ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
County employees recognized for work
Frederick named Employee of the Year
Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL
Calvert County Sheriff’s Office Dfc. Craig Johnson accepts his five-year service award from the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners Tuesday at the annual employee service awards reception at Calvert Pines Senior Center in Prince Frederick.
More News
More than 145 county employees were recognized for their work and dedication Tuesday at the Calvert County Annual Employee Service Awards.
The employees were recognized for their years of service and the Employee of the Year recipient, Maureen Frederick, was announced.
“It’s a huge honor,” Frederick said of being selected “from so many great employees.”
Frederick was awarded Employee of the Month last April for her work as interim clerk to the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners when her supervisor, who normally held that position, was on extended leave.
“She basically filled in for her supervisor for about 16 weeks,” said Mark Willis, a member of the Employee Recognition Committee who presented the award. “She did it in such a fashion that the board was impressed and her supervisor was impressed.”
Frederick began working for the county in 2009 as a temporary employee and was hired permanently in August 2009 in the BOCC office. Frederick was appointed clerk to the BOCC on Jan. 3, to replace Corinne Cook, who served in the position for seven years. Prior to her work at the county, she held other administrative positions and served in the U.S. Army.
Frederick’s primary responsibility as clerk to the BOCC is to coordinate the commissioners’ agenda, acting as liaison with county department heads and outside agencies to schedule business items and presentations to the board. She also is in charge of maintaining official records.
Willis described Frederick as dedicated, enthusiastic, responsible and a team player.
“So, Maureen is standing here as Employee of the Year because of her dedication to doing her job and the job that we require all of our employees to do, and that is, when necessary, go above and beyond,” he said.
Of the 147 county employees recognized for their years of service with county government, 59 were five-year award recipients; 43 were 10-year award recipients; 12 were 15-year award recipients; 11 were 20-year award recipients; 15 were 25-year award recipients; six were 30-year award recipients; and there was one 35-year award recipient: Francis Jones.
Willis explained that Jones was hired in a way that would make today’s personnel department “cringe.”
“Francis was hired by Mr. Gorman Buckler … who wanted another laborer worker to work at the Barstow Landfill, so what he did was, he sent Mr. Clarence Hall by Francis’ house and asked him if he wanted to work at the landfill. And Francis said, ‘Well, sure. Yeah,’ So, he said Francis could start tomorrow and that’s what happened,” Willis said.
Jones was hired in August 1977 as a laborer working landfill maintenance. Today, he serves as the operations supervisor for the solid waste division.
“Thinking back 35 years ago, it was a long road, a very long road. I want to thank the county for allowing me to participate and work with the county for so many years, and hopefully, I’ll get another 10 or 20 more years in,” Jones said, laughing.
Jones said Wednesday that in his years of working with the county, one the biggest changes he’s seen is transporting the trash out of the county rather than burying it. The other thing he said that has changed during his time has been the creation of a recycling program with the county.
“I was the 180th person to work for the county. There are over 5,000 employees there now,” Jones said during a phone interview Wednesday. “There’s been a lot of people that have come and gone.”