ARCOLA - The Arcola daycare is down a dedicated employee with the retirement of Linda Chapman.
A retirement social was held at the daycare April 28 for anyone who wanted to quickly visit and wish Chapman the best.
Chapman and her partner Rene have two sons and six grandchildren, and they reside in Arcola.
For 17 years, Chapman was employed by the Arcola Health Centre in the housekeeping department. This was a job she enjoyed but felt it was time to retire.
When she retired from the hospital, it had only been three months and the job for the daycare came up.
Chapman decided to apply for the cook’s position, which was part time, plus she only needed her food safety certificate.
She had experience in the cooking field, as she ran Archie’s Restaurant in Arcola for a time.
She thought about doing this job for a year, but eight years later she is finally hanging up the towel once again.
“Each meal is prepared from scratch,” said Chapman.
All the meals are similar to homemade, and must include fruit, vegetables and milk twice a day.
An eight-week menu is set in advance, as the program needs to be approved by a level of government.
Breakfast, lunch and a snack are served at the daycare, hosting a variety of meals.
There were several times that Chapman would get called into work due to staff shortages.
“I will really miss the kids,” said Chapman. “They change so much from year to year and progress so fast into their personalities.”
She felt like a grandma figure at the daycare, with most kids calling her Linda, but a few called her grandma.
Chapman said the staff was always helpful and a pleasure to work with.
It is her plan to enjoy her time now going into summer with gardening, golfing, reading and all the things she felt she did not have time for.
