Our Community
At Network Telecom we value the community that we’re surrounded by, and we always do our best to be involved in community events as a team and as individuals. On this page you’ll find out about past events we were involved in, as well as information about upcoming events in our community.
WCDSB – Annual Links Fore Learning Tournament
Some members of our Network Telecom team attended the WCDSB – Annual Links Fore Learning Tournament on August 19th, 2021.
Avaya Engage 2020 Conference
Two members of our Network Telecom (Cathy & Dave) team attended the Avaya Engage 2020 Conference in Phoenix, Arizona this year!
Telecom installer, 80, not ready to leave work buddies behind
Charlie Roes, centre, 80, isn’t ready to retire from the job he loves at Network Telecom in Kitchener. With him are, from left, Bill Schultz, Dave Waddle, Brad Murray and Dan Finn. – Peter Lee , Waterloo Region Record
KITCHENER — Some octogenarians have a bucket list.
Charlie Roes, 80, a former Bell line technician with six decades of dial tone ringing softly in his ears has his own bucket truck.
“It’s kind of funny,” said Dave Waddle, operations manager at Network Telecom in Kitchener where Roes has worked for a quarter century.
“He was always climbing extension ladders. So, about 10 years ago, we went out and we bought a bucket van so Charlie doesn’t have to go up ladders any more. He says, ‘Forget it. I’ll never use that in my life.’ Now, you can’t get him out of it.”
Up in Charlie’s bucket, you’ll often find him installing commercial data cables for businesses. It’s not like olden dial-up days, when Charlie’s cheerful working life was all about stringing and repairing phone lines.
Imagine a five-digit number for Kitchener’s Sherwood exchange or three-digit number for Milverton. Charlie need not imagine. He remembers.
That was before he retired from Bell. The buyout made financial sense, an accountant advised. He took it but missed the job. A year later, he landed at his current employer. A bucket truck later, he has no plans to retire again and kick around a tiresome bucket list. But why keep working?
“It’s the people I’m working with, the people I’m working for,” said Charlie, a four-time great-grandfather who lives in Waterloo with wife Marion. “To me, it’s like going to visit friends every morning.”
Those same friends threw him an 80th birthday party last September. A lot of Charlie’s family met his co-workers for the first time that candle-heavy cake day. Finally, they understood why he won’t retire.
“When are we going fishing?” Charlie often asks his bosses. He’s always eager to drop a line in for a Toronto salmon derby or a Lake Erie walleye. But ocean tuna aren’t on their must-fish list. Sorry, Charlie.
Still, back in October, he wondered if his installer days were done.
Charlie thought he was getting a cold. He got the sweats. Doctors wondered if he was having a heart attack or stroke.
Turns out, his spleen had ruptured.
“They have no idea why,” Charlie said.
By early December, he was back at work. He never really thought of retiring. The camaraderie of the job beckoned him back to his dozen-member band of installer brothers and the bucket they named for him.
“Any overhead cable, he’s the first one to jump in it,” service manager Bill Schultz said of Charlie. “And he’ll go for it too.”
Father Time, a customer once called Charlie. The running gag goes that Alexander Graham Bell made his first phone call to Watson but his second was to Charlie. He can be mischievously gung-ho too.
Often, like a coffee-friendly Jack LaLanne of a data-driven modern world, Charlie will grab the bulkiest gear on a job site while the younger, huskier co-workers lug clipboards and No. 2 pencils.
“He’s the smallest guy carrying all this heavy stuff and we’re walking around with a piece of paper,” Schultz said. “And everybody’s looking at us saying, ‘Help the guy out, for God’s sakes!’ He’s a goer, all right.”
But one day, Charlie may have to leave his bucket and his buddies behind for good. He’s just not sure when that day will come.
“I don’t know,” he said, pondering when he might retire.
“Once I feel I’m not pulling my weight anymore.”
Congrats To The Wilmot Thunder Squirt Team!
Congrats to the Wilmot Thunder Squirt Team for winning the North Waterloo U12 Fastpitch League, and coming 3rd in the Ontario provincials!
Let’s Go Blue Jays!
Happy Holidays From Network Telecom!
Kitchener-Waterloo Santa Clause Parade
Sponser for the Waterloo Catholic DSB to raise funds for Kids Ability.
The Wilmot Thunder Squirt Team
We’re currently a sponsor for the Wilmot Thunder Squirt Team based out of Wilmot, Ontario. Their head coach is Ian Collins, who also happens to be our Avaya Rep! Let’s go thunder!
Avaya Partner Event
Both Cathy and Dave Waddle, managers of the Network Telecom team, were honored to attend the recent Avaya partner event “The Connected World” which ran from June 4th-6th. It was a great event filled with fun and learning!
Trade Show At Bingemans
We recently were part of a local trades show at Bingemans where we were able to interact with a number of students to help determine what kind of career they may want to pursue. It was a great day!