One cold winter morning, Dr. David Nochimson struck up a conversation with Gordon Daniels, a driver for Paine’s recycling and rubbish removal. Nochimson, a retired obstetric physician, lives in North Granby where the bears love exploring the contents of his trash can. He often takes his trash down the morning of trash pickup day to avoid this overnight assault and talks to Daniels frequently. After learning of Daniel’s history, he contacted the Drummer because he felt this man deserved recognition, noting, “Everyone has a niche and is important.”
Daniels, a Granby native, has worked at Paine’s for 13 years. He works hard to provide for his two girls, ages 4 and 8. After three years at Paine’s, he obtained a Commercial Drivers’ License and learned to operate the automated sanitation truck in three days and has never looked back.
Daniels says he loves his job. He is the only Paine’s sanitation worker for all of Granby and is responsible for the approximately 12 tons of trash the community produces every day. On holidays that amount doubles!
He starts his daily route at 4 a.m. His day doesn’t end until he drives into Hartford to dump the load and heads back to Paine’s—ending his day at 4 p.m., five days a week year-round. He has never called in sick in 13 years and only takes three days off in November to hunt—one of his favorite activities besides fishing and making his own beef jerky.
Daniels lives in an apartment on a farm owned by an elderly couple in West Suffield. When he arrives home, he takes care of the farm for this couple which includes three horses and several cats. He also helps care for the couple, who have health issues that need attending to almost daily. He also cares for his own two bulldogs, chickens, turkeys, and a small terrier. His day ends around 9:30 p.m. That’s a lot of work. He claims he doesn’t tire easily and developed his strong work ethic being raised by his father who was a Marine.
You wouldn’t think his job is dangerous, but he told me stories of fires in the truck when people dump hot ashes in their trash, chemical fires from ammonia and bleach poured into trash cans and propane tanks that get sliced and can explode. He also regularly picks up the trash our bear population loves to knock over and drag everywhere in the warmer months.
After speaking with Julie Paine-Miller at Paine’s, I was made aware that the kids in town call him “Mr. Gordon” and he has quite a large following. The kids wait for him and get him to honk his horn, sometimes very early in the morning, and they leave him pictures they draw. When time permits, Daniels will stop and show them the truck. He attends Touch-A-Truck events in town because kids just love to see how everything works and touch everything. He is a very approachable and kind man.
Next time you see him give him a wave—he’s an important member of our community who rarely receives enough credit for the invaluable service he provides.