 Good afternoon folks. I feel so powerful. I just said a few words and everyone sort of turned and quieted down Welcome folks. This is our 43rd annual employee recognition event. Thank you for being here. My name is Greg McGrath I am on your 18th of a one-year plan. I'm sorry for those of you that heard that joke this morning And and happy and privileged to be here many years ago Maybe not that many years ago a few years ago a friend and colleague of mine and ours Dave Meghita Was our chief administrative officer and it worked here for many years and I saw him get very excited at this event to share Recognition for several of our employees of our family members And I think now after having been here for 18 years and to have this privilege to stay in here with you folks today And to be a part of this and to know so many of the names of our colleagues and friends that we're going to recognize I Share that excitement and so this is wonderful, and I thank you for being here Thank you, I look forward to this and kudos to each of you who's going to get recognition tonight Even some right retirees some folks who've left Norwich have come back and join us Very excited to see you. Thank you for joining us We're going to start with the K Bowen recognition And so I'd like to ask President and rumo to come up and join us sir if you'd come up on stage Thanks, correct So we're gonna do the formal part of the program here in a moment But I want to thank everybody for being here with a nice turnout. It's been a very nice day Hasn't it who won cornhole by the way? You feel like you might have that's not very authoritative. Yes, okay? All right, cornhole is a team effort apparently I'm going to hold my comments otherwise So I haven't seen most of you often enough, and I'm very sorry for that But I did learn when I took the job that my purpose was to be on the road to support the school build up constituencies and to Generate support for the fine school. So I've been gone. I think I've been gone for seven of the last eight weeks I won't be back for a day or two at a time But you know being present is really important and for me. It's it's like How do I be present for everyone all the time and it's impossible and I got to learn a terrible lesson of sometimes you It's inevitable with the disappoint somebody So I'm going to tell everybody really quickly So I was on the road and I diverted my trip to last night get to central Maine and watch women's hockey because they made the NCAA tournament They won a the the conference championship at Almyra. I learned the back way to get to Almyra I almost died five times But we got to watch the game and they did such an incredible effort and it was so meaningful that the parents were there We had other members of the faculty and staff there and it just meant a lot for them So that was pretty beautiful. So I I diverted last night flew into Maine. I've never been to Maine before I've learned that it's very large and I had to drive very far But it was a hard breaker, but they were they did very very well. They took a bus back late last night So I got back about three in the morning. I have to leave again Saturday and I'll be gone for another week, but I came back Really just for this Because I want you to hear me and see me say thank you to all of you for the great things You're doing all the time and this was a very special day and I got to see a lot of the of the wonderful events that happened and Apparently, I have to set the record straight on something that's critically important the name of the dog that we adopted Is Sally Rose not Sally Mae? I Don't know what happened. I don't know why that was a dramatic revelation But because the students named her if you recall her full name is Sabine Sally Rose the Rook of Woodbury Hall So next year, I hope they'll be a question and those of you that are here today can remember such a Celebration, but I'm going to ask somebody else to come up here in a second and share their their personal memories But before I do that, I want to say just another word or two of thanks to those that helped set today up Okay, and it's funny because I asked well who should I acknowledge and the person I'm going to knowledge first did not name herself She said well, please celebrate these people and make sure we get to mention how wonderful they were today So I do want to so that would be a serenity of course and I would like to all of us Show our appreciation for the great work. She did to help set the But of course she said please don't thank me in front of everyone She said please make sure you talk about Kyle Southworth and Laura Copley, so I want to acknowledge her if you two would please stand and let us celebrate you as a group Thank you for everything you did to make everything She hates when I do this, but I'm gonna say hi to Kathy. Hi. It's so nice to see you All right, so obviously I did not know Okay, but I've got to learn about her through everyone's memories of those who got to serve with her and just what an incredible Human being she was beyond being a great employee So it's funny when you get to learn somebody about someone's qualities through other people's memories Sometimes you get a really beautiful sense of who they were what they meant the institution Dave Oiley is going to come up here in a moment because he did know okay very well and last year we had a nice conversation About her and he shares his memories of her so beautifully that I wanted to make sure he could share with all of you So before I start Is there anyone in the room that has met K met K bone during her time, which is at north so B John did who's that? so Sheila did so only a few of us and Mrs. Bowen was We never called her K. I can tell you that She was a house mother Back