October 2, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 Midland Park DPW worker returns gold ring found at yard It’s nothing unusual when Midland Park Department of Public Works employees go out of their way to help residents who need their assistance. David Brian Garling, who has been with the department for 20 years, was sur- prised during last week’s mayor and council meeting with a formal resolution praising him for going the extra mile, as his family and co-workers looked on. It was resident Orrie Smith who brought Garling’s most recent act of helpfulness and honesty to the attention of Mayor Patrick “Bud” O’Hagan, prompting the accolades. Smith had thrown out his gold college ring along with his garden debris at the Greenwood Avenue recycling center and asked Garling, who was on duty, to help him find it. “We shook all the brush and didn’t find it. Brian said he’d look for it later when he got the time,” Smith said. “He later found it after searching the grounds and returned it. He went to a lot of trouble, and saved me a lot of money. It was very honest of him,” Smith added. Fondly known as “Bonzo”, Garling was praised for being courteous, helpful and friendly and showing himself to have “a strong work ethic, performing all tasks assigned with great skill, accuracy and completeness, while being pleasant to his fellow co-workers. We could almost say he is irreplaceable,” the resolution states, adding: “A special ‘Thank You’ from (but not limited to) moms who smile because they watch their children laugh and smile when Brian waves to them from the sweeper, and the elderly person he stops to help complete a task, and the man who lost his college ring at the recycling center and Brian searched the grounds until he found it, and the many, many other citizens of Midland Park who have benefited from Brian’s kindness.” Brian Garling, left, receives a proclamation from Mayor Pat- rick ‘Bud’ O’Hagan. “So many residents have stories about Brian’s kindness and helpfulness,” said O’Hagan, who had his own amusing tale about the high regard in which Garling is held among residents. “A neighbor of mine baked a pie during a snow storm and asked my wife to give it to him as he was plowing the street. When Janet gave it to Brian and told him who had baked it, he said, ‘Oh, oh. I just plowed her in.”