helping collegiate run smoothly
It’s 7:21 a.m. and cold. Really cold. Single-digit cold. February cold. The sky, which brought a light dusting of snow the night before, is still overcast, gloomy, almost depressing. A brisk wind sweeps across the Collegiate campus, swirling the leaves around the Jacobs Gym parking lot as a few early risers pull in, hop from their cars, and hastily make their way toward the classroom buildings.
Amidst the early-morning desolation is a solitary figure, bundled against the elements, a red-checkered parka bringing the only brightness to the otherwise bleak landscape, the hood of his light-gray sweatshirt protecting his ears, a gas-powered leaf-blower slung over his shoulder.
Calvin Yates is going about his business.
“That’s just my job,” he says.
As we talk (and I shiver), several folks wave from the warmth of their vehicles. Yates returns their greetings with a smile despite the fact that he’s been up since 3 a.m., left his western Goochland County home around 4 in anticipation of slick roads, and arrived at school at 5, well ahead of his customary 6 o’clock check-in time.
A few minutes later, his sidekick George Cooke wheels up in a golf cart with vinyl flaps which break the wind only slightly. He’s been out and about picking up the trash that’s blown about during the night and checking on anything else that might be amiss. Few ever see them at this hour. They just see the result of their labors.
“A lot of people take what Calvin and George do for granted,” said Robert Moore, assistant director of facilities, “but their work helps Collegiate run smoothly.”
Yates and Cooke are part of the grounds maintenance team. After they complete their a.m. duties, you’ll find them spreading mulch, raking, pruning, cutting grass, cleaning gutters, or jumping in wherever needed. Early last fall following a monsoon, for instance, they were summoned to the front of the Upper School to locate a drain, then remove the grass and leaves that had caused a small lake to form on the lawn. An enduring image is the two in knee boots, poking into the water as the rain still fell until they found the offending debris and pulled it away allowing the water to rush through the metal grate.
“We just try to get it right the first time,” said Yates, who saw nothing special about the time he and his partner spent slogging around in the water.
Cooke came to Collegiate in 1999, one of a crew of employees sent by a temp agency. Moore, then the grounds manager, liked what he saw and hired him for a 30-day trial. The father of 4 sons ages 16-26 has been on board ever since.
“I like the people here and the environment,” he said. “Collegiate has a real good spirit.”
Yates is a U.S. Army veteran who served two tours of duty as an infantryman along the DMZ in Korea and rose to the rank of E-5. After his discharge, he ran a lawn-care business for several years and joined the Collegiate family in 2003.
“I love the outside, the fresh air, the birds singing,” he said. “Life is good. Life is wonderful.”
What makes the Collegiate experience work for the two, though, is more than the chance to work out-of-doors (even on the cold days) or the sense of satisfaction they feel when they complete an assignment. It’s the friendships they’ve developed with colleagues, students, and especially each other.
“George is a co-worker, but he’s also a good friend, a confidant” said Yates, the father of two grown children, a son serving with the Army in Iraq and a daughter who lives in Ashland. “We’re like brothers,” echoes Cooke. “When he’s down, I pick him up. When I’m down, he does the same for me. I got his back. He got mine. No matter what.”
