Adam Dixon and his silver medal got a hero's welcome on his first day back to work this morning.
Dixon and his sledge hockey teammates earned a silver medal at the recent Paralympic Games in South Korea. The 28-year-old resident of Midland was greeted by his fellow staff at Alectra Utilities this morning with a thank you and a standing ovation.
"I told them I didn't want anything so big that the guys would be going on about for too long after," said Dixon. "This is really nice though and very appreciated; even if the medal isn't the colour we wanted."
The sledge hockey final was a close affair on March 18 between Canada and the USA. An overtime 2-1 thriller may not have gone the way Dixon and his fellow Canucks wanted, but he says that he knows it will sink in soon that it was a job well done.
"It stings a lot, to be that close and know that you were 37 seconds and a post away from a gold," said Dixon. "But we played really hard and I'm proud of everyone on that team. Now we're all getting back to work and staying in shape for the next time we hit the ice. I’m really thankful to Alectra for always being so understanding with me and my schedule but especially with my fellow co-workers who are the ones that have to fill in for me or pick up my slack; it’s something I never forget.”
Dixon was voted top defenceman in the tournament, which comes as no surprise to Alectra Vice President of Centralized Operations Services John McClean. McClean was happy to have not just an Olympic medalist in the company but also a very hard worker.
"We are so very proud of Adam and everything he has accomplished," said McLean. “When Adam first applied to join us he actually was very upfront about needing time to train and for major tournaments but assured us he would be well worth the hiring; he was so right. The accolades and medals aside, he is a stellar employee and solid individual as well.”
The celebration this morning included cake, coffee and Canadian flags, but McClean assures that the celebration for Alectra has been happening from game one as everyone was checking out Dixon and his teammates.
“We were all tuning in and trying to figure out the time difference and game times,” said McClean. “You’d walk by and see someone sneaking a peak on their phones or hear an employee celebrate a goal; it was a lot of fun and actually created a real good team environment here.”
Dixon is in the Metering Department and while battling jet lag will be out looking for something to do today to keep busy. Co-worker Glenn Apps is one of the many lines workers who have been paying attention to Adam’s success and says he’s extremely proud his fellow employee.
“We truly are very proud of what he has done and how he does it as he’s such a great guy,” said Apps. “The other side of it too is Alectra and their involvement. When people see the name Alectra they think big business but this today goes to show how much of a tight-knit family we all still are here.”
