Like Good Neighbors, Mayo Groundskeepers Clear a Path to Help Local Church
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When a downtown Rochester church was without its maintenance worker due to an accident, Mayo groundskeepers stepped in to lend a helping hand.
Nick Queensland has a big job. As supervisor of Grounds Maintenance for Mayo Clinic’s Rochester campus, Queensland oversees the crew responsible for making sure Mayo Clinic buildings stay as neat, clean and safe on the outside as on the inside. Spring through fall, that means every tree, plant, flower, bush, shrub and blade of grass must be lovingly cared for. During the winter (the long, long winter), it means removing snow and ice from sidewalks and parking areas to ensure patients and staff have a clear path to wherever they need to go.
That sometimes requires an all-hands-on-deck approach … especially when a member of the team is away or unavailable for a period of time. Fortunately, Queensland has a staff that can pick up the slack when that happens. For others, that’s not always the case. When the person responsible for lawn care or snow removal goes down, it doesn’t take long for grass or snow to start piling up. Such was the case for the iconic Cavalry Episcopal Church in downtown Rochester this winter when its primary maintenance worker slipped and fell on a patch of ice.
The day of the accident, we’re told one of the first people the church called was Queensland. One, to ask for a temporary hand. And two, to let him know what had happened to his fellow groundskeeper and friend. “I first texted him to make sure he was OK,” Queensland says. “I knew the injury was a big stressor on him because he takes a lot of pride in his work at the church. His snow removal and mowing there is top-notch.”
And it would continue to be in his absence, Queensland assured him. Just like he and his crew had done for the church in the past, and vice versa. “We’ve always had a good relationship with Calvary,” Queensland tells us. “They help keep an eye on things for us, too, and I think we both take a lot of pride in each other’s properties and realize that we support each other.”
Which is why, Queensland tells us, his crew didn’t hesitate to lend a hand after finding out what had happened. “All the credit goes to my crew,” Queensland says. “All I did was take the phone call and say yes, and then ask them to add it to their already burdensome work load. And they did so happily.”
Just like, Queensland says, good neighbors should. “This is something I would do for my neighbors at home and everybody on my crew would as well,” he says. “And we definitely want to extend that here at Mayo Clinic, too, because it’s also about the Mayo Clinic values that we’re all trying to live out.”
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