2009 International Housekeeper's Week Celebration

San Marcos, TX September 18, 2009:

For the last 10 years, the Custodial Operations Management Team has held fundraisers with the ultimate goal of providing the Custodial Staff a celebration for their dedicated efforts throughout the year. This year, the fundraisers and a bit of help from VP Bill Nance came together on Friday, September 18, 2009. Kim Graves, Director of Custodial Operations welcomed the largest gathering ever for this event co-hosted by the Custodial Management Team and Mr. Pat Fogarty, retiring Associate Vice President of Facilities. Mrs. Graves expounded on the theme “Custodial Operations Is Growing Green” explaining “We’re growing in knowledge, in experience, in superior customer service and we are moving forward on meshing and blending together as an unbeatable team! We are doing all of this with an awareness of the impact we have on our environment and our world”. She introduced Mr. Pat Fogarty and thanked him for his staunch support of the department. Cheers rang out as he got into the spirit of the event and revealed the t-shirt he was wearing; a Team Spirit shirt designed by Trainer, Lance Trottier specifically for this event. He read and presented the International Housekeeper’s Week Proclamation on behalf of President Trauth. 

Introducing his replacement, Mr. Juan Guerra who has accepted the position as Associate Vice President of Facilities, he invited Mr. Guerra to the podium to address the group. Mr. Guerra, formerly of University of Texas El Paso expressed his pleasure at the warm welcome and invited employees to come to him as he intends to keep an open door policy. He gave this greeting in both English and Spanish, eliciting another cheer of approval from the group.

Mr. Fogarty then introduced keynote speaker, Mr. Bill Nance, Vice President of Finance and Support Services. Mr. Nance acknowledged the dedicated efforts of the Custodial Staff and presented information about a research study linking cleanliness and its effect on learning at the University level. The research revealed that cleanliness is ranked as the fourth most important building element to impact personal learning. The top three elements were noise, air temperature and lighting. (See this link for additional information: http://nn.byu.edu/story.cfm/68991) Expressing his pleasure at the record turn-out by staff and guests at this event he reiterated his support of the department’s sustainability initiatives.

Fermin Torrez, Custodial Supervisor took the podium and announced one of the most anticipated portions of the event, “Lunch Is Served”. Staff and guests enjoyed a barbeque lunch prepared by Kips BBQ and served to them by members of the Custodial Management Team. He later teased the group with a few “fun facts” about the department, such as the number of miles of tissue paper used annually and the number of gallons of hand soap.

As they enjoyed their lunch and camaraderie, the Custodial Training Department unveiled their newly revamped Custodial Operations section of the Facilities web site. (http://www.facilities.txstate.edu/custodial.html). That was followed by a musical slide show featuring new team photos and a collage of photos and events from the preceding year. (To View the Team Photos and New Team Spirit Graphics go to: http://www.facilities.txstate.edu/custodial/Team-Spirit-Page.html. The slide show reiterated the graphics theme that graced almost every aspect of the event. Programs, t-shirts, centerpieces and even the cakes all were decked with team graphics that were chosen by the Custodial Teams (shifts) and were conceived by teams themselves and designed by Custodial Trainer/Workshop Supervisor, Lance Trottier.

After lunch and cakes were devoured it was on to the games. Participants enjoyed old favorites; the Cake Walk, Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Toilet tissue toss and a twist on Bingo; Lotteria with a Custodial Theme and a new game, chalk toss. Over 60 cakes disappeared one by one as participants landed on the winning square and then redeemed their cake. The winners were: Chris Moore, Men’s Basketball, Connie Hughes, Women’s Basketball, Hector Guerrero, Toilet Tissue Toss and Jonas Villapando, Chalk Toss. Raffle prizes were awarded throughout the event. DJ Electro Zuniga, of the Facilities Department – Grounds, kept the whole event hopping.

April Castro, Administrative Assistant II, Custodial Operations Administration coordinator of the event offered this comment to the Management Team, “I would like to tell each and every one of you THANK YOU so much for everything everyone did for International Housekeeping Week. We pulled it off and it was a huge hit. I appreciate everyone’s help and I could not have done it without you. Thank you so much again. The program referred to April as the ‘sweetest lil’ task-master we ever knew’, but Kim Graves, Director stated “All kidding aside, April took on a huge organizational task and accomplished it with skill, imagination and a beautiful smile. We thank her very much for her tireless enthusiasm. We also wish to express our deep gratitude to Mr. Bill Nance for his continued support, Mr. Pat Fogarty, whom we wish a Happy Retirement and we’ll miss you and ALL of the many, many contributors who helped make this the BEST IHKW ever!”