I was honored when asked to write about Vern, who is so deserving of the title “employee of the month”. Although many employees deserve this recognition throughout their career, Vern’s loyalty and dedication to his staff and peers has been unparalleled. Vern is always willing to listen and is very supportive no matter what the situation is and never says an unkind word about anyone. His leadership skills have proven time and again that he can handle anything that comes his way and he does it with style, grace and even a sense of humor.

Vern’s career with Washington State Ferries began in Port Townsend where he was a police cadet working traffic control. In April 1980, he was hired by WSF, and worked various terminal positions prior to being promoted to his current position as Terminal Supervisor. He is presently the terminal supervisor at Bainbridge Island, where he resides with his wife Julie.

Both he and Julie are avid wine enthusiasts, and enjoy visiting wineries (and their tasting rooms of course) .They will soon be flying to California to attend a weekend class at UC Davis, known for graduating many famous vintners, to fine tune their palates. (No three buck Chuck for them)

They both also enjoy hiking and mountain climbing, conquering most of the local peaks. In addition to their hiking, they are attempting to visit as many National Parks as possible, assembling quite an impressive list already. They are now busily packing to spend the first week of September hiking the Cortina Dolomites; the spectacular peaks of Italy. (Italy: more wine tasting possibly??)

When not hiking: climbing: or wine tasting, you may very well see Vern in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace, where he proudly admits he is a charter member of the “Losers Club”.  When you see Vern starting to collect two dollar bills for tip money, you know a trip to Vegas is in the near future.

Vern is a valuable employee of WSF and always willing to give of his time. He has served as the president of his union; is on the supervisor selection committee; and serves as an auditor for WSF’s Safety Management System. He is respected and extremely well liked by those who work with him; and is the “go-to guy” when you have a question.

Not everyone may know this, but Vern set a goal for himself to climb Mount Rainier and he accomplished that goal last year. Vern also plans on visiting every state park in the United States. I’ve heard that he is well on his way to accomplishing this, providing I give him the time off. J I am extremely honored we are on the same team and he is well-deserving of this recognition. Congratulations Vern!

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