“I think when you’ve worked so hard and so long in a field, it’s going to be a bit of the unknown,” Hastings Highlands CAO Pat Pilgrim says about her retirement.
She will be retiring in December after holding the CAO position in the municipality since March 2015.
Pilgrim started working in government in the 80s when she worked in the Clerk’s office in Palmer Rapids. She worked in the Township of Radcliffe, Combermere, Barry’s Bay and Madoc before landing in Hastings Highlands. “It’s a hectic life,” she tells My Bancroft Now. “But it’s part of me.”
When asked what she believes her greatest accomplishment is since taking the role of CAO, she points to the funding that was secured earlier this year for the work to be done on Highway 62. “I think hiring expert staff is an accomplishment to be proud of,” she adds. Pilgrim says she’s also proud of the work currently being done to complete Hastings Highlands’ strategic plan.
Pilgrim says when she retires she’s going to miss coming in every morning and working with the staff. Even though she could start sleeping in, she says she still plans on waking up early for her 6 AM walk.
“It’s time to look ahead,” she says.