<\/p>\n
For 37 years, Dennis Story has served the community as a case worker, supervisor, and then director of Montezuma County Social Services.<\/p>\n
His wife, Sue, put in 37 years as a lab technician at the Cortez Sanitation District.<\/p>\n
Now the couple will hang up their work clothes at the same time and retire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going anywhere \u2013 this is our home, our community,\u201d said Dennis Story.<\/p>\n
Social service workers are often unsung contributors, working behind the scenes to protect children, families and provide a safety net for the disadvantaged.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve dealt with a lot of tough cases, but there are success stories also,\u201d Dennis Story said during a retirement party Thursday. \u201cIt will be nice to wake up and not have to think about all those problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dennis Story has kept an old box where donations used to be collected for the needy. Now it is more impersonal, dominated by computers, bureaucracy and court-cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot less face-to-face interactions and less home visits, so that is sad,\u201d he said. \u201cThe needs grow with population. In 1980, we had a staff of 12; now it is 40.\u201d<\/p>\n
Josiah Forkner will take over as social services director.<\/p>\n
Sue Story recalled her first interview at the sanitation district in 1977.<\/p>\n
\u201cI walked in, told them about my lab credentials, and was hired on the spot,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a time when sanitation was becoming more regulated under the Clean Water Act, and I was just what they needed to keep up with environmental compliances.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sanitation district was so impressed with her work that it renamed headquarters in her honor.<\/p>\n
Unbeknownst to Sue Story, sanitation staff had her unveil a new sign at a recent retirement party. To her obvious delight it reads: Welcome to the Sue Story Waste Water Treatment Facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is amazing, I appreciate you all so much,\u201d Sue Story said.<\/p>\n