No one was more surprised than Fred Rademan when he received the Outstanding Service Award as a longtime employee of the Jefferson City Parks and Recreation Maintenance Department.
"I wasn't expecting this, in fact, I was talking to the guys when it happened. I didn't think there was any way I would win this. But I appreciate it," Rademan said.
Rademan has been with the Parks Department for 38 years and, in that time, he's been part of several projects including special events such as Thursday Night Live and big projects like Binder Park.
Rademan said his favorite part of the job is building the playgrounds, because children a get to benefit from it. He has helped build every playground in Jefferson City, except two.
When he first started, he did brush-hogging for two years then took care of the baseball fields and ice arenas for seven years. After that he worked in construction with Parks and Recreation for 15 years and has been doing maintenance for the last six to seven years.
Before his employment with Parks and Recreation, Rademan said he jumped from job to job. He worked for a cemetery, a vault company, then a car battery company.
One thing that has kept him at the Parks Department this long is the variation of work he does and that he gets to be outside on a daily basis.
"I get to move around and don't stay on one job too long. There's a big range of things we do," Rademan said. "We do more than the public realizes."
In the resolution summary of Rademan's award, it says he is an asset to the department and he works to create the best possible product.
"I try to do the best I can, and I make sure it gets done the right way," Rademan said. "I've got to say I have terrific bosses. If it weren't for our director, we wouldn't have half the stuff we have now."
The Jefferson City native grew up on a 160-acre dairy farm where the fairgrounds now stand. He was one of eight children and now has two daughters and two grandchildren of his own.
In his spare time, he fixes up old houses and either resells them or rents them out.
"My wish was to always give my daughters a house to start out with," Rademan said, and he has - one daughter lives five houses down from his home.
In the past several years he has remodeled 10 to 12 homes. His most recent project is a four-bedroom home he bought for $15,000 two months ago. Each one takes him about a year to a year and a half because he works on the houses when he feels like it. His 9-year-old grandson helps him on a lot of the projects, and it has become a fun bonding project for them.
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