Lewiston held its annual municipal employee recognition event recently with Lewiston Public Library technician Jake Paris named “2008 Employee of the Year.” Other awards were also made, including those recognized for length of employment. Paris, right, is shown with his wife, Monique, after having received his award from Lewiston Administrator James A. Bennett.

Lewiston employees recognized

LEWISTON – Municipal employees were honored recently with Lewiston Public Library technician Jake Paris named “2008 Employee of the Year.” City Administrator James A. Bennett presented him with the award.

An employee since 2002, Paris works in the library’s children’s room, where he provides services to children, parents and care givers; conducts programs including Story Time and the after-school Book Buddies program, and uses his arts abilities to create informational and promotional materials. He also played a key role in re-designing the library’s Web pages.

In addition, Paris volunteered for two community-wide projects: Designing the new joint Lewiston-Auburn library card and creating a logo for YADA, a youth/adult dialogue project.

He also taught himself to play guitar since working at the library, as he believes guitar-playing enables him to better connect with visiting children. Paris is also an expressive storyteller and has initiated two annual sing-alongs: the August Campfire event and a holiday sing-along in December.

Other awards presented during the evening included Bennett presenting human resources assistant Irene Dostie with an initiative award. Dostie coordinates the annual employee recognition event.

Additional awards bestowed by Bennett during the evening were the customer service award to Debra Morin of the Lewiston Fire Department; professional technical award to Mark McComas of economic/community development, and to Jon Elie of public works; and the management award to Ron DeBlois of management information services.

Department heads also presented commendations to stand-out employees within their respective departments, including: Pvt. Don Lagrange, Fire Department; Inspector/Investigator Paul Ouellette, Fire Department; city treasurer Paul Labrecque; management information services LAN administrator Moe Pelletier; officers Tom Murphy and Justin Kittredge, Police Department; Public Works solid waste worker Debbie Clark; Public Works highway worker Bob Bolduc; Public Works district team manager Marcel Roy; Public Services pump station worker Jack St. Jean; and Public Services water and sewer service person Tom Freitas.

Service awards for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 years of service were also given to employees, and a retirement award was given to William “Safety Bill” Stretton, formerly of human resources. Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau served as master of ceremonies.