Yves Charles
Maintenance Technician, Blacklick Woods Golf Courses
Yves Charles is talking with Communications Coordinator, Virginia Gordon
About me
I was born in Cleveland, but my family moved to Albany, New York, when I was still very young. This was for my dad’s work. He interned there, and worked throughout his career as an anesthesiologist, specializing in pain management and respiratory therapy. He was only 17 years old when he qualified as a doctor. He’s 90 years old now and although he doesn’t work full time, he loves to be involved. He is trying to fund and open a hospital in Haiti. Both my dad and mom were born in Haiti. I’m going with my dad to a medical conference in Washington DC over the Memorial weekend.
I went to primary school and high school in Albany. I had three older sisters, and two younger twin-sisters. We spoke French and English at home, and I am fluent in both languages. I love languages and I’m actually learning Portuguese currently. I also speak Creole, which I picked up from listening to people when I was working in various southern states. My dad speaks it as well, but he doesn’t like me speaking it, as it’s a form of broken English and he doesn’t approve of it.
EDUCATION
I went to Guilderland High School in Albany and graduated from there in 1985. Every summer, from 9th grade right up to my going to college, I did summer program advanced classes at SUNY, the State University of New York. I particularly enjoyed doing the chemistry and calculus classes. In summers I also enjoyed going to an outdoor theater in Saratoga, about 30 miles north of Albany, and watched plays or listened to orchestral concerts.
Growing up in New York State was inspiring. The landscape is so wonderful and the skies are so clear. I always think of it as God’s country. Albany is in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains and on the left bank of the Hudson River. The borders of Vermont and Massachusetts aren’t far away, and Montreal in Canada is only about a 90-minute drive to the north. My dad had a lot of friends in Montreal and we would go there what seemed like every weekend when I was growing up. Later on, my dad actually lived and worked in Montreal.
HOCKEY AND SOCCER
I loved to play ice hockey. I started when I was only four or five years old and I got really good at it. I played for the youth teams and then senior teams of Schenectady, a town just north of Albany. I was so good as a right-winger that I truly believe I could have gone professional, but my dad had very strong opinions about that. All my sisters were academically outstanding, and my dad wanted me to put academics first. I wanted that as well.
We were never allowed to be idle, as kids, or we’d get into trouble. As well as sports, I learned to play cello. I had private lessons with a teacher from the Juilliard School of Performing Arts in New York City. I also learned to play the baritone horn, which is like a small tuba and is usually played in military or brass bands. I played at high school and also at home for and with my family.
My first college was Keystone University in Pennsylvania. I was able to continue playing sport at the university, but soccer, not ice hockey. I had also played soccer from about eight years old and I loved that sport too. I worked hard and got my first degree, in Environmental Sciences, after two years of study. I then went to Wentworth University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and got a degree in Forestry in a program developed jointly with Syracuse University. Again, I graduated in just two years. I was particularly interested in paper science, and the manufacture of different types of paper products from wood pulp. And after that I came to Columbus, Ohio and earned another degree, as an electronic technician/engineering from the DeVry Institute of Technology.
STAYING IN OHIO
While studying at DeVry, I also took on a full-time job, working for a local company, TLG Electronics. They made harnesses for Honda vehicles. One of the factors in my staying in Ohio is that it’s so much cheaper to live here than in New York. I can illustrate that in easy to understand figures. A night out here might cost $30 or $40 for a meal and a beer or two. In New York City, it would cost that for a single beer and a shot. I know that because I visit friends in New York every year, and we’d take the train from Albany to the Amtrak Station in New York City. No way could I afford weekends like that on a regular basis!
After graduating from DeVry, I changed employer and worked for JP Schneider in Westerville, doing fiber optic and networking jobs. I did that for about three years, and then worked for 13 years for a statewide highway contractor, with headquarters here in Columbus, WL Markers. Because asphalt plants only open up when the ground reaches a temperature of 42 degrees, we would start working in the southern states in March, then move northward through to Thanksgiving each year. As well as Ohio, I did a lot of work on road construction and repair in Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. We were laid off for the three months of December, January and February. In those months, I worked with a buddy of mine who owned a truck, and we became owner-operators for United Van Lines.
