It isn’t very often that we get to celebrate the service of a 40-year employee. In this day and age of climbing the corporate ladder or the “mobile” workforce, we are impressed with the 20- or 30-year employee. But someone working 40 years with one employer just doesn’t come around that often.
With this edition of OC magazine, I want to celebrate someone.
Kim Dillon joined OCA on Dec. 10, 1984. She is that cheerful voice on the other end of the phone line when you call into the office. She is that smile and welcome when you walk through the door at 1313 Dublin Road.
Over the past 40 years at OCA, Kim has seen many changes. An office move (we haven’t always been at 1313 Dublin Road); 40 different Chairs of the Board; only two Association Presidents (thankfully for me); happy members; a few not-so-happy members; and guests – both invited and uninvited – with their stories to tell her. The front desk is the social hub for OCA staff. Many family stories, both happy and tragic, have been told across that wooden countertop. Many of the world’s problems have also been solved (if anyone would have just listened to us).
As we all know, when running a business, it is those individuals that remain on the home front day after day that are the true glue which keeps the wheels intact and turning and aren’t talked about in meetings. These individuals don’t get their name published in anything other than the “staff list;” they often snag the slings and arrows that may be heading our way; they get people to the right individuals within the organization; they know the good and bad of every office. That is Kim. A person doing the things that need to be done in the quiet ways that work.
Besides her administrative assistant and receptionist duties, a little-known fact is that Kim provided the janitorial services for the building. Those duties, though, have never been subscribed to Kim. Everyone, including herself, credited “Flo” with keeping our building clean. It has always been: “Can Flo do this?” or “Can Flo do that?” There was always that one weekday evening or Saturday where the thorough cleaning gets done, but Flo is, really, always on duty.
In the lobby at OCA, near the front desk, is a 2-foot-x-1½-foot whiteboard on an easel with all the staff names down the left side and “IN,” “OUT” and the hours of the day across the top. It’s OCA’s version of an attendance sheet. It predates my 18 years. Each morning as we come in, a round magnetic disk is slid to “IN” and, when we leave, that disk is slid to “OUT.” If the employee will be returning at some time that day, the disk is slid to the anticipated time of return. It’s our way of letting Kim know how to direct calls. It has been her job to remove and add names to that board. She has seen many names on the list come and go over the years. It’s going to be very hard to see “Kim D.” not on that board.
In typical Kim fashion, she was adamant that no public event be held in recognition of her years of service. Whenever I broached the subject, she said she gets a huge lump in her chest, and she just didn’t know how she could ever get through it. I wasn’t going to put her through that. But to just give her a quiet thank you for all that she’s done for you, by serving at OCA, is the kind of recognition that she will appreciate most.
Kim has had a wonderful career here at OCA. She has made many friends. She has served our members well. We pray her well-deserved retirement years are filled with the joys of family, maintaining many of those OCA friendships, and whatever else may fill her heart with happiness.
Thanks, Kim!
