It’s possible that Perry residents may have noticed there were fewer City employees out and about Wednesday during midday, and that’s because most of them were at the annual Safety and Employee Appreciation Day.
The event was held in the Police Department’s sally port, and it was once again organized and emceed by Assistant Public Works Director Josh Wuebker. The festivities started with Perry Mayor John Andorf welcoming everyone and thanking them for all they do. Finance Director Susie Moorhead then went over the claims from the last year, saying on the whole the City had a very healthy 2018-19. New this year, there was an address from Auby Ninemire, the Safety Coordinator for Vermeer Manufacturing in Pella. He went over the tornado that hit their plant last year, and talked about how their successes and learning moments from the incident can be applied to a municipality like Perry.
The City department heads then recognized all the employees, with those celebrating milestones getting certificates of appreciation. That was coupled with raffle drawings and lunch provided by El Tren, and Wuebker said honoring workers that way each year is very important. “We did have some employees get recognized for several years, one was 35 years, another was 30 years. So just for them to be around for the City that long was really a great thing. And (we) had a lot of businesses around town donate gifts and different stuff to our employees, so that was really, really nice. And I think the employees just really appreciate (the event), (it’s a) good time to get together and actually see some of the people that they may see in the streets but not know their names or whatever. So yeah, (it was) really successful!”
After lunch, the attendees were updated by City Administrator Sven Peterson and Community and Economic Development Director Mike Fastenau on what’s new in the City. The event wrapped up by the annual presentation by Dallas County Emergency Medical Services Director Mike Thomason and some of his crew on how to handle certain emergencies.
