- May 2, 2024
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The Ormond Beach Observer asked four influential residents of Ormond Beach what their first — and worst — jobs were in honor of Labor Day.
Mayor Ed Kelley
First job:
“I started working at very early age. When I was 4 years old, I was picking cotton on my grandfather’s farm in west Tennessee. It was 1948 and I made $25 that year.”
Worst job:
“When I was 13 years old, I would get up every morning a quarter to three and ride 65 to 70 miles delivering paper. I was helper, rolling up all the papers. We would finish around 6:30 a.m. and I made $1 a day.”
Importance of Labor Day:
“I think it’s important because like anything in life, what you put in is what you get out. I learned early on that physical hard work is rewarding. I chose to use my education to utilize the work smarter not harder philosophy and I think it is important. You don’t have to stay where you are. I reached that point where I never felt like I was going to work. I enjoyed what I was doing even with working 70-80 hours a week. You don’t have to be stuck in a dead-end job. You shouldn’t feel like you have to do what you doing. You can pursue any dream.”
Seabreeze High School Principal Robert Wallace
First job:
“I worked in a nursery. I would deliver planets and do landscaping. It was in my hometown in Pennseylvinia and I was 14 years old.
Worst job:
“When I was 19, I was working construction during summer in college. I was the main go-to labor guy who was basically doing everything everyone else didn’t want to do. I had another summer job I really liked when I was 20. I was working the third shift at the Reese Peanut Butter factory.” (We asked, as yes he did get to lick the spoon.)
Importance of Labor Day:
“It represents a work ethic that makes this county great. We have to celebrate the fact that those people who have a strong work ethic are those who are successful.”
Ormond Beach Police Chief Andy Osterkamp
First job:
“In ninth grade I had a paper route. I was in middle school and wanted some spending money.
Worst job:
“I was the assistant manager for fast food restaurant. I’m not going to say which one, but it was long hours and little pay. I was in my early 20s and worked six days a week.”
Importance of Labor Day:
“Hard work is important. When I have a goal, I use hard work to achieve it. I’ve applied that principal my whole career. You get out of life what you put into it. Apply yourself and work hard.”
Executive Director of Ormond Beach Mainstreet Julia Truilo
First job:
“I was a copy kid at the Daytona Beach News Journal. I did chores in the newsroom, refilling the rubber cement containers, spooling the punch tape, ripping stuff off the wire and giving it to the writers. I was 16. After that I start working the night shift at the McDonald’s on Atlantic Avenue.”
Worst job:
I haven’t really had a job I hated. But when I lived in NYC as a working actor, I had a lot of temp jobs. The weirdest one was when I was hired to answer phones at an office on Madison Avenue. The entire firm was out at the retreat and I was the only person on an entire floor of sky scraper. It was a stormy day and sky scrapers tend to sway in the wind. So I was alone, during a thunderstorm, watching the building I was in move.”
Importance of Labor Day:
“I think handwork has a couple of aspects. One is it is a process where you express who you are. If you like your job, care about what you doing, hard work is an expression of that. I’ve never had to dig ditches for a living, I don’t think I would be good of that. Every job I found something that interested me. That is hard work.”
