Tip of hat better late than ever; Mayor honors citizens for service in 2009.

Byline: George Barnes

GARDNER - It is now thenext-to-last month of 2010, but Mayor Mark P. Hawke said he wanted to make sure to honor a city employee and local citizens who contributed significantly to the community in 2009.

The mayor announced last week that City Treasurer/Collector Charline M. Daigle was named city employee of the year and Edward L. and Helen A. Lepkowski were named co-citizens of the year.

Mr. Hawke said Ms. Daigle was the main person involved with ensuring a successful restructuring of City Hall duties and offices.

He said Ms. Daigle has been a city employee since 1990 and was key to the successful transition from the city treasurer's office as a stand-alone office to an office that manages both the city treasurer and city collector duties, and the swapping of office space between the treasurer's office and the city clerk's office.

Mr. Hawke said Ms. Daigle's willingness to work to get the job done made his job easy.

"The only thing I heard from Charline was, `Yup. We can do that. Yup. We can do that,'" he said. "She is truly a huge asset to the city."

The mayor said that for the Lepkowskis, the citizen of the year award should really be a lifetime achievement award. He said both have been past presidents of the local chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons.

Mr. Lepkowski has served on the Gardner Redevelopment Authority for 22 years, more than 10 years on the Conservation Commission and 10 years as a trustee of Mount Wachusett Community College. His wife has served 17 years as the city's representative on the...