Dennis Sachs is still going strong after 45 years working for the Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department.
Sachs works in the maintenance department. He started off at Oak Hills Golf Course mowing grass, laying sod and clearing trees. Now, he does whatever is needed.
"I worked on push mowers for a few years, and I liked that," he said. "Then they needed some help with plumbing. We did everything by hand. We didn't have a big machine. We used a pick and shovel and wheelbarrow. We had to dig waterlines 4 feet deep and 150 feet a day with two of us. A lot of backbreaking work."
When he first got started, Sachs said, he couldn't Google how to do things. He had to figure it out or get some of the more experienced staff to show him.
He also spent about seven years as a carpenter's helper.
"That was a new experience," he said. "You learn a lot here. You come here. You don't have to know anything, and they teach you. The older guys teach you. Now they have Google to look it up, figure out how to do it, and you do it yourself. I was taught the old- fashioned way how to build stuff so it was good for me, and I guess good for the city."
One thing, Sachs said, that played a big role in what he's learned over time and he now tries to teach newer staff members is the importance of safety on the job.
For instance, he said, riding around on 16-foot-wide lawn mowers can be dangerous, especially when you're using it in a park with people and things around.
"You've got slopes, ditches, mud, people, pets," he said. "You have to watch out for them -- trees, limbs, flowerbeds, cars. A lot of thing you got to be safe with. I'm constantly moving on a lawn mower. I have to turn the engine or blades off when I get close to somebody, I don't want to hit them with something or accidentally bump into something. I've got to be very safety conscious."
With 45 years under his belt, Sachs is the longest city employee, and he said retirement is likely still a ways off.
"I'm happy to be here," he said. "I've learned more than you could going to Linn Tech (State Technical College of Missouri). I've got on-the-job experience. Now, I'm having to show people things we used to do and some things they want new changes. Sometimes I have to change."
Working for the Jefferson City Parks Department is also something of a legacy in his family. Sachs' son now works for the department and is at least the fourth generation to do so.
"His grandfathers, great-grandfathers, some of his uncles worked here. It's been a long slew of family that's worked here for 50-55 years," Sachs said. "The city hires them part-time, and they worked their way up. Some of them have been caretakers at the golf course, caretakers at McClung Park, caretakers at Riverside Park when they had them. Just an ongoing family tradition."
Sachs said he's proud of the part he's played in building and maintaining the Jefferson City parks system.
"We've got a nice park system," he said. "We're trying to build it up, different parks and new stuff for the city residents. I just hope they take care of it and enjoy it."