At Browning Masonic Community, our employees are super stars! We recently sat down with Chef Gary in Food Services so he could share his story and the success he’s had at Browning Masonic Community. Meet Gary, a Browning Masonic Community Super Star!

 

How long have you worked at Browning Masonic Community (BMC)?

It will be six years this November that I have been working at BMC. I began my career working in a restaurant where I started out washing dishes. I developed a passion for cooking and slowly started training to become a chef. It didn’t take long for me to understand the stress of working in a restaurant. The hours can be extremely long and taxing.

I could see the issues that working in a restaurant could have on a marriage and a family. I didn’t want that. I made the move BMC and I have never looked back. This is the place for me. I was so excited about being here, I put together brand new menus the first week I started!

 

What makes Browning Masonic Community different than other senior living communities?

I can’t tell you what makes BMC different from other senior living communities, but I can definitely tell you why I like working here. I enjoy the communication and the interactions that I have with our community members. I want to know what they like and want to eat. I want to be the one that handles any complaints or questions they have. I want to help them understand and appreciate our food. I value their input.

I have fun gathering recipes from our community members. They like to share their recipes and their mom’s recipes.  Everyone gets really excited when we make these recipes. That brings back good memories for the person that shared the recipe. It’s always fun for our community members to try something new.

 

What do your daily responsibilities include?

I do everything that relates to food. That includes managing a team of 16 great staff members to ordering the food, making the menus and creating the recipes. I enjoy interacting with my staff and getting to know them better. That helps to keep our team running smoothly every day.

I work with the nursing staff to determine if any of our community members have dietary restrictions. Sometimes dietary needs can change and I want to make sure I am always prepared to do the very best for each of them.

The best part of every day is knowing that I have made of our community members’ good meals that they will enjoy eating!

 

What are some of your favorite benefits Browning Masonic Community offers?

If you ask some people about our benefits, they will tell you about insurance and PTO time. To me, the best benefit at BMC is being “free to create.” I can be myself. I don’t have to worry about making a mistake. My team and I can grow professionally and personally.

Preparing food that tastes good is important, but you need to make sure it is well presented and pleasing to look as well as tasting good. That is another way to be creative that I share with the rest of my team and our community members.

 

What would you tell a prospective applicant about Browning Masonic Community?

Browning Masonic Community is a smaller community than some others in our area and that makes this a very “hands on” place to work. You have the opportunity to participate in everything. Some days may be busier than others which makes coming to work so special.

We have one common goal, to make our community members comfortable and know that they are at home. The culture of our campus makes this possible every single day.

 

Why do you love working at Browning Masonic Community?

If this question was asked to any BMC employee, they would each have a very personal answer. For me it’s that feeling of being respected. We are all treated well and with such understanding. So many people go to work every day and their leadership might not even recognize them, but not here. Our leadership knows everyone by name and is always checking to see how you are doing, even our CEO. I can guarantee that you won’t find this work environment everywhere.

 

 

If you are interested in applying at any of The Ohio Masonic Home campuses:

Springfield Masonic Community | Springfield, OH
Browning Masonic Community | Waterville, OH
Western Reserve Masonic Community | Medina, OH

visit https://www.omhcareers.org or call 877-881-1623