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May AR ENE SO ER Re ee pirovm way Sp Ny AMEE s yp eg Amr bre Sine B og ro. ia wang agit A map art IR 4 - PORT PERRY STAR - Monday, December 24, 2001 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" The Star looks at those who have to get up and go to work on Dec. 25 Christmas - It's just another day at work By Rik Davie Port Perry Star As most people prepare to spend Christmas Day with their families around the tree watching presents opened and seeing the smiling faces of their children, we can forget that their are more than a few people for whom Dec. 25 is a work day. From vital services like emergency response workers to the more mun- dane, like taxies and coffee shop and gas station attendants and yes... even reporters, are on call on the day every- one takes for granted as a day off. For many, it is a choice and a chance to make serious over-time, but for oth- ers it is a part of the profession they chose. Chief Richard Miller is a 27-year vet- eran of the Scugog Fire Department. For him, working Christmas is always part of the job. "I especially remember the Christmas a few years ago when we had a fire at Utica on Christmas Day," Chief Miller told The Star. "It was unusual, because we are usually fortunate to not have a lot of calls on Christmas Day. "But, you know, after all these years, the calls kind of run together and work- ing Christmas was a given if you do this job. In many ways, if there is a call, it's just another work day for us." Bruce Buck got used to working Christmas as a high school student working a gas pump at a Hwy. 401 gas station. It must have sat well with him because working Christmas has become common place. Mr. Buck is a veteran of helicopter flight and the current pilot for the Durham Regional Police Service air support unit known across the province as Air-1. "So far, we have been lucky here in Durham and while we are on call on Christmas we haven't had to go up yet," Mr. Buck said. But there was a time when it was a steady thing to be sharing the skies 'with Santa and his reindeer. "When | flew the (Ontario) air ambu- lance it was just part of the job," Mr. Buck said. "Especially for those of us who did not have kids. We would trade off shifts to see that the guys with fam- ilies were able to spend at least part of the day at home" Being a contract pilot has seen him in some nice vacation getaways at yule- tide. "When | flew to the (off-shore) oil rigs it was a 365-day-a-year job and a chopper always had to be on stand-by, so you found yourself working Christmas." : He found that Christmas on the air ambulance could be the most gratify- ing. "It was part of your job to see that the service was up and available and then you sat and hoped no one needed it," Mr. Buck said. Dave Mann knows what it is like to dread Christmas. The longest serving officer in 26 Division, Constable Mann has spent most of his 28-year policing career with the Durham Regional Police Service in North Durham and has worked more Christmas Days than he cares to remember. One late Christmas Eve shift still stands out in his mind. "I was working in Uxbridge and | was called to an accident between a car and a big Mack truck," Const. Mann said. "The driver in the car, a young fel- low from the area, was killed instantly and | was tasked with notifying the next of kin." The job of knocking on the door to tell of a sudden death is one task all police officers dread. For Const. Mann this would be a Christmas he could have lived without. "I went to see if any neighbours were home that could lend some support and there were none, so | walked up this long snow-filled laneway because I knew the cruiser wouid get stuck," he recalled. "It was Christmas Eve so when the door opened I could see the deco- rations and the lady of the house was friendly and said "Oh hello officer, Merry Christmas. What can | do for you?"" Const. Mann asked who else was home and was worried to hear the mother of the accident victim had only one other child, aged eight, with her. He delivered the worst news a par- ent can hear. "She fainted dead away in my arms," Const. Mann said. "We contacted fami- ly and had a cruiser pick them up and bring them to her, but man I will never forget that. I think of that still." Const. Mann said that every officer who works a holiday fears having the task of delivering news of death or injury. For some workers, their job is to prevent that need. Doctors and nurses are part of that group. For the users of the Port Perry hos- pital, there is a dedicated crew who take Christmas duty at the hospital as a regular part of their job. Mary Shaw has been a nurse at the hospital since 1989. She works Christmas shifts every other year. "You get used to it and every year about November you start reminding your family that they should prepare for Christmas dinner somewhere else or get someone else to cook it," Ms. Shaw said "We still get together and we still have fun." She takes the duty as more than a regular shift. "It is a fair way to do it," Ms. Shaw said. "One year you get New Year off and the next you take Christmas." Patient care is always paramount. "Your family gets used to it and it is a quieter day," Ms. Shaw said. "We are a bit of a family at the hospital with kitchen staff and cleaning staff and medical staff all working. It is a less for- mal day and we try to make it a nice day for the patients who have to spend Christmas in hospital. Some of the nurses wear antlers and we try to make it a special day." Morag Hamilton has worked many Christmas and Boxing Day shifts as a manager of coffee shops Her present duties would have had her manning the counter at the Waterfront Cafe in Port Perry on Boxing Day, but just You can count Morag Hamilton among those who have become accustomed to working on Christmas and Boxing Day. While this year she will have the opportunity to relax and enjoy the seasonal holidays, others, such as doc- tors, nurses and emergency personnel as well as those at your local coffee shop, will be up and at work. before we talked to her she was informed the "younger staff' would take the day for her, but her home will still be a little empty on Christmas Day, as it has been many days for the past 40 years. "My husband Brian drives a milk truck picking up at farms and he will be working an extra long day as he does many holidays," Mrs. Hamilton told The Star. "The cows don't sleep on Christmas and the milk has to be picked up." She says that her five children grew up knowing that Christmas had to wait until "Dad" got home. "I would let them open Santa's gifts, but the ones from Mom and Dad had to wait till later," Mrs. Hamilton said. "I didn't mind too much, there were always a lot of people like policemen and firemen who had to work too and their jobs can be not nearly so pleasant as mine." So this Christmas Day, while you travel to family homes and make your way through the happy day, wave at the cop in the cruiser, the ambulance crew sitting on stand-by, the guy who pumps the gas, and hey it's Christmas, a dol- lar tip for a cup of coffee wouldn't kill you!