Like It or Not, You’re Being Honored!

Oh, you know the type. Quiet, unassuming and definitely shuns the limelight. Yet that same person makes it work, gets things done and delivers the goods, so to speak. Rick Ayres is that kind of guy and now Parks has caught him at it. The parks maintenance worker won Parks’ annual Unsung Hero Award.      

“I was surprised, I don’t really see myself as an unsung hero,” said Ayres.

Naturally! But Parks Director Brian Albright sees it differently.

“He is a do-it-all type of guy and in particular his welding skills have proven extremely valuable for us,” said Albright. 

Funny thing is; Ayres learned how to weld about 25 years ago in hopes of getting a job at the shipyards. That idea washed out with the rains in 1993. The Tijuana River Valley near Imperial Beach flooded. The City and the County needed clean-up crews. Ayres said to himself, I’d like to work with the County and the rest is, well you know.

He’s worked all over the County Parks system since then; local parks in the East and South County, Heritage Park, open space areas and El Cajon. Mowing, gardening, sprinkler repair, trails maintenance, new construction and more. Basically, if a County park needs some type of maintenance that can’t be handled at the site, Ayres is the go-to-guy.

Parks Maintenance Worker Rick Ayres“The hardest jobs are the ones with the quickest deadlines. They are the most challenging and the most rewarding,” said Ayres. “I get to do what I want to do. I’m not stuck anywhere and I get to meet people,”

His favorite part of the job, though, is welding.

“Ayres has repeatedly demonstrated a creative mind and has successfully designed and fabricated various site improvements,” said District Manager Matt Bohan.

Basically, Ayres can look at something and figure out how to improve on it. He designed, fabricated and welded a new entry gate that combines a vehicle gate and a horse gate into one unit. The original gate stuck two separate gates together and brought complaints that it bothered horses’ hooves. Ayres came up with a way to prevent that and save money. His new and improved vehicle and horse gate requires sinking two posts, instead of four and the structure is now much lighter yet just as sturdy.

Another example involves Iron Rangers. At unstaffed parks, these boxes collect fees from visitors. Each one costs about $1,500 to $2,000. The problem is some people try to break into them.

“I think we can come up with something better and cheaper,” said Ayres. He designed and welded a tamper-proof unit. With labor and materials, Ayres is saving the department $500 per collection box.

Ayres is the only welder at Parks and he currently works out of the El Cajon Operations Center which is right off of- appropriately enough for him - Weld Drive. But soon that will hold true for others in his department. Ayres is sharing his expertise on the intricacies of welding with his co-workers.

Albright says Ayres operates behind the scenes doing great work and deserves the Unsung Hero Award.

Ever modest, Ayres had this to say.

“I couldn’t have done this alone. A lot of people helped me along the way,” said Ayres. “I got the award but it was a collective effort.” 

Those shipyards will never know what they missed. One thing’s for sure, Ayres certainly won’t say anything!