Canadian University Press Releases/Newswire

Source: McMaster University
http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=4277

Years of Service Awards honour long-serving employees

October 12, 2006

by
Susan Bubak
October 12, 2006

Alicia Ryznyk began working at McMaster soon after immigrating to Canada
from Poland more than 40 years ago. The library assistant was one of 174
employees honoured for their contribution to McMaster at the 2006 Years of
Service Recognition Awards Ceremony.

"In one word, it's a blessing," said Ryznyk of the honour.

Ryznyk was one of four employees recognized for their 40 years of service at
McMaster. The 174 employees dedicated between 15 and 40 years of their
working lives to McMaster.

Sixty-five employees worked at McMaster for 15 years, 65 worked for 20
years, 29 worked for 30 years and 11 worked for 35 years.

David Watters started working at McMaster as a teenager. Forty years later,
he now works in Materials Handling and Trucking in the Department of
Physical Plant, where he transports audio visual equipment around campus.

"It's an honour to be here for 40 years," he said.

Before joining Materials Handling and Trucking, Watters began working in the
grounds department, followed by the carpentry shop.

When asked about his favourite memory of working at McMaster, he replied,
"There are so many, I couldn't name them all."

photo caption

Barbara Zingel has worked at McMaster for 30 years, most of which she spent
as a cataloguer in the library's bibliographic services. She currently works
at the Mills Memorial Library.

Zingel marveled at the advances made in library sciences over her 30-year
career.

"We started with catalogue cards and manual filing," she explained. "Now
we're very wired. Everything is electronic."

David Kidney began working at Classroom Audio Visual Services after
graduating from McMaster's fine arts program more than 30 years ago. He
described his job as "lots of fun" and the "people are great."

His colleague, Katherine Philp, has been working at the School of Geography
& Earth Sciences for the past 30 years.

"The students keep you young," said Philp.

Kidney agreed: "The students are always the same age, so you feel
young.