CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Nov. 1, 2019
On Friday, a familiar face behind the counter at the local depanneur celebrated a . . .
big milestone in her career.
Donna Presley has worked at Langford’s Grocery in Shawville for 35 years, as of November 1, and the staff threw her a surprise celebration to mark the occasion, complete with a cake.
She worked at the Shawville location for many years when it was owned by John Langford.
“I was looking for somewhere to work, and he asked me if I would work a few days a week, and that’s when it started,” she said, adding that she gradually moved up from part-time to full-time employment. “John Langford, it was a family thing, his father owned it and his grandfather before him. It’s kind of a tradition, the Langford name.”
The store was a little smaller in those days, she remembered, but it still had all the basic necessities that locals still frequent it for. She bought the store from Langford in 1996, and ran it for nearly a decade before selling to current owner Tony Iqbal-Dar in 2005, due to an illness in the family.
Presley said that the only change she implemented during her ownership was the sale of lottery tickets. She still puts in shifts every week, and had high praise for her current boss, Iqbal-Dar.
“I just said to him, ‘I can’t believe it’s 35 years, it goes by fast, you know,’” she said. “I don’t remember a single day saying, ‘I don’t want to go in.’ … This is home.”
Iqbal-Dar also had kind words for his longest-serving staff member.
“She’s not like an employee, she’s like a mother to me, you know,” he said with a laugh. “She bosses me around.”
Many customers passing through during her anniversary party congratulated Presley for her achievement, and she greeted many by name, a testament to her many years behind the counter. She said that her favourite part of working at the local corner store is all the people she interacts with on a daily basis.
“I love the work,” she said. “This is what you need, to speak to people all the time … you know them all, you get to know them.”
