OUTLOOK - If you live in the town of Outlook, the odds are pretty good that you've seen or even met Kaytlyn Stevens at some point around the riverside community.
The 29-year old woman has enjoyed a litany of employment roles around town, and she always finds a way to enjoy whatever it is that she's currently doing. You may have seen her at the pottery shop when she worked there for a number of years, or she may have been serving you popcorn at the Reel Theatre when you decided to make it a movie night.
Now, Stevens is working for the community that she calls home.
Today, she was at work when I dropped by the Jim Kook Rec Plex to chat with her about her day-to-day routine as the recreation caretaker. Stevens took over the role from Sarah Mellen who, at the time when this reporter interviewed her as well, was waiting for the arrival of a baby boy. Now that Sarah is on maternity leave, Kaytlyn said she jumped at the opportunity to serve in this role.
She's still new to the position, having only started at the rink less than a month ago, but she's quickly become engrained to how the inner workings of the rink play out on a daily basis.
"A typical day for me, when it's not busy, is pretty much quiet," said Kaytlyn. "There's a lot of cleaning to do, and that keeps me busy. It's pretty much the same thing every day. Same tasks, same work. For example, I cleaned up the bathrooms this morning, that always needs to get done! I'll also be cleaning the floors, and probably a few other tasks today that I can't quite recall right now."
When it comes to maintaining the cleanliness and sanitation of the Outlook rink, there's a level of repetitiveness to it, but for Stevens, that's what she prefers.
"Every day is kind of the same, but I actually like that because then I know what to expect next," she said. "It just keeps me going and working."
Kaytlyn says she doesn't mind the work that's involved in the role, but it being the local rink, she does admit that sometimes the noise level can become a bit much.
"When it comes to the noise and the crowds, that can get me irritated and then I have to go and sit down for a little while," she said. "Just try and calm down from the noise."
On the flip side of that negative, she says that it's the people coming and going from the Rec Plex that she likes to see and interact with on a daily basis. She especially likes seeing local kids enjoy themselves with the activities that the rink offers.
"I enjoy seeing people, and I like seeing people watch the games and enjoy themselves," said Stevens. "I also enjoy getting to watch a bit of the games while I'm here working. I think it's so cute when the little kids play out on the ice. A lot of the people who come here are just very nice, too."
Kaytlyn says she likes to focus on the positive side of life and that she finds enjoyment in her daily work assignments, whether it's cleaning the arena area such as the bleachers, or sanitizing the change rooms, which can be a pretty messy job in itself.
Her role is also one that comes with a little bit of authority when it's time to enforce it, something that she started to realize as she got into the groove of the job.
"It took me a while to get used to it, but once I started doing different things, I started to like it more," she said. "There were things about it that I didn't know before. I've found that if someone's misbehaving, I don't always know what to do. Should I kick them out? Should I tell someone? What should I do? Like, I've never been in this situation before. A lot of times, I just say, 'Can you just be nice please and not do that?'"
To Kaytlyn, the town of Outlook is a wonderful place to live and call home; a place that she credits with being a community that sees everyone watch out for each other.
She also cordially invites anyone to come on down to the rink if you're looking for something to do, as the fall season offers the public different options for some evening entertainment.
"If you're bored, come on over to the rink!" said Stevens. "You can rent the laser tags area, or you can come over for bowling and have yourself a good time!"
Sounds good to this reporter.