in the day a little quaint phrase that she watched over Woodbury Hall when it was the junior class club So Flint Hall was for the sophomores Woodbury was for the juniors Robert's Hall was for the seniors and you can imagine the freshman got nothing and The K would take you under her wing right I mean Northfield hasn't changed much in that time nor which has but it was small 800-900 all males who and the only place you get TV was in Woodbury Hall Roberts Hall or Flint Hall and You would go there and gather you could share your Challenges with either grades home The Vermont College women the girlfriend at home whatever it might be and she was really what you would call a house mother and then when We did away with the class clubs. She started to work in student activities student life Career counseling and she continued to have a huge impact on then the men and women that were students at Norwich and Always a kind word always a spirit in her eye But she didn't take a whole lot of grief either she would call BS when it was BS and She made a difference in my life on some of the counseling I my parents lived fairly far away when I was here so there was no going home on weekends or even holidays and I will tell you the people that will receive the bone award today and Those that received it in the past and those that receive it in the future You're following the footsteps of a wonderful wonderful human being so thank you Dave very much You know it's funny you get named awards and you know the connection to why it's so meaningful sometimes the magic of it is lost So that's a thank you for that beautiful connection. Mr. Waley who will hear from here and again in a second or two so I do want to Ask previous winners of the ward because this is a nice connection to our past and what makes such a special institution So if you're a previous winner of the Bowen awards, you please stand to be recognized Thank you very much and just to add to what Dave offered from his very personal perspective Kay or Kathleen Bowen was an orchard employee who worked at Student Life for 35 years She lived on campus at Whitbury Hall, which is now of course the president's residence until she passed in June of 90 Her passing was a huge loss to the University faculty staff and those students who saw her as a mother and grandmother away from home The individuals we're going to celebrate here in a second bring to their jobs the spirit and characteristics that were epitomized by Kay Bowen Examples of those characteristics include kindness being a team player being effective at their job efficient and most importantly going above and beyond a Dedication to Norwich University and their department respectful Trustworthy accountable for their actions Excellent customer service participates in the Norwich community and represents Norwich in a professional and appropriate manner Ladies and gentlemen, we had a 31 nominees for these awards this year 31 So this is a moment that you know to get in for an award and to win an award You have to have a supervisor or a work section that cares enough to take care of their folks the right way So I do want to take the second and thank and acknowledge those supervisors and Co-workers who took the time to write 31 Nominations that shows the right compassion at a great level of leadership and care for your people So I get the now present these awards and I didn't know who these were until this paper was handed to me about 12 minutes ago So I'm going to ask these three people. There are three winners to come up We'll applaud as they walk up. I'm going to ask the individual to stand here so they can very awkwardly Stare upon all of you and you back at them while I read the citation of How they earn the award? So the first category is administrative support and the winner for this year is Charlene Campbell And every time there's a bow and award winner. It's the same reaction. What me? Favorite people have paws I'll go right up front. You got to get the full view of everyone Thank you mark So this is written from the perspective of her work center, so I'll read this for everyone Sherry has function as the glue that holds the career and internship center together She schedules all our appointments And she is usually the first person to greet students in our office as the face of the CIC Sherry does her best to accommodate each student's scheduling needs and does so with warmth and empathy She takes the time to talk with each student and gets the true understanding of their needs and their unique situation Often asking them about their home and family. She never complains about her job We're taking on more work to help the team. She truly makes me want to be a better leader She makes all of our constituents feel welcome special and supported even when she has a million things to do She has never asked for thanks But it is our turn now to thank her for her years of service and dedication to the campus community But also our external partners as well. Sherry takes care of us and it is now our turn to take care of her Clap her up. Okay. The second of the three categories is the manager or senior professional and administrative professional group and This year's awardee is Patrick Gardner. There are not enough ways to express how much Norwich loves Patrick Every single experience that has had with him has been top-notch He's a great communicator collaborator and problem solver if there is a protocol question Patrick is the person to go to Not only does he get you an answer He also gets you more than you asked for in order to help you make the proper and correct decision regarding any matter of question We have never heard Patrick say no to anything He is a team member through and through he can see the good in everything