Two City of Orangeburg workers who came to the aid of a stricken colleague and a safety-conscious veteran supervisor in the Department of Public Safety's Gas Division are the 2007 recipients of the Dick Horne Foundation employee of the year awards.

Dennis Brothers of the Parks and Recreation Department and Duane Tarrant of the Finance Department are the city's honorees. Ray Fogle was chosen as the top employee of the city-owned DPU.

The awards were presented by Mayor Paul Miller during the annual employee Christmas dinners.

Brothers and Tarrant were nominated by their respective department heads because of their "outstanding work together" that aided a fellow employee. They were instrumental in helping and assisting the employee who suffered a stroke earlier in the year.

"Because of the quickness of (Brothers), this employee was taken to the hospital emergency room where he received treatment," Miller said.

"The employee has since retired from the city because of his medical condition, and his co-worker still aids him in doing his errands, obtaining his medication and just whatever is needed as he remains in very close contact with him."

As for Tarrant, the mayor said, he has also been of great assistance to the former employee.

"He has counseled with him on his social security, retirement, power of attorney, insurance information and many, many other important matters," Miller said.

Together, he said, the two men have "shown generosity, compassion and thoughtfulness towards a co-worker and former employee of the City of Orangeburg when there was no one else available to help him."

With a collective 27 plus years of service between them, the two employees were also said to have always shown pride in their work and representation of the city.

Fogle is a crew leader who supervises those responsible for running gas services to homes and businesses, repairing leaks and performing general and scheduled maintenance.

"He works as a duty-man and has spent many cold nights ensuring customers have service for their homes," DPU Manager Fred Boatwright said. "And, (he) always maintains the safety of the customer. He always deals with customer problems, as far as advice on repairing and maintaining systems, and is always available to provide an ear to listen to customers' problems."

A 32-year veteran employee, Fogle has achieved specialty ce.jpgication, which he maintains with annual retesting and recertification.

"He deals daily with customers by helping them obtain service to their homes and businesses," Boatwright said. "As a credit to his commitment to safety, there have been no major or lost-time accidents under his supervision."

He also cited Fogle's great attitude and willingness to help fellow employees.

"He is a very real asset to the Department of Public Utilities and to our community as a whole," Boatwright said. "His commitment, loyalty, dedication and his 32 years of hard work warrant this recognition."

The cash prize has been awarded since 1984 in conjunction with the Dick Horne Foundation to recognize and reward job excellence by a city employee. Until 1989, the program alternately honored city and DPU employees. Then, the foundation trustees decided to recognize both groups.

Employees are nominated by their department heads. As a rule, the nominations, with accompanying explanation of accomplishments, are then submitted to the President's Committee of the Orangeburg Rotary Club for final selection.

T&D Government Writer Tucker Lyon can be reached at tlyon@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5545. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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