Recognition was the day’s theme as the City of Moose Jaw honoured dozens of employees with service awards and thanked several who are retiring.
The municipality held an awards luncheon on Dec. 6 at the Events Centre to recognize 24 people — with 458 years of combined employment — including 15 employees for years of service, eight for retirement and one for a special achievement award.
Appreciation of staff
Mayor Clive Tolley thanked staff for attending since it was a good occasion to recognize their service and to socialize. He noted that public criticism can sometimes make their jobs difficult, but city administration and city council appreciate their work.
“I just want to remind everybody to watch each other’s back. Take care of each other, be kind to each other, look after your teammates, look after yourself and try and enjoy your work … ,” he added.
City manager Maryse Carmichael said employees are at the heart of municipal operations, something she discovered after visiting every department when she started. She also lauded them for leaving a positive mark on the community.
“I see your passion for the work that you do for this city. And for that, I’m grateful and I’m honoured … ,” she added.
15 years
Staff whom the city recognized for their 15 years included Jesslyn Moore from finance; Jared Mickleborough and Koel Nerland from the fire department (absent from the luncheon); Sherry Ward from human resources; Nigel Lang from information technology (absent); Taylor Dobrescu, Kim Elkin (absent) and April Rubbelke from parks and recreation; and Justine Deets from public works and utilities (absent).
20 years
Staff whom the city recognized for their 20 years of service included Kathy Abbott and Allison Saemann (absent) from parks and recreation, and Dan Chapman from public works and utilities (absent).
25 years
Staff whom the city recognized for their 25 years of service included Curtis Beler with the fire department.
30 years
Staff whom the city recognized for their 30 years of service included Neil Willford from public works and utilities.
40 years
Staff whom the city recognized for their 40 years of service included Sharlene Pascoe from finance (absent).
Retirements
Retiring staff whom the city recognized included Shannon Drake (absent; nearly 14 years) and Brenda Hendrickson in finance (almost 24 years); Chris Ozog (absent; 34 years) with the fire department; Bob Duchak over 38 years) and Daily Lennox (absent; 24 years) with parks and recreation; Les Coglin (absent; over 15 years) and Mark Stevenson from public works and utilities( roughly 10 years); and Darryl Howse (absent; 18 years) from transit.
Special achievement award
The city recognized Stephanie Meyer with the special achievement award.
This award honours an employee who has contributed to the City of Moose Jaw or the community. The employee is to have provided exemplary service and dedication to the municipality or have extensive community involvement as a volunteer.
Hendrickson, the former city treasurer, presented the award to Meyer and described her co-worker as someone who is incredibly energetic, determined, can complete a voluminous number of tasks quickly, is helpful, team-focused and enjoys volunteering.
Further, Meyer works full-time while acquiring her diploma in accounting and is completing her Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) certification.
“Her thirst for knowledge and learning has brought her a long way and she has been a huge benefit to the city,” added Hendrickson. “… (Meyer) is one the future leaders of this city as both an employee and as a citizen.”
Meyer said she was surprised to receive the accolade but appreciated her peers voting for her. She also appreciated Hendrickson presenting the honour since the latter hired her 13 years ago.
Meyer recalled Hendrickson telling her that she was “too smart to stay where you are” and to make a career plan and stick with it. She now feels she is where she should be in life.
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