Pictured from left: Julie VanValkenburg, Diet Tech; Roxanne Pryll, Dietary Aide; Renne Griffith, Dietary Aide’ STAR Employee Ed Teeter; Dietary Clerk and Food Service Director Duane Saskowski.

CNRC is proud to recognize and announce their STAR employee of the quarter, Dietary Clerk, Ed Teeter.

Teeter, who was hired in 2012 and started off in the Activity Department said that he enjoyed his years as an Activity Aide, in particular getting to know the residents. When the nursing home was purchased and privatized in 2015, Teeter took a full-time position in the Dietary Department. This is where it all seemed to make sense, not only for Teeter but the entire department. He was very quickly promoted to Dietary Clerk and has been what CNRC likes to refer to as their own Maitre D’.

His position largely consists of meeting with each new admission as well as the long-term care residents frequently and on an on-going basis talking at length about their food likes and dislikes, their usual eating habits, preferences including condiments and how they take their coffee. Not to mention, he has inadvertently become the official dietary complaint department. Teeter grinned, “Luckily there aren’t that many and it’s OK, I can handle it. Besides we can’t fix things if we don’t know about them.”

Food Service Director, Duane Saskowski, often refers to Teeter as the liaison between the residents and their food. “He is a prime example of the quote by Frank Ocean. ‘Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.'”

The CNRC Dietary Department prepares and provides nearly a quarter of a million meals each year. That’s 250,000 meals. Not only is that a lot of food (three meals daily including snacks in between) but a lot of preparation which starts with obtaining personal preferences. When asked, “Based on what is on the menu on any given day do you know, off the top of your head, who will be happy because it’s one of their favorite meals?” Teeter shrugged, laughed and modestly answered. “Yup, that’s what I do.”

Teeter grew up in Angola and is a graduate of Gowanda High School. These days he resides in Westfield with his wife and two children. CNRC realizes just how lucky it is to have Teeter as a member of its team.