3DPO and Dankmeyer Staff Celebrating Service Recognition
3DPO is so happy to share his Dankmeyer Service Award with everyone, as he has reached his three year milestone as a member of the Dankmeyer team! Where has the time gone! Oh, the adventures he has had (which you can read about if you scroll though his blog), the people he has met and the friends he has made. But he acknowledges that his time at Dankmeyer is just a drop in the bucket compared to others at Dankmeyer. Here he shares pictures of a recent service recognition ceremony where everyone was celebrated for the time they have spent at Dankmeyer in service to the patients, their clinical partners, and each other.
Two staff members in particular have celebrated an amazing forty years at Dankmeyer. Joe Delorenzo, COO, CP and Mark Treasure, CP, BOCO, both started at Dankmeyer as young men in fabrication. They were each inspired to pursue their clinical education to become clinicians and have been at Dankmeyer ever since. Close behind in the 30 year and over group are Nancy Lee and Barbara Delorenzo. If you add up all the years of service of all the staff members, it would be almost 450 years of service!
Everyone received a certificate and those with five or more years of service were presented a “Digit Award”, with a blanket displaying their significant anniversaries. The ceremony included some yummy treats, some laughter, and a few pictures that are shared here today. Please celebrate with 3DPO his pride in so many devoted co-workers! (Mark and Joe celebrated their 40th several months after the ceremony took place.)
The 35 year and up milestone group. Nancy Lee and Joe Delorenzo pictured here (before receiving his 40).
Mark Treasure before receiving his 40 year award.
Barbara Delorenzo in the 30-34 year service group.
Mark Hopkins in the 25-29 group. Not pictured, Rebecca Snell.
In the 20-24 year group are Chuck Poole, Kristin Boswell, Mary Reedy and Shawn Ross. Not pictured, Sharon Idleman.
In the 15-19 year group are Adrienne, Matt, and Cindy. Not pictured, Courtney Booth.
Angie Bryl in the 10-14 year group.
In the 5-9 year group are Jed Newhardt, Art Ross, Sheryl Sachs and Jesse Yingling. Not pictured, Jamie Dean.
In the less than five years group are Amy Smith (recently achieved 5 years), Ky Brown, Abi Ostrander, Bryan Day, Rochelle Dumm and Rebecca Frost. Not pictured, Lisa Dobson.
Heather Iman was at the Cumberland office on the big day and celebrates 3 years.
Robb Brown missed the big day, and received his 1 year certificate later.
3DPO and the Amputee Coalition Conference
3DPO was very excited to be able to return to the Alamo City, San Antonio, TX for the 2019 Amputee Coalition’s National Conference. He had visited San Antonio before on a trip to learn about Medicare coding. So he packed his blue glitter cowboy hat one more time so he would be able to blend in with the locals. The Marriott Rivercenter on the San Antonio Riverwalk was the host hotel for the more than 1000 attendees - including those with limb loss and limb difference, family, friends and healthcare providers.
San Antonio was experiencing a bit of an unusual cool spell for the event, with the sunny summer days a mild mid to upper 80’s in temperature. This allowed attendees to enjoy strolling on the Riverwalk and check out the Alamo when they weren’t attending the three days’ worth of classes, exhibits and other activities. Breakfast and lunch were served to attendees, and a big dinner and dance closed the conference with some Texas Two Step on the dance card for sure.
Adrianne Haslet, professional ballroom dancer and instructor, taught some dance moves at the First Dance session (sponsored by OPAF) to prepare those who needed a little encouragement. Adrianne lost a leg in the Boston Marathon bombing, and has been a passionate advocate for the limb loss community ever since. 3DPO would have liked to ask her to the Saturday night dance, but he was too shy.
3DPO did meet some Dankmeyer friends and clinical partners who were working in the exhibit hall. Sean from Infinite Biomedical Technologies was there and showed 3DPO some new devices. 3DPO was very proud that Dankmeyer works with IBT on some of their research projects. (You can read about Dankmeyer and IBT by clicking here.) He also stopped by and said hello to two members of the Johns Hopkins Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department. Doctors Mary Kessler and Marlis Gonzalez were there to talk about the research programs at Johns Hopkins that amputees might be interested in, including the new Osseointegration Clinic.
3DPO attended several lectures, including two on the Amputee Coalition’s Advocacy program. He also listened to Lesleigh Sisson’s talk about “Partnering With Your Prosthetist for the Best Care.” Lesleigh met 3DPO when he visited Las Vegas for a conference a few years ago, when he accidentally got lost and didn’t make it home until weeks later. Some people thought he had run off with a show girl, but he had gotten packed in a box of returning exhibit materials. He missed several weeks work because of that little incident. 3DPO also let Digit follow along one day so Digit could meet some of the dogs at the Canine Companions for Independence booth. One of the dogs was a seven month old puppy in training and tried to eat Digit’s service vest.
3DPO dreamed of meeting some of the San Antonio Spurs basketball team while he was in San Antonio. They could just be walking around on the Riverwalk. He was very excited that Tim Duncan was going to be an assistant coach for the upcoming season. 3DPO had to settle for the team’s mascot, when he found the Spurs Coyote taking a break from summer training. Since he couldn’t take Adrianne to the dance, this would have to do!
3DPO and Summer Vacation 2019
3DPO and Digit have been packing and planning for their summer vacation for a month now, and they just can’t seem to decide on one place. Do you and your family have the same issue? They would gladly take suggestions on how you decide where to go on vacation.
Art Ross, Fabrication Technician suggested something tropical and gave them a green screen view of how happy 3DPO would look on the beach.
After even more debate, they decided, that instead of one place, 3DPO and Digit decided to take an ‘Anything Can Happen Adventure’.
While we may not be seeing as many blog posts, he will be posting on Facebook and Instagram, using #3dpodankmeyer. Since this is an ‘Anything Can Happen Adventure’, he and Digit will be asking for ideas and suggestions on where to go, what to try, so please let them know what you think!
For the Instagram Link for main Dankmeyer page, you can click here!
3DPO Visits the Kinetic Sculpture Race
3DPO was out and about in downtown Baltimore a few weeks ago with Art Ross, Fabrication Technician. 3DPO and Art share a close relationship as Art is his creator! Art used Dankmeyer’s first 3-D printer way back in 2017 to create Dankmeyer’s favorite intern and mascot.
Art is a proud participant in the American Visionary Art Museum’s Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race. Per the AVAM’s website, the Kinetic Sculpture race is a race through Baltimore of wacky, imaginative, TOTALLY HUMAN-POWERED WORKS OF ART, DESIGNED TO TRAVEL ON LAND, THROUGH MUD, AND OVER DEEP BALTIMORE INNER HARBOR WATERS, constructed out of used bicycles, gears, and parts, created by a lunatic genius who tinkers around in the garage or backyard!
Art Ross in disguise with 3DPO.
The Dankmeyer staff look forward to the crazy chicken costumes Art makes every year. The year’s theme, Wheel-ality TV, allowed Art to reach way back for his inspiration, Foghorn Leghorn! As we know, our plucky 3DPO is always up for an adventure. Art kindly made him a coordinating costume and took him along.
We don’t have any photos from the event, as Art and 3DPO had their wings full, but please enjoy a few photos of them in costume.
After a busy two year internship, 3DPO will be taking the summer off from his official duties here at Dankmeyer. We will be sharing photos of his summer vacation here, on Facebook, and our Instagram page!