A ‘MOVING’ TALE
As an owner-operator of United Van Lines, I’ve moved some pretty important people. I would have to say my most impressive ‘moving’ tale is that I helped President Clinton move into the White House. I also moved Ohio State great Chris Spielman from Detroit to Upper Arlington. He had been playing for the Detroit Lions when I moved his boxed furniture back to Ohio. He’s a really good guy and I got lots of memorabilia from him, even though I confessed to this standout OSU linebacker that I’m a Michigan Wolverines fan. I know that doesn’t go down too well in Columbus generally, but I don’t shout about it too much.
I still do jobs for United Van Lines occasionally, when called on, although my good buddy that I worked with has sadly passed. I have many other friends who are ready and willing to help me if I need them.
FLYING
When I was 16 I became a member of the Civil Air Patrol’s cadet program. I learned to fly with them, at Albany Airport, flying Piper and Beechcraft aircraft. I stayed a member for many years. The Civil Air Patrol is a civilian auxiliary organization of the US Air Force. We would do search and rescue missions if a plane went down somewhere.
METRO PARKS
Working on the roads for WL Markers was becoming more and more dispiriting for me. My teams were put in danger because highway drivers just seem to be becoming more reckless in their driving and more irritated with the delays they believed we were causing. People really don’t seem to care about other people the same way these days. We faced a lot of anger from drivers. They don’t like to be inconvenienced and safety goes out the window. I witnessed too many accidents. A number of our trucks got hit by drivers. I feared that one day we’d have a serious injury to myself or to one of my team, or even a fatality. That’s a principal reason why I quit.
My partner for the past 13 years, Mariah, knew I was struggling with this issue. I came home one day and she had typed up a resume for me, and told me to head out to Scioto Audubon’s Grange Insurance Audubon Center, where Metro Parks was going to be doing some open interviews. So I went there on the day of the open interviews, handed my resume to Metro Parks’ HR Director, JJ Domiano, and had a good chat with him. I didn’t know what would happen after that, and it was six months later that I got a call from JJ. After another interview I was hired to my present job as a maintenance technician here at the Blacklick Woods Golf Courses.
LOVING THE WORK
I love my work at the golf course. Beyond the regular duties, just being outdoors all the time is what I have always felt happiest with. Working at the golf course, it’s like Mother Nature is my office. I get to communicate with lots of people every day, golfers, visitors and co-workers. I see lots of wildlife when I’m out and about at the golf course, coyotes, turkeys, and I’ve even seen a black mink a couple of times, running along the creek bed. But my favorite sight is of a white squirrel, that has made a nest in a tree near to hole number two on the championship course.
The work can be hard sometimes, but I have excellent teachers in Jay and Steve. We do a lot of repairs to our irrigation system, which is getting quite old now. Our fairways were getting in bad shape through the hot dry summers and we are currently working on replacing all the grass on the front nine holes of the championship course. We’re replacing it with a warm-season grass, Zoysia. This grass has been a success on our short course and some of our tees. We’ll have help from our Roving Crew and staff from other parks too as we embark on this big project, from May through June this year. Unfortunately, golfers will not be able to play the full 18 holes of the championship course when we make the switch in grasses. We’ll probably do the same with the last nine holes next year. The results will be much better for golfers in the long run. The Zoysia grass is a verdant green during the spring and summer months, and although the color changes to a more yellowish hue when the grass goes dormant, it remains fully playable throughout the year, with none of the bare patches we’ve suffered with our current fairways.
We had to apply specific amounts of chemicals to the fairways at the start of the process. I learned an enormous amount about these chemicals and their safe use from our former golf course superintendent Mike Samulski, sadly no longer with us.
We also do a lot of mowing on the golf courses. We have different mowers for different areas of the courses. There are specific mowers for the greens, and the collars around the greens, and then mowers for the fairways and mowers for the rough. I also get in a lot of steps as we often have to use rotary push mowers on the greens. I reckon I get in anything between 22,000 and 30,000 steps on a typical day. As well as the push mowing, we walk the fairways to pick up twigs and other debris, and rake the sand in the many bunkers.
THE SAFETY COMMITTEE
Given my past work experience, it was quite understandable that I was invited to join the Metro Parks Safety Committee. I’ve always been committed to safety at work. The committee meets once a month and we review safety procedures and the safe and proper use of equipment, tools, and chemicals in the everyday work of our Metro Parks colleagues.
