By Robert Williams

Editor

A month ago, Kerry Ingberg was hired to fill the manager opening at the Vergas Liquor Store. 

“This is a totally new challenge for me,” Ingberg said.

Ingberg is a Vergas native via her mother Janet (Moe) Scott, having spent much of her childhood in the village, but grew up and graduated high school in Barnesville.

Kerry went to post-secondary school at the Detroit Lakes Area Vocational Technical Institute and began working at PRO Resources in DL, where she was employed for 27 years.

Kerry met her future husband Dave Ingberg at a Frazee street dance. The couple settled in Vergas on Loon Lake and have been married for the past 27 years. Dave owns an auto body shop between Dent and Vergas.

Looking for a change, Kerry took 18 months off after PRO and began car detailing on the side.

The opening at the liquor store presented itself after former manager Kyle Theisen moved down the street to open Full Spectrum Dispensary.

“A couple people in town said, ‘Hey, I’ve got the perfect job for you,’ and I was like, no, I might lose my freedom,” Ingberg laughed. “Actually, this has been fun and challenging and I look forward to many more years here.”

Kerry is a self-admitted workaholic. During her years at PRO, she also moonlighted, nearly full-time, at Billy’s Corner Bar & Grill in the early and mid-2000s.

“I worked seven-days-a-week if I could,” she said.

Obviously, Ingberg will continue her auto detailing business while running the liquor store after having built up a sizable clientele list the past year-and-a-half. As two jobs is quite a normal thing for her, getting up to speed at the liquor store has come relatively easy thanks to her fellow employees and city staff.

“I have a great team that I work with and they’re helping me along the way,” she said. “It is a learning curve.”

Kerry has been working at the liquor store for approximately a month and one of the first things she noticed was the local support of the store.

“We have a great town; all the locals are here and people that drive by and come in that I’ve been meeting that are longtime customers, so it’s good,” said Ingberg.

She only had a few short weeks before having to plan for the biggest week of the year—Looney Days.

“One of the beer truck drivers came in to see how we were doing and stayed here, off the clock, to help stock our beer cooler,” she said. “He was here for a solid two to three hours. He was amazing and it was so helpful.”

Ingberg said business was nonstop during the festival and stayed steady until late afternoon.

Looney Days was a good practice run for Ole’s Ride next weekend, an event Kerry knows firsthand.

“I’ve never missed a ride but I’m going to miss it this year,” Ingberg said. 

Along with motorcycles, and a constant second job, Ingberg does relax every now and then enjoying lake activities around her home.