Employee of the month? Tony Aiuto might just be the employee of the past half-century
When Tony Aiuto reported for his first day as a busboy at Phil's restaurant, a different Trudeau was Prime Minister, Paul Henderson was about to become hockey royalty, Mark Spitz won seven gold medals at the Summer Olympics and Atari introduced a new game known as Pong.
Tuesday, Tony said so long to Phil's, after completing his final shift on the job.
Forty nine years at one company is almost unheard of in today’s world but that's the milestone Aiuto hit before calling it a career Tuesday.
“When I started it was 17 and there were not that many jobs for young people," said Aiuto “I was making $1.35 and hour as a busboy. It was a great opportunity.”
Like a lot of university students, Aiuto worked the restaurant job to pay for university, where he studied business and marketing. Unlike most of his classmates, he never left the restaurant.
“I had some great little mentors," he said. "My first manager Frank was a nice, nice man. And this one server - Anita - a phenomenal lady. She later became my server, she worked for me afterwards when I began managing the restaurant.”
Tony Aiuto, Phils Restaurant
Over the years Aiuto has seen hundreds of young staffers through the doors. He says for many, as it was for him, the restaurant business is a stepping stone for personal development.
“It’s gratifying to see someone grow and to become adults," he said. "That's what longevity does: when you're in the same place for a long time, you get to take pride when they walk away and they've they become a doctor or lawyer.”
“I've got lots of stories like that from great families that have become doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants, physiotherapists, and they come back and they say, ‘Thanks, Tony for giving me a great place to work in," he said. "A place that was safe a place that hey, you were flexible."
THE REGULARS
Tuesday a steady stream of regular customers came through the door to say goodbye to a man who became a fixture at the Elbow Drive restaurant.
“And is it going to be the same? I don't think it will," said Giulio Diano who also worked at the restaurant under Aiuto.
"It won't be for me for sure, because it's that old familiar face just to come in and say hello.”
“When I first started, he was working in the back," Diano said. "He was part of the kitchen staff. And all the years I worked with him he was again, he was working in the back. So what we saw was he knows every aspect of the business that that he worked through.”
Aiuto admits he will be back at the restaurant, but now he’ll be a customer, likely ordering his favourite, the beef dip.
His wife said she’s OK with that, just as long as he stays at the table with her now that he’s retired.
Tony Aiuto with a customer at Phil's Restaurant
“Before I’d be sitting here all by myself,” said Aiuto’s wife Adriana, “because Tony would be in the back, washing dishes if they needed help.”
The couple say they intend to spend more time with their grandchildren, and are hoping to travel as soon as that’s possible again.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh confirms his party will support the Liberals' federal budget
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will support the federal budget, ending any speculation that the party could pull out of its deal with the minority Liberal government.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.