OTHER PARKS
I live close to Three Creeks, and for a long time I’ve made a habit of walking the trail around Heron Pond. It’s just over half a mile, and I’m hoping that helps me lose a little weight. Even though I walk all those steps a day in my work at the golf course, and in my previous highways work, my doctor says that’s part of your work and your body is used to that. He says you need to do something extra to lose weight. I’m not badly over weight, but I do have a particular challenge. Both Mariah and my step-daughter, Tylor, love to bake. And I absolutely love to eat what they bake, mostly their chocolate chip cookies and red velvet cake.
I’ve been to Scioto Audubon Metro Park quite a lot and I enjoy walking the trail through the wetlands, which is partly a boardwalk. This year I did a tour at the new Bank Run Metro Park, and then did some work there helping to remove invasive plant species. That’s going to be a really nice park.
A NICE LIFE
Mariah and I are just about to celebrate our 13th anniversary together. She’s originally from Lancaster and she works as a property manager for the Salvation Army. After my mom passed, my dad eventually remarried, and that’s when he went to live and work in Montreal. He was widowed again, sadly, and last year he moved to Columbus to live with Mariah and me. It’s great having him with us. We often speak together in French, but as Mariah doesn’t speak the language, we always make a point of speaking in English when she’s with us.
I mentioned the medical conference in Washington over the Memorial weekend. It’s the annual conference and gala fundraising event for the AMHE, or the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad. All but one of my sisters live in DC, so it’s a wonderful way to meet up with them this weekend. One of my sisters, one of the twins, has worked in Ghana for the World Health Organization for the past four years. She’ll be in DC too, over the weekend, to visit her twin sister, so I’ll get to see her and her two two-year-old boys. Amazingly, this twin had twins of her own, and she was 57 years old when she had them. It’s almost unbelievable, to have healthy twins at that age. Both my sister and the twin boys are doing so well. The visit to Washington was very enjoyable. I got to meet up with some of my sisters and nephews, and I really enjoyed a trip to the Black History Museum in The Smithsonian.
Traveling – places I’ve been, places I’d love to go
Mostly through my different work, I’ve been to every state in the union, except for Alaska. That’s a state I’d like to visit if I ever get a chance. I’ve had a few beach vacations over the years, including one trip to St Thomas, one of the Virgin Islands, and I’ve been a few times to Hilton Head in South Carolina. Honestly, I don’t enjoy the beach at all. I don’t like the feel of the sand on my feet and toes. But I do love fresh seafood. But not shellfish. I’m actually allergic to shellfish. But a red snapper makes for a wonderful dish.
I much prefer camping trips in forest or woodland environments. When I was at Keystone University I discovered the glory of camping trips in the Poconos Mountains. I actually worked at the Mount Airy Lodge, which was the exquisite place for visitors, and especially honeymooners, back in those days. Some of the rooms for honeymooners had floor-to-ceiling mirrors and bathtubs shaped like hearts. It was the largest resort hotel in the Poconos, with almost 900 rooms, and featured headline cabaret artists and entertainers. The lodge is no longer there, unfortunately. It was demolished and replaced by a casino.
Some of my favorite camping trips have been around New York State’s Lake George in the Adirondacks. The lake is more than 30 miles long and is renowned for the clarity of its deep water and the beauty of its surrounding countryside.
My favorite food and desert
I’m on something of an Indian food kick just now. In years past, I had moved a number of Indian families and their houses always had a very spicy smell that I simply didn’t like, But then Mariah persuaded me to try Indian food. We went to a restaurant called Khaab in Bexley and I had their lamb saag. The word saag refers to leafy green vegetables, such as spinach, mustard greens or collard greens, which forms the basis for the spicy sauce served with the tender, slow-cooked lamb pieces. The greens are pureed and mixed with yoghurt and spices to make the sauce. Served with basmati rice and garlic naan bread, it’s delicious.
I love to cook, and I have started to make my own lamb saag at home. I’ll cook just about anything. I make my own lasagna, and like to include both ground beef and sausage, along with green peppers, in my recipe.
I built a pavilion in my backyard and contained within it I have four grills, including one charcoal grill and a large smoker. I use hickory wood chips in my smoker and love to slow cook a large brisket or a whole chicken in it. My step-daughter Tylor has a business and raises her own chickens. She brought us an 11 pound chicken recently. It was almost as big as a turkey! I put it in the smoker for three hours and served it with red beans and rice, and a salad. It was great.
