Culture: How Does it Move You? by Rick Rice Is culture important enough to move 700 miles and start life in a new country? This was the question my family faced when a comic remark at Christmas time last year became a serious consideration a month later. For years I have worked at jobs that have afforded me the opportunity to travel to new lands and meet new people. I can happily recount fishing on a wide river in central Russia immersed in a bubble existence where language and customs melded into something almost religious in its simplicity. I remember fondly playing golf at St. Andrews (though the score that day is buried deep below the experience of just being on that hallowed ground) and walk ing Hadrian’s Wall musing at how ineffective the wall was at keeping the Celtic hoards (a.k.a. Scottish and Irish) from Briton. I spent 7 glorious days in Prague in the Czech Republic trapped by an expired visa to Russia but not even noticing my “inconvenience” when strolling down cobbled streets where Bohemians have walked for over 1000 years. I’ve sailed amongst the Greek Islands, wandered through the Roman Coliseum, gazed at the pyramids of the Egyptian, Aztec and Mayan peoples, and stood on the sites of Troy and Carthage of antiquity. As awe-inspiring as the ruins of ancient Rome and Greece can be there is a sense of wonder that fills you from the ground up when you stand in Yosemite National Park and look up at a giant sequoia that was here long before a group of patriots got fed up and threw tea into the harbor at Boston. I was moved to stand within the confines of the Alamo and immersed in quiet reflection when looking across the harbor at Fort Sumter and walking the battle ground at Gettysburg. I have been fortunate enough to see all of this in my travels. While all of these places left an indelible mark on my mind and a permanent record on my soul, it has been my experiences here in the United States and, in particular, those in the Mid-West that have had the most lasting impact on me. So, how does a guy from Niagara Falls, Ontario end up in Ashton, Illinois? Better yet, what compels a guy with an unobstructed view from his front porch at the world famous Horseshoe Falls at Niagara voluntarily move to the town of Creston with 500 people, and work in the town of Ashton on the Great Plains? The simple answer is CUL- TURE. For me, culture isn’t a cliché and it’s certainly not just a saying on the wall in the reception area. It is the key ingredient of life. I have worked in a lot of places here in the mid-west and I can honestly say that Crest Foods got under my skin. It isn’t just the people. It isn’t just the facilities or the working conditions. It isn’t just the family-owned environment. It is ALL of these things and more. No better word describes the melding of all these things like culture. Where else can you come to work every day and feel like you want to be here? What other job have you had where the owners cared if you were healthy, not because they have a slot to fill on a packaging line but because you are a necessary part of the very fabric that makes everything work. I first started doing work here at Crest in 2009 when my former employer was first installing equipment on lines 80 and 85. From the very first day I was impressed with the level of commitment and the spirit with which everyone approached their jobs. They all knew that they had a key part in the success of this enterprise and they were not afraid to do whatever it takes to get the job done to the best of their abilities. It is this dedication and integrity that made me feel compelled to come here during my vacations, unpaid by my employer, to help Crest Foods with a ma- chine that I knew just wasn’t quite right or to just see how everything was going. In the people of Crest I found the very qualities that I count as first priority in my own life. From that very first visit I was, looking back now, al- ready plotting my course to arrive here in Ashton, Illinois. So, here I am, 700 miles away from my home, on a journey that took over 2 years to complete, in the warm embrace of everything that is the Crest Foods Culture. I hope that my story inspires you in the way that the people of Crest Foods and this community have inspired me. I look forward to journey that we will take together in the coming years and thank you for making me feel like part of the family.
October, November & December 2011 Crest Ink 25
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