Davis enjoying his Tallassee High School reunion with classmate Polly Sue (Hudson) Rowlen

Familiar faces retiring from city

By Michael Butler

Mack Davis

Mack Davis is retiring from the city of Tallassee. He has spent almost 32 years working with the city's water treatment plant.

“With Steve and I both gone, it’s going to be tough on them,” Davis joked referring to himself and Steve Oswalt, who also recently retired from the city's filtration hub.

Davis is now 64. He worked on his family's dairy farm prior to coming on board with the city.

“It was seven days a week,” he said.  “We sold out in 1983. We finally had to diversify out of the dairy business.”

When asked if the time was right for retirement, Davis did not hesitate with his response.

“I was ready,” he exclaimed. “I had two knee replacements in 2008 and 2011.  They’re working real good.  You get to the point, you don’t want to push your luck anymore.”

Davis worked 12-hour shifts.  “(We) and the police department are the only ones that get any overtime with our regular work weeks.  We we have four 12-hour shifts one week and three the next week.  I tell you, that four-day run is rough on your body.”

Over the past three decades, Davis has seen lots of changes.

“It was like the dark ages when we first went in with a lot of hard manual labor.  We transferred to liquid chemicals from powder.”

Davis said these days that there is about a 70% failure rate on those attempting to qualify in the field. “It’s so hard to get certification now,” he said. “There’s so much chemistry and algebra.  There’s a lot that you’re expected to have knowledge of to work in the water industry.”

With free time on his hands, Davis is not concerned with becoming bored.  “I’ll find something to do.  I won’t be eligible for Medicare until next March.  I didn’t want to go to March.  I was ready.”

Send Comments