09 Oct Stephen Jones-10 years and counting
Kaymor would like to congratulate Stephen Jones on his 10 year anniversary with the company. We hope you enjoy his story:
To give you a little background information, I’m originally from Newfoundland. Jobs were scarce and if you were lucky enough to find one, the pay wasn’t sufficient to live on. So I packed up what stuff I owned and moved to Grande Prairie. Unfamiliar with the job market in Grande Prairie, I handed out resumes everywhere that may require a journeyman machinist. I was inundated with interviews, one being with Robert Stegmeier at Kaymor.
I’ve now been with Kaymor for just over 10 years and consider Grande Prairie home. I’ve started a family here and have my own home. I really enjoy this city and working for Kaymor. I wouldn’t consider moving back to Newfoundland at this point in my life.
Being so far from my Mom and the rest of the family was okay at first, but now that I have a daughter I want to visit as much as possible. I want my daughter to see and experience my heritage. I want her to get to know her relatives, the most important being her Grandma.
As everyone knows, traveling across Canada is not cheap, even with seat sales. So my Mom and I came up with the idea to alternate years, they would come to Alberta one year and we’d go to Newfoundland the next. Last year was our year to go back, due to unforeseen reasons we couldn’t go. My Mom was heartbroken when I called to tell her.
I told my Mom not to worry, we’d be there next summer for sure, as the trip would be paid for by my employer. She thought I was joking. I explained to her that for every year you worked for Kaymor, you are presented with a gift on your anniversary date, as a Thank you. I still didn’t think she believed me!
Ten years of employment meant I would receive an all expense paid trip, including accommodations to anywhere in North America….for 2. On my anniversary day, Robert (my boss) called a shop meeting. We all meet in the lunch room, where I was presented with the free trip.
They even had a cake!
I started planning our trip right away. As we would not require accommodations, my boss agreed to pay for 3 return flights. So this summer my wife, our daughter and myself got to go back to Newfoundland for 3 weeks.
It was a great trip, we had a blast! My daughter got to spend a lot of time with her Grandma and the rest of the family. Memories that will last a lifetime were built.
We really enjoyed our trip and appreciate everything Robert and Kaymor has done for me over the years. Thank-You very much.