his positive attitude and smile are infectious We should all have Patrick's qualities He has earned the respect and admiration of many faculty staff students parents and alumni and the president Thank You Patrick for everything our final category for this year is service and the awardee this year is Michael Healy If you wear a coat like that you have to strut That is a nice coat Mike is a hard worker who never complains He takes pride in any and all tasks and insurers all tasks are completed and university is always looking its best Mike is always willing to help others and other departments He is thoughtful and kind to everyone who crosses his path. He takes pride in his work and it shows We are lucky to have Mike as a part of our team and as part of Norwich University Is a wonderful example of why Norwich is such a special place Thank You sir congratulations Patrick Michael and Sherry one more round of applause folks I talked very briefly about you know how special I think this is and the connection to our employees this morning We had the staff staff retreat day and Rebecca Schubert from the Green Mountain Higher Ed Consortium was here and talked about two things that she noted were Special about us why we all are here or stay here and it's you know our passion for supporting students Which in my role as dean of students? That's typically what I talk about what I would be excited about but in this context I was really enamored with the other point which was we're here for the people that were connected to the people And so what a special opportunity and it was very neat for me to hear Rebecca talk about that from the outside And that's what we're feeling and experiencing so without further ado. Let's recognize some more of our folks All right, I'm going to give some instructions here in a bit But for now here's an easy one who has developed in advance this year by way of completing a degree Anyone has completed a degree in the last year. Please stand to be recognized Folks are slowly standing quietly. All right. Congratulations. All right, and this is a very cool one, too We're going to start to recognize our milestone years of service, right? And here's where I start to give instructions. I'm going to bark orders at us, right? So I'm going to ask everyone to come up forget stage right stage left. I don't know which one is which We're going to go right in front of the stage and we're going to start with our five-year recognition So I'm going to lead off a list of names. These are our employees who've been here with Norwich celebrating five years here Please hold your applause until the end Line up here. We're going to give you a certificate and the president's going to give some recognition and we'll get a photo So without further ado, I'll start the list come on up and stand by Five years of service at Norwich. We've got 31 folks Samantha Augustus Robert Blanchard Lindsay Budnick No applause, but you can woo and hoot and holler all you want Joe Catterette Jennifer Davis Krista day whoo, and I apologize. There are gonna be a few names that I may not get right. I'm gonna start that now kawa Duoga Philip Dowel Cameron Ellsworth Melissa Godden Alexandra Goff Joseph Greenhound Julie Gutsco, sorry Julie Clark a wood He got a woo. All right Miriam Cohn Sarah La Force Colette Leonard, I'm noticing a theme Colette's been called up. I think two or three times sherry Campbell three times today Justin Marriott Scott Maxim Kayla Matzah Daniel Morris Mary O'Callaghan Sean O'Reilly Heather Porter Zach Rathier Katelyn Smith Stephanie Snell Where'd Stephanie go? There she is Charles Snow Carrie Stevens Kellyanne Sutton Bosley And Joseph Iglesias And we can now give a round of applause folks five years. Hold on folks five years. Come on back I'll give better instructions next time Zach Rathier is excited about more hardware, right? And so that means we're on to ten years It's interesting to me. Just how many folks stay and how long we stay here. What a special place So we had 31 folks who are celebrating five years. We have 17 folks who are celebrating ten years Mitch Abraham Mitch are you here? All right Michael Anton James Avery Mark Collier Anybody seen Mark Collier Cat Collins John Hart Sean Kramer Lori Lamothe. Oh, Lori. I think you're leading the way here with the woos Nathan Loveless not that it's a competition Nathan Loveless Mark Parker Coach Frank Bacoura John Pullio Judith Sassy Mark Shuttle Tolia Stonerow Matthew Thomas and David Albrecht ten years folks and Celebrating one day of service as our newest campus photographer Bring your general folks with 15 years of service here at Norwich Coach Neil Anderson Rajinacoba Aronson Nikki Dunning Jason Galligan Baldwin Steven Hall Gunny Mercado Norm St. Honge And now not that this has anything to do with me, but we're surpassing my 18 years here and we're on to 20 years So you folks have been here a long sorry to say And one in particular we'll start with Laura Amell Krooson Kimberly Healy Jane Jocelyn Michael Kelly Janet Morrow Scotty Mullen Kelly Nolan Penny Stahl, but I've ever seen or heard this name before this is new. Does anybody know what George Sanders? 