It’s not often that Bill Cassidy is at a loss for words.
Our Dawson Road Maintenance (DRM) crew in Fort St. John took the words right out of the veteran Road Foreman’s mouth with a surprise retirement party at the end of May.
“I had no idea it was coming. Scott (Fraser) called my wife to let her know their plan and everyone kept it secret from me. I was speechless,” said Cassidy.
Cassidy joined DRM four years ago. He spent the first two years on the maintenance crew and the last two as a Road Foreman. The thing he said he will miss most about the job is the people, both within Dawson and dealing with the community. Cassidy joined Dawson with 10 years of road maintenance experience in the same area with two different companies.
“We had people call all the time in the Cecil Lake and Clayhurst area, wondering where our equipment and workers were. Most of the time after I explained that we have more than 600-kilometres to cover, they understood and had a much better outlook on the work we do. That always felt like a win,” said Cassidy. “And then the crews around here are second to none. It really is a family environment. We had employees step up to help others’ families. You don’t see that in a lot of other places.”
Cassidy was quick to thank Lena Secord, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Yves Lacasse, President and CEO, of Dawson Group for their support over the years.
As for retirement, he is still adjusting to the new freedom and has no immediate, major plans. This week, he enjoyed the freedom of not waking up to an alarm at 3:30 a.m.