Employees Rock on at this Year's Recognition Dinner!

One of the most fun events to plan is the annual Faculty & Staff Recognition Dinner, which was held this past Friday, May 21st. The dinner recognizes employees that have reached specific years of service for every five years that they've been employed at Midwestern University.

This year, the Westin Hotel at the Yorktowne Centre (I did spell these two words correctly), was the backdrop for the event. In my planning efforts to relief the guests of being crowded in an overstuffed reception area, as in our former venue, we'd hoped to move the 6:00 PM cocktail reception to the terrace area that surrounds our ballroom. But all week as I kept my eye on the hour-by-bour weather, it called for rain Friday afternoon.

Regardless of the rain, we had a great turnout of employees who took the less than 5-miles trek from campus to the Westin Hotel.

All guests feasted on meals of either Center Cut Filet, Grilled Pacific Salmon (my choice :-P) and Garden Napoleon. But the best part was the dessert, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, my favorite, in a chocolate covered waffle bowl, garnished with berries. Now, I didn't get to enjoy my dessert, as I was on stage assisting with the recognition of employees reaching their years of service milestones and receiving rank and tenure.

Finally, one of the most memorable moments of the night, was the announcement of the Littlejohn Awards. Each year, Dr. Goeppinger, President & CEO, awards one member of faculty, staff, and alumni, that have showcased exemplary dedication and leadership on and off campus. This year the alumni award was received by Timothy Todd, Pharm.D., Susan Viselli, Ph.D. for faculty, and for staff, my boss, Dana Fay.

The night ended with many hitting the dancefloor and rocking to the tunes of Ke$ha and Lady Gaga. The moment was memorable as it was the first year that we had more than 20 people dancing and enjoying the night away.

In the end, I remembered that I reserved a room in the Westin and after packing up all our equipment and locking it in a storage area; I rode the elevator to the 12th floor. And once I stuck my key in the slot, I took three steps towards the bed and started counting sheep.