked on the door at the home of Anna and Henry Yoder just west of Walnut Creek on state Route 39.
Shirley’s husband, Dan Lehman, was managing the new Der Dutchman Restaurant. The restaurant was doing well and the Lehmans needed more employees. Sue Coblentz was working as a server and mentioned to Shirley that Anna and Henry had several daughters, including Rosy, who might be old enough to work outside the home. That was the purpose of Shirley’s visit and it marked the beginning of Rosy’s 50 years of employment and experiences at Der Dutchman Restaurant in Walnut Creek.
“The day Shirley Lehman came to our home, if someone had said, ‘This is what you’ll be doing for the next 50 years’ I don’t think I would have believed it, or even wanted to begin,” Miller said. “I never dreamed it would be 50 years before I gave a thought to leaving Dutchman.”
While Miller is stepping back from her full-time duties, she will stay on the job several hours a week on an “as needed” basis.
In March 1973, the restaurant had been open for four years when Miller started wearing the blue dress and white apron that was the Der Dutchman server uniform. As word spread about their family-style meals and pies, business steadily increased and the first expansion of the dining room had already been completed.
From 1973 to 1993, Miller worked as a server in the Der Dutchman dining room and assisted with serving banquets in the basement of the restaurant. Looking back, it is difficult to believe guests were actually delighted to come down the stairs into the cramped basement and enjoy a meal in rather tight quarters with low ceilings, paneled walls, and limited restroom space.
Preparing tables and serving groups of up to 200 in the basement meant multiple trips up and down the narrow stairs from the dining room to the basement. The food was prepared in the main kitchen and sent to the basement using a dumbwaiter. Clearing tables meant sending tubs of dirty dishes upstairs via the dumbwaiter and of course, there were those times when the dumbwaiter failed and everything needed was carried down the stairs and the cleanup process meant carrying everything up the stairs.
When the beautiful new Carlisle Inn Walnut Creek opened in 1993, the banquet room on the ground floor was an amazing venue change for Der Dutchman banquets. People came from all over to enjoy the meals and great service provided at Carlisle Inn. That year, Miller made the change as well, becoming a banquet server at Carlisle Inn, and eventually becoming the banquet manager.
There were many years when an October Saturday meant preparing for and serving 25-30 motor coach groups with 45-50 people per coach. Set up started early Saturday morning with the first group served at 11 a.m. but the staff didn’t go home until late that evening after efficiently serving approximately 1,500 people throughout the day. The days flew by. It was exhausting work, but the banquet servers were a tight-knit group that worked together like a well-oiled machine and as Rosy will tell you, they consistently supported one another – something she experienced first-hand when she battled cancer.
In 2010, Miller transitioned from banquet manager to bakery retail manager, a position she has held for almost 13 years. When asked about any stories she had from her time at Der Dutchman, she laughed and said, “I think wearing a mask during the COVID pandemic was one of the worst things that happened in the 50 years I’ve been here”
Miller worked under general managers Dan Lehman, Joe Miller, Ivan Miller, Art Hamsher, and Tracy Houze. Now, she is looking forward to some leisurely Saturdays and more time with her grandson. “For 50 years, I’ve worked on Saturdays because that was always part of my job; but I’m ready for that to change,” she said.
“Dutchman has been a great company to work for and I’m grateful for my long-term career, but working with people that have become my life-long friends is one of the main reasons I stayed,” Miller added. :While working at Dutchman, I have created life-long friendships and those friends have been with me through many seasons of life, including supporting me through my battle with cancer.
“The relationships have been the best part of the past 50 years. I enjoy interacting with customers and co-workers. Those interactions have enriched my life.”