This Was
This Was
Talk around the dinner table made clear the fact that my family could not afford to send me to college. Not a problem. I began taking jobs on commercial fishing boats at an early age and quickly advanced from wharf rat to deckhand while still in high school. I was coming of age in the 1960’s and was fit to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard so, college plans were placed on hold while I served. My military experience and the subsequent G.I. Bill, which offered educational assistance to all honorably discharged veterans, was put to good use right away. Soon I was transferring community college credits to UMass Amherst. Then, with an undergraduate degree in public health, some part-time experience at the local health department, and an internship with the VA healthcare system, I was able to land my first job as a health inspector in Florida. I used that exposure to the regulatory side of the commercial fishing industry to move on to a position within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and rose through the ranks during a time when HACCP – a food protection program that was about to become the industry standard – was being initiated. I had the good fortune of working with leading scholars in food technology as food protection principles were shifting but I still needed more. Education was the key to advancing my career in public health. The opportunity to enroll in the Boston University School of Public Health presented itself when the Town Manager of Danvers, Massachusetts offered me an appointment as his director of health and veterans affairs. Tuition reimbursement was a condition of employment and my chance to become a big fish in a small pond had arrived. As a member of the Town’s senior management team, I enjoyed working in an apolitical environment where science and contemporary management practices were considered first and foremost. In Massachusetts, local boards of health have broad authority. My job responsibilities included managing core community sanitation inspections, communicable disease investigations, pest management and animal control programs, and administering a broad range of services to all eligible veterans and their dependents. Despite the awesome responsibilities of the position, I found the time to engage in extraprofessional activities at the community college where I offered students opportunities to earn recognized certifications in the field of environmental public health. Job satisfaction came from working with a dedicated staff of sanitarians, animal control officers, food safety professionals, and public health nurses in a community that respected and supported the good work my department delivered and I was rewarded for 30-years of devoted service to Town Hall, the people of Danvers, and my professional organizations. My capstone achievement was to leave the Town with a secure public health emergency preparedness plan. This was my career. Ten days after stepping down and relocating to Florida, a plan that I initiated six months earlier, Governor Charlie Baker declared the Commonwealth a state of emergency. The pandemic had arrived!