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C6 -- April 30, 2015 news@newslj.com
307-746-4733 x412
307-746-9701
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Proud to empower persons with
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35 Fairgrounds Road Newcastle, WY 8z7oi
www.renew-wyo.com
! weSton County Hospital Distrlc
ommunity Mee
Building Project 1% Specific Sales Tax
April 30, 2015 at 12:00 pm
Newcastle Senior Center
April 30, 2015 at 2:00 pm & 6:00 pm
Town Hall Meeting
Community Center in Upton
WESTON COUNTY [
SERVICES]
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1903 W. Main St, Suite 3 Newcastle, WY 746-43491
WESTON COUNTY TRAVEL COMMISSION
BOARD OPENING
The City of Newcastle will be accepting applications for an
unexpired term on The Weston County Travel Commission
Board. The term will be up on June 30, 2016. Appointment
application forms are available and may be picked up at the
City of Newcastle offices located at, I 0 W. Warwick from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Application forms
will be accepted until May ! 1, 2015 until 5 p.m.
FREE SERVICE
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May 7"
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No appointment necessary
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by appointment only
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Weston County Senior
Services Center
629 Pine St. Newcastle, WY
CALL 1-800-NEW-HEAR
(800-639-4327)
www.HearingAidlnstitute.com
1211 Grand Avenue, #2 Billings, MT
Sewing the community since 1944!
Entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more
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that preserve their one-of-a-kind
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14 West Main Street 746-2777
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Denice Pisciotti/NLJ
Vicki Cummings has been greeting customers at the entrance to Newcastle's Pizza Hut for 10 years. The local restaurant's
most recognizable employee originally took the job thinking it would last for only a short time. Regulars are glad she
decided to stick around for a while.
Denice Pisciotti
NLJ Relporter
"My success of being there
for 10 years is because of the
customers! I feel very fortunate
and very, very blessed that I
have been able to know and
become friends with these
people, and when they walk
in the d(oor and they give you
a smile " Pizza Hut waitress
Vicki Cummings paused for
a moment before flashing her
own smile.
"It is the customers that has
made my time there fun !"
If the familiar waitress at
Pizza Hut had a nickel for
everyone that smiles at her
during the day, she declares
that she "would be a wealthy
woman!" In reality, she insists,
the customers are what make
her keep going back to work
every day.
The regular customers from
Newcastle, Osage, Upton and
Edgemont make her day, and at
the end of a long shift, of being
on her feet for eight hours,
Cummings looks back at the
smiles and hugs she received
and knows she'll be back the
next day.
On certain days, when she
knows people will be coming
in to enjoy a meal, the waitress
looks forward to greeting them
with a smile and making their
visit a pleasant experience.
"It means a lot, and it really
is a special feeling. So, I don't
feel my job is hard. I am tired at
the end of the day, but it makes
it so much worth it. There are
some really great people here
in Newcastle. I couldn't begin
to name all the people that have
touched me," she acknowl-
edged.
What makes the job exciting
to her is being able to visit with
the customers and catch up with
what is going on in their lives.
When someone offers a hug
or asks to have a picture taken
with Cummings, it makes her
feel appreciated.
In fact, sometimes she is sur-
prised at how much customers
can appreciate the service she
delivers.
One gentleman from British
Columbia visited with her
while having his meal, and
told his server the experience
at the Newcastle Pizza Hut
was wonderful. He insisted he
~wO~ald brin~,t,olher people to
visit some0ra,y
"Last year he did! He
brought two people back. He
said, 'I just had to bring them
to Newcastle Pizza Hut. It's the
greatest!' That was something
else. That was pretty surprising
that they would come all the
way back," Cummings recalled.
Cummings said her
employers have helped keep her
focus on the people she serves
as well. Throughout the decade
she has been employed at Pizza
Hut, the point of putting the
Customei's first has been driven
home at every meeting she has
attended. She remembers on
several occasions when cus-
tomers have been down on their
luck, the corporation was more
than willing to lend them a
helping hand.
In fact, she has seen the
employees pull together to help
someone out on more than one
occasion. One worker was gen-
erous enough to buy a gift card
for the person in need to use at
a later date.
"It's pretty amazing! We
had a family of seven come
in and say they had a certain
amount of money. We made
sure that they ate, and actually
they didn't have to pay for a
thing. So Pizza Hut really does
have a heart," she stated.
She recalled another inci-
dent she will not forget, a
family from out-of-town had
been dining at the restaurant.
After they left, she picked up
the receipt book from the table
they were sitting at to discover
it contained an envelope full of
money.
Cummings dashed out the
door, saying a prayer that she
would find the family she knew
would need their money. As
she was checking the parking
lot for vehicles, she noticed
the woman coming around the
corner and said thank you.
"You could put it in the safe,
but they might need it 100 miles
down the road," acknowledge
Cummings.
The fast-paced busy dining
room suits the waitress because,
she confessed, she is too impa-
tient to be standing around
doing nothing. On the plus-
side, it makes the day go faster,
and then she gets to clean up
and go home.
Staying busy between rushes
,=,: r . :.
isn,t difficult for her because
she understands what it takes
to keep the restaurant looking
its best, and when she receives
compliments on the appearance
of the establishment, it gives
her a sense of a job well done.
"In a way, that is a reward in
itself because your work actu-
ally shows," she said smiling.
Cummings started working
at Pizza Hut with a call from
her daughter, Amanda Hinshaw,
who was the assistant manager
at the time, saying she needed
help. The next day she went in
and was hired, and she has been
there ever since.
Previously, she said she had
been a bartender and a cook,
but never a waitress, so it was
a new experience to her. The
biggest obstacle she had to
overcome was getting out and
getting over her shyness with
people.
The experience of working
at the restaurant has been a good
one, according to Cummings,
who has seen many employees
come and go through the years,
including eight store managers
and five area coaches.
"All my years-- and it's
something I always live by--
everybody deserves a .second
chance regardless of what. If
you look hard enough you will
find a positive in everything!
As. !ong as we try, that's.all that
matters," Cummings noted.
Her best advice to the new
staff is not to take anything per-
sonally. When it get really bad,
just go into the cooler, scream
and take a couple of breaths.
Don't take their (the customers)
bad day to heart, she cautions
newcomers.
When she retires, she
expects to look back on her
experience at Pizza Hut as a
pleasant adventure.
Even though it is a big
corporation, she reported, the
customers are always first and
the restaurant chain is always
advancing to make products
their customers will enjoy.
Cummings jokes that may be
the one downside to her Pizza
Hut experience.
"I wish for once they would
come out with something I
didn't like. I have been there
for ten years and I still love
pizza! Every day I eat pizza,"
confessed the waitress.
But when the customers roll
in, and she sees a familiar face,
Cummings thinks it has been
worth every slice.
"Working at Pizza Hut has
been a blessing, the customers
are good people who have
enriched my life."
Pam Penfield/NLJ
Evelyn Small hands out a sandwich order to Carol White
through the kitchen serving window at The Hop.
'i