The “Sikeston Proud Awards” are the city’s program for employee recognition. Any city employee can be nominated by any other employee – supervisor, coworker, or subordinate. For December 2017, the winners of the Sikeston Proud Awards are the following:

Lorya Knox and Cliff Jackson, School Resources Officers (Department of Public Safety)

Lorya Knox and Cliff Jackson serve as School Resource Officers with the Department of Public Safety. Over the summer they helped with several youth summer camp programs in Sikeston, presenting educational information regarding bullying, fire safety, how and when to call 911, and other public safety related topics. Officer Knox and Sergeant Jackson were described as “great role models” and “very compassionate and caring individuals.” Rosie Davis with the Lincoln University Cooperative Extension service said regarding Knox and Jackson that, “Life is so much better with you all in it.  We thank you for all that you did to educate and encourage our youth to make right choices, be respectful, and to learn while they can. It was great when we all came together on the theme "Build a better world" and made reading the foundation for doing so. We would not have been able to do summer camp with such high standards without you all.”

Matt Holifield, Skilled Worker (Public Works Department)

Matt Holifield has been with the City of Sikeston for 3 years. He was nominated by a Public Works supervisor for his contributions to recent Parks projects. His nomination read, “Matt’s recent assistance with the renovation of the old BMX building was very impressive. He was very knowledgeable in the work asked of him and his leadership skill was greatly appreciated. After an accident involving a supervisor on the project, Matt stepped up and was able to complete the project with little supervision. His work resulted in a new restroom that the community can be proud of. I am proud to recommend him for a Sikeston Proud Employee award.”

Charles Bolen, Skilled Worker (Public Works Department)

Charles (Chuck) Bolen has been with the City of Sikeston for 7 years. He was nominated by a supervisor in the Public Works Department, who said, “I would like to take the opportunity to recognize Chuck Bolen for his recent contributions. Chuck has been a valuable employee and has stepped in with his abilities in building maintenance, and contributed to both the Street Division and the Park division. Chuck assisted the Parks Division in constructing the new restroom at the Sports Complex as well as participating in several construction projects at the Public Works Complex. He is willing to do anything asked of him, and has a great attention to detail. I am proud to recommend him for a Sikeston Proud Employee award.”

Brian Dial, Darren Martin, Billy Smith, and Chris Hart, Public Works Supervisors

Brian Dial, Darren Martin, Bill Smith, and Chris Hart are all supervisors in the streets, parks, and building maintenance divisions of the Public Works Department. Just prior to the start of baseball season early in the summer, with their employees busy on other projects, Brian, Darren, Billy and Chris showed initiative and some very hard work to come in early and stay late hauling, dumping and spreading rock on the parking lots at the Sports and Recreation Complex to help put a fresh face on the complex before the ball season began.

Micheal Melton, Skilled Worker (Public Works Department)

Micheal Melton has been with the City of Sikeston for 2 years. He was nominated by a supervisor, who said, “I would like to take the opportunity to recognize Micheal Melton for his recent contributions. He has stepped in with his abilities in construction, and contributed to both the Street Division and the Garage Division. Micheal has overseen major building maintenance projects including reconstructing the City Garage office, restroom renovations and break room restorations. He completed these projects with little supervision and allowed Building Maintenance to complete other projects.”

Terry Burton, Skilled Worker (Public Works Department)

Terry Burton was nominated by a supervisor who said, “Terry’s recent assistance with the renovation of the old BMX building is to be commended. His work resulted in a new restroom that the community can be very proud of. Terry is a hard worker and is always eager to perform the work asked of him. His attitude towards his work and those around him are impeccable. Terry is always a boost to the morale of anyone working with him. I am proud to recommend him for a Sikeston Proud Employee award.”

Chris Merideth, Sergeant (Department of Public Safety)

Chris Merideth has been with the City of Sikeston for 16 years. Sergeant Merideth was nominated for a Sikeston Proud Award by one of her employees, who said, “I want to nominate Sergeant Chris Merideth.  Yesterday during the incident with MSHP she was on top of all aspects.  Sometimes, it’s not seen what dispatch does in an incident like yesterday, but we in dispatch at the time are very grateful for Sergeant Merideth.  She took initiative and called to lock down the public schools. For extra precaution she called all of the local private schools, SEMO Christian Academy, Kenny Rogers CP Center, and New Dawn State School along with many others and local businesses in the area.  She, of course, will say it’s just her job and that it is expected of her, but she excels at high stress incidents and always makes sure the proper steps are taken to look out for the safety of the officers, the community, and to assist in making our part of the incident easier!”

Flint Dees, Detective (Department of Public Safety)

Flint Dees has been with the City of Sikeston for 20 years. Detective Dees was nominated by a coworker for his actions related to a domestic case. His coworker praised Dees professionalism and attention to detail during a search for a weapon discarded from a moving vehicle, saying, “I was with Detective Dees when the victim showed us the route that was taken when she had the gun pointed at her. I thought there was no way we were going to find that gun but Detective Dees did! He was so professional and very patient with the victim during the entire time we were tracing their steps from the prior day.”   

Darren Lowe, Skilled Worker (Public Works Department)

Darren Lowe has been with the City of Sikeston for 3 years. He was nominated by a supervisor, who said, “I would recommend for a Sikeston Proud Nomination Darren Lowe. Darren is a very skilled employee that has no issue taking on any job you give him and he does a great job. Darren is the type of employee you can give a job to and not think any more about it because you know it will be done well.”

Gary Annesser, Skilled Worker (Public Works Department)

Gary Annesser has been with the City of Sikeston for 3 years. He was nominated by a supervisor who said, “Gary is the type of employee that has to keep busy all the way up till time to go home in the afternoon. He is always cleaning; even if it is someone else’s turn to clean Gary will do it. To me that is a great employee.”

Jamie Williams, Billy Smith, Bruce Copeland, Collin Cecil, and John Blakely (various departments)

When the City unexpectedly took over operations of the animal shelter earlier this year we had little notice before being left the keys to a building in unknown condition with an unknown number of animals inside. Naturally, the keys were turned over to the City on Friday before a holiday weekend. Over that weekend and in the days afterwards several city employees including Jamie Williams, Billy Smith, Bruce Copeland, and Collin Cecil, went above and beyond to make sure the building was secure and the animals were safe. Additionally, Detective John Blakely volunteered his time to complete the significant amount of mowing that was needed at the property at the height of the growing season.