20 years including Laura in particular. I'm sorry About the age joke, but that's a long time speaking of which 25 years 25 years we have four folks who are celebrating 25 years Chrissy Eastman And I encourage all the hoots and moves that we can get now because we're really getting up there And I had no idea so this is really interesting to see William Gibb Christy excuse me Christine McCann and Anthony Russo 25 years. All right, and somehow we're jumping to 30 years and we have 12 colleagues celebrating 30 years. This is incredible Michael Andrew Tom Baker Paul Booth coach Paul Booth and brown Dougie Ferris. All right, Dougie Douglas Ferris Jonathan Hatch, we've got some competition here with John Hatch. I Like to call chopper Connie chopper Connie hopper Anyone who's emailed Connie before chopper at Norwich Dady to you Amber Lambert Michelle Langley Mr. Bob Quelch Carol Spaulding and Judith Stallings Ward Thirty years right folks. I keep turning the page over looking for more. We have one more 35 years Sorry, we have two more 35 years is Patricia Jarvis with us for 35 years All right, no Patricia, but how about a round of applause for 35 years of service to Norwich one last is Tammy Hale here Tammy Not here Tammy is not here I'm so sorry, but 35 years and Tammy 40 years of service one last round of applause ready for retirees This is a very exciting opportunity to introduce several retirees Some could not be here But some are here and have come back to join us. I hate to do it again The president did it once but I'll look over to you Kathy Murphy Moriarty. It's so nice to see you I'm excited for you That said I Remiss and sad and embarrassed to admit my good friend mr. David Whaley Is one of our 15 retirees who selflessly served Norwich University and This is this group of retirees a Combined so 15 retirees a combined total of 350 350 years of service to Norwich my goodness And so Dave it's it's the it's the part where I think of you as a friend that I'm ashamed to admit right from our noon hoops days But otherwise here are our retirees and I'll add their years of service And retirees, please come up when I call your name. Mr. David Whaley 42 years of service Dave, do you know do you know how old I am so two weeks ago? I was in Dave's office and he asked me Do you remember something about Norwich and I figured the 90s of the 70s and I I wasn't born whatever he was asking me I wasn't born yet, so I Maybe it's time for retirement. I don't know But I think it was about the 70s and I thought I think you're barking up the wrong tree, sir All right, so the next two folks could not be with us today Andrew Bud Knopf 39 years and Harry at Hearst 38 years of service I'm thrilled to introduce. I'm hoping she's here. I haven't seen her but Kathy Smith is Kathy here today. Oh, there she is Hi, Kathy 37 years of service and fresh back from her trip to Dingle, Ireland and Stuart Robertson I saw Stu is do you still here 33 years and Paula Gleason 26 years Paula could not be here tonight. Is Paul here? Linnea LePurl 23 years Linnea There she is and the next four Dr. Michael Puttico 22 years Kathleen McDonald 18 years Diane Verrett 18 years and Duncan Courier 15 years two more sir Mark You got two more So I've got two more that can't be here Martin Matt Rowland nine years and Dr. Paul at Tabo Paul it couldn't be here either nine years for Matt seven years for Paul at Ed Schmeck pepper 14 years Dr. Edwin Schmeck pepper are you here and Kathy? I can't hardly believe that nine years of service I felt like it was a lot longer. I can't remember a time at Norwich without you Kathy Murphy Moriarty nine years Our retirees ladies and gentlemen One more round of applause please for our retirees All right now Please forgive me for just a moment with some housekeeping two things one bakers and chefs I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand But those of you who did so well today prize winners and runners up take your goodies if you haven't already just a reminder You're welcome to grab what you need to do on your way out Thank you for sharing them and for all of us here who might have a gold star Please go take a look at the gold star for yourself and for others and thanks to those of you too president And most point about the 31 nominations for the K bow and awards look at those two boards full of stars Thank you for taking time to think of celebrate recognize Your peers your colleagues your friend your co-workers And if it is your star on the board, please go ahead take it take it with you and celebrate that and some of you will have more than one I want to say thank you to Sodexo or any of our Sodexo folks here in the back. I see our catering manager, Trina Thank you Facilities and operations teams and our IT IT staff and teams. Thank you very much. That's use act Thank you and lastly I want to thank a few groups Will the K bow and award committee, please stand up and I know rev is rev chairing is rev here today He's traveling. All right, so the K bow and award committee. Can you please stand up so I can say thank you. We can all say thank you So the exciting thing about this is these are past recipients, right? So we cycle through you serve after receiving the K bow and award you'll serve That's right the three of you that are new recipients are supposed to serve for the next two years, right? And so a neat way to cycle through. Thanks for your service And congratulations one or two years out on your previous award Our human resources team who put a lot of this together Anybody here from human resources still please stand. Thank you And then one last group and this is our employee recognition team the folks who really are the critical key folks putting this together Laura properly Kyle Southworth and Sarah Quincy recognition yet again Very nice event and thanks to president and rule for being here and for presenting the K bow and awards and for Dave Thank you for coming up and sharing some thoughts about K. Very nice. Excuse me. Mrs. Stay here. You don't well. How do you say it? You don't got to go home, but you can't stay here That's the story. This concludes the 43rd annual employee recognition event retirees Well, you don't got to go home. You can stay here and have cake apparently. That's the answer All right, now that concludes our 40 30 annual employee recognition event congratulations retirees