WORTHINGTON — With a break in recent winter weather and sunny skies ahead, snow plow drivers gathered at Worthington’s JBS Fieldhouse Monday for a free lunch as a thank you for their efforts in clearing streets and roads during a series of winter storms over the past few weeks.
The lunch was organized by First State Bank Southwest, in partnership with Pizza Ranch, who provided food for city and county snow removal crews.
“Someone brought up the idea, that no one deserves more credit than the snow plow drivers,” said Greg Raymo, CEO of First State Bank Southwest. “And we all thought that was a fantastic idea, because they just don’t get a lot of credit for getting us all to work on time.”

Before the end of the day, Worthington and Nobles County staff were contacted, and Pizza Ranch was on board. Five days later, the JBS Fieldhouse was set to host the approximately 60 snow plow drivers, either hired by — or contracting with — the city and county, for lunch.
“It was pretty quick turn around, but we made a few phone calls and pulled it all together,” said Raymo. “It’s just part of being a community bank, is helping the people and making sure they know our appreciation.”
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A dozen FSBSW employees helped serve food as plow drivers stopped in between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to eat pizza and chat, after days of putting in long hours to clear snow from the streets and roadways.

“We have an excellent crew that does an excellent job,” said Worthington Public Works Director Todd Weitzema. “We’re very fortunate that way. They're very dedicated. They do whatever it takes to make sure that our roads are clean and people can get around and work whatever hours they need.”
Last winter, Worthington received 21 inches of accumulated snow fall and snow plows were only deployed three times. Already this year, Weitzema said the city has nearly doubled that amount. Snow plow drivers are currently in the process of cleaning up streets, now that they’ve been cleared for the most part, but that still means lots of work ahead.
“We’re very appreciative of First State Bank for doing this,” Weitzema added. “A little appreciation goes a long way.”