I have a great appetite, but there’s one member of my family who has an even bigger appetite. That would be Copley, my border collie, shepherd mix. He makes sure he’s there whenever I’m eating and looks at me with big, pleading eyes that just demand food. I always give in and he loves everything I share with him. We also have a purebred collie, two-year-old Millie.
My favorite entertainment
SOCCER AND NEWS
I love watching soccer on TV. I subscribe to FUBO and Sling TV, so I can watch all the matches of my favorite team, Barcelona. They’ve just won the Spanish league, La Liga, beating out their arch rivals Real Madrid. I also love to watch the Spain and Brazil national teams. I can understand soccer commentary in Spanish quite well. Watching Brazil is partly behind my interest in learning Portuguese, as that is the main language there. I watch ice hockey on TV sometimes, although my main interest is in watching the Boston Bruins play, as a friend of mine coached the team at one time. As I’m from New York, I also have a special liking for the New York Rangers.
I also spend hours glued to News channels. I like to watch CNN, MSNBC, especially the Rachel Maddow Show, and also Al Jazeera, which provides lots of fascinating news coverage of the world from a somewhat different and intriguing perspective. Growing up in New York State we were able to tune in to Canadian radio stations and so as a family we became used to different viewpoints and alternative takes on the news. It’s good to be exposed to multiple viewpoints about the things happening in our communities and around the world.
CONCERTS
One of my sisters used to work for MTV and she was able to get me tickets to loads of concerts. I’ve seen lots of bands live. My favorite genre is classic rock and my favorite band is The Grateful Dead. I’ve been a many of their concerts over the years. Other favorite artists I’ve seen include Tom Petty and also Eric Clapton, who now lives in Jerome, near Powell. His wife’s dad owns a bar in Grandview and I’ve been there quite a few times, although I’ve never seen Eric Clapton there. My dad is more interested on going to some classical music concerts, so that’s something we’ll probably try to do.
REHABBING HOUSES AND MY VINTAGE CARS
Twice now, I’ve gutted houses to their studs and rehabbed them to their former glories. Mariah’s step-dad owned an electric company and she has done electric wiring since she was little, which comes in handy for her, too, in her main job as a property manager. So together, and also with the help of friends, we rehabbed two houses. We sold one, and we live in the other.
Our house is inside I-270 and we have half-an-acre of land with it. It took us about six months to gut the house and restore it to its best. I enjoy woodworking too, and I built my pavilion in the back yard from left over fence pickets. It’s about 16 feet by 8 feet with a solid roof. My grills are inside the pavilion, and I used a slab of granite as a bar top. I also made my own yard fencing, using cattle panel. It was quite hard to do and involved about two weeks of solid effort. It keeps my dogs in, and keeps coyotes and foxes out. My neighbor keeps chickens, and I know he’s had trouble with foxes and coyotes. The dogs love being in the yard and my dad loves to play with them. Millie especially loves to play fetch the ball and it keeps her and my dad well occupied. Mariah and I love walking the dogs in the neighborhood. Copley is a rescue dog, but we bought Millie.
I have two vintage cars. One is a 1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle, with only 26,000 miles on the clock. My other vintage car is a 1979 Jeep CJ-7, a classic off-road vehicle. I’m still restoring the CJ-7 and have a lot of work left to do on it. I enjoy owning them and even taking them out for a drive, but I don’t get many miles per gallon out of them, so now is not the greatest time to take them out.
I LOVE A GOOD READ
When I’m not working, or watching soccer or news on TV, or woodworking, or rehabbing houses, that’s when I love to sit down with a good book. I don’t have time for novels. The books I read are educational, usually about management practices, or finance, or about cars. My dad still loves to read and he is rebuilding a collection of books at home. He had thousands of books in Canada and he couldn’t bring them here with him, nor could he find a buyer for them. People are not buying books the same as they used to. Sadly, he had to dispose of his entire collection of books and magazines.
What Blacklick Woods Golf Course Manager Vincent Billow says about Yves
“Yves is the consummate team player. He is always willing to help others, do more than asked or required and genuinely cares for his coworkers. He also cares deeply for the Golf Course and Metro Parks as reflected in his positive attitude and strong work ethic. Yves is an asset for the organization and I enjoy working with him.”