Bowman, Young recognized by Chamber

The New Rockford Area Chamber of Commerce has named Cathy Bowman and Sharon Young as May's Employees of the Month.

The Chamber recognizes this dynamic duo at the front office of the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd (LHGS) for their ex-cellent service to staff and guests of the nursing home, and for the many other roles they fulfill at the nursing home.

As administrative assistants, both are imperative to the daily functioning of the LHGS, and together they help to provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere for visitors and residents alike.

Young said they're tasked with numerous duties that keep the building running smoothly.

Among their responsibilities include greeting visitors, answering phones, processing outgoing and incoming mail, handling resident trust accounts, assisting with the gift shop and typing up reports, just to name a few.

"Anything anybody wants done that they don't have the time to do, they bring it to us," summarized Young.

Bowman added, "We kind of assist all the office personnel at the nursing home.''

In addition to her work as an administrative assistant, Bowman is also the founda­tion coordinator at the LHGS - a role that helps procure important funding.

"I've started doing some grant writing," said Bow­man, "and actually the last three grants I applied for were all accepted, so I'm pretty pumped about that because I've never done that type of work before."

Bowman - who was also a longtime CNA at the nurs­ing home - even makes time to work on the annual Ev­ergreen newsletter, and she and her husband have per­formed live music for nurs­ing home residents on nu­merous occasions.

Bowman has worked at the LHGS for about 12 years. Young, meanwhile, will be celebrating 10 years at the nursing home in a couple of months, and she said it's the residents and her coworkers that make every day a special one.

"It's the people I get to work with," said Young when asked what she enjoys most about her work. "Both the fellow staff and the nurs­ing home residents.

"[The residents] can light up your day when they come up front and have a chat with you," she added, "and some of them have the best sense of humor, so I think that's what makes my day. I can't imagine not working here."

Bowman shared Young's sentiments, and added, "Now that I'm working up here, I love getting to see the family members of the residents and getting to know them better."

In fact, the person that nom­inated Young and Bowman - who wishes to remain anon­ymous - is a frequent visitor of the nursing home and is thankful for the welcome she receives at every visit.

"I'm very honored," said Bowman, "and it's nice to know that somebody notic­es that you're trying to do a good job at what you do."

"It's wonderful to be appre­ciated," added Young.

Does someone bright­en your day every time you visit a local business? If so, nominate him or her for this award. Employee of the Month is a program spon­sored by the New Rockford Area Chamber of Commerce to recognize local people for service excellence. Nomina­tion forms are available at the Transcript office or online at http:/ / http://www.cityofnewrock­ford.com/ chamber. Send written nominations to PO Box 67, New Rockford, N.D. 58356 or email newrockford­[email protected].