February Employee of The Month – Ralph “Butch” Keffer

I would like to nominate Ralph “Butch” Keffer for the distinction of Employee of the Month for February 2022.  In simplest terms, Butch is always where you need him to be, when you need him to be there.  Butch is one of those folks, who pride themselves in being a helper in every situation.  This is a daily practice for Butch, but I would like to share one recent example.  During snow removal duties, Butch stands extra tall as he goes about his mission of snow removal.  He takes the role very seriously, as all our crew does.  But Butch assumes the added role of ‘set up’ man for now removal duties.  On the snow event at the beginning of this month.  I coordinated with Butch the timing the snow would likely begin to be an issue for motorists.  We planned to come in to work an hour before that time (to get equipment prepared), approximately 3:00 a.m.  Butch said “great, I’ll be there at 2:00 a.m. and get all the plow trucks started, warmed up and loaded with salt”.  So, that means he volunteered to come in an hour early, during the middle of the night, and have everything functional and warmed up and ready when the remainder of the crew gets here, still before the snow is having serious impact.  During our most recent snow event, on the Sunday before Martin Luther King’s birthday/holiday, Butch reported in during the morning, as we had a black ice event.  That crew worked about 4.5 hours to salt streets.  After that, they all went home to rest, as the larger snow event was forecast for just before midnight that night.  Butch reported back to work at 10:00 p.m. with that shift of men, myself included, and we plowed and salted until approximately 7:00 a.m., Monday, when the crew from the early Sunday morning event returned to take over and battle the snow event through the afternoon on Dr. King’s birthday/holiday.  Again, Butch was the first in on my shift (10:00 p.m.), had all the plow trucks warmed and loaded with salt and ready for duty.  Butch is a selfless, giving and generous man, and a pleasure to work alongside.  He volunteers for duty always, never complains and does a fantastic job.  In these short paragraphs, I can only scratch the surface of what a great crew of men I am honored to serve with.  Ralph “Butch” Keffer, being one of the best of the best.  For these reasons, I feel Ralph “Butch” Keffer deserves the honor and distinction of Employee of the Month for February 2022.  

 

Thank you, Butch Keffer! You are appreciated!