By Lizz Bottrell

Many people view his or her job simply as a way to make a living. Not Allan Devitt. His job allows him to help others, giving him a great feeling of accomplishment.

Allan works at Kipling Industries cutting and wrapping string for Pusch Brothers Greenhouse in Windthorst. “I measure 40-feet of string, 132 make a mile,” said Allan proudly. The 132 refers to the number of 40-foot wraps of string. One hundred and thirty-two 40-foot wraps of string all laid out make one mile, which means for every 132 wraps Allan completes, he walks a mile. “On a good week I can do 200. I set a goal, I’m trying to do 400,” said Allan.

“We’d like to know how many he could do in a month so he’d know how far he walked in a month,” said Joanne Weir, CEO of Kipling Industries.

The greenhouse uses the string Allan cuts and wraps when they start growing tomatoes and cucumbers. The plants grow up, so the greenhouse uses the string as supports.

He puts forth a lot of effort when cutting and wrapping the string. After Allan laid out everything he needed, he went to work - first, by tying a knot in one end of the string. “I’m still practicing trying to get them right. The goal is trying to get a knot without too much hangover,” said Allan as he pointed to the small tail left from the knot.

Next he carefully pulls the string around the pencils taped at each end of the table five times to make 40 feet. “See, that’s how it’s done,” he said with a big smile on his face. For the last part of the process, Allan wraps the string around hooks at each end of a six-inch metal pole he didn’t know the name of.

“Time goes quick when there’s no interruptions,” he said of his time spent working. Allan likes his work as much as the people at Kipling Industries like him.

Weir enjoys having Allan around to work. Other people came out to help from time to time, but Weir says Allan does the best work. “He wraps the string around carefully. They need it that way so it can roll out properly each week,” said Weir. “And he would always like to stay ahead of their needs.” Which he does.

When Weir told Allan the greenhouse would send over another 600 for him to do later this week, he excitedly said, “Oh boy, thanks for the notice!” Every spring Pusch Brothers Greenhouse starts new plants in their summer greenhouse, so Allan’s new task of 600 wraps of string will be put to good use.

Kipling Industries enjoys Allan’s company every day during the week except Thursdays when he’s off to the Citizen to stuff flyers, a job he puts equally as much work into. “I’ve set a goal. I want to see how many flyers I stuff a week,” said Allan.

Allan knows his work is meaningful and takes much pride in that fact. “It’s a good feeling. The reason it’s a good feeling is cause I’m helping someone out.”