On hand to celebrate Chris Martin’s (second from the right) retirement were Chris’ brother Paul, father Paul and Sobey’s manager Bilijana Obucina (Contributed photo).
Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
In one of the most heartwarming stories this hard-hearted reporter has ever come across, the working career of a developmentally delayed Woodstock man has come to an end.
I feel uncomfortable even labelling Chris Martin, but I believe it’s important to celebrate the person who has been such a productive member of society with the support of his family community. The now 54-year-old spent 25 years working at Sobeys and said he enjoyed everything he did over his career. One task, however, does stand out.
“I really enjoyed working in the dairy department. I had a good boss and his name was Bob Ferguson. He told me I was a very good right-hand man. I knew exactly where everything was.”
Despite being retired, Chris plans to keep himself busy.
“Every Tuesday and Thursday I go to the VON day program where I have lots of friends. On Monday afternoon I have my clarinet lesson from 3 to 3:30. I have played clarinet for 14 years. Some people are better than others at it, I can tell you that,” he laughed.
Chris attended College Avenue Secondary School where he was enrolled in a specialized program spearheaded by Bob Pilgrim, something his father Paul Martin credits as greatly helping his development.
“He was one of 14 original students selected and he completed it over five years. He came out of there and had a job at Wendy’s for five years. Sobeys became convinced there were opportunities for adults like Chris to get a job and he spent 25 years there.”
Paul explained that despite his son’s disability he has one ability that helped him be a unique employee.
“Chris has a photographic memory. He’s been able to memorize license plates and it's funny. We’ll be driving and pull into a parking lot and he’d say so and so is here today. I’d ask him how he knew that. He said that’s their license plate.”
Paul added his son’s ability allowed him to easily work unsupervised since he knew where every product was to be on the shelves or in the coolers. He added he’s always amazed when he and his son are out and about in Woodstock and someone comes up to Chris to chat.
“I am always amazed when we go out in the community. I haven’t seen a time when somebody doesn’t come up and say, hey Chris, how are you doing? It’s all because they knew him from Sobeys. It’s a nice feeling.”
Chris was hired under what’s called the Job Links program through Woodstock District Developmental Services. Angela Gauvin is the manager and explained how it works.
“Job Links is an employment agency that helps those with disabilities find jobs. It could be someone with an acquired brain injury or due to mental health issues. Individuals come into our program and are assigned a job developer who works with them and their unique needs.”
She added the jobs clients are matched up with must be within their scope and capacity to complete. Gauvin explained the organization currently partners with 90 businesses but there are factors working against the program.
“The constant increase in the minimum wage, increasing inflation and the post-pandemic landscape changed pretty much everything for us. Businesses are still reeling a little bit from the impacts of all of that. Woodstock itself is growing exponentially but our services and amenities are not growing at the same rate that our city and population are.”
Gauvin said as a result they are servicing more members but the number of available jobs remains fairly stagnant.
Paul wished more companies would recognize there are adults like his son who could be trained to be very productive on the job and in doing so, help someone’s self-esteem.
“There are a lot of new businesses and jobs coming to the area but WDDS is having a hard time even getting them to listen to what the program is all about. They are thinking about doing a video interview with Chris and me to promote Job Links. There’s a good story there. When you look at someone with Down Syndrome or a disability, you never know what they can do unless you give them the opportunity.”
Paul added his hope is this story will motivate more local employers to give the program a chance.
Sobeys manager Bilijana Obucina said she didn’t work directly with Chris very often but heard nothing but positives from her staff.
“He was happy to be here and accepted by the team. He started working on the front end taking care of carts and bagging groceries and then moved to grocery and that is where I met him. He was a part of the community, coming to our Christmas parties with his girlfriend. He was treated just like any employee and we were very happy to have him here.”
She added Chris was always polite and respectful to customers throughout his time at the store.
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