Borough employee relishes unique job

Editor's Note: This is the eleventh story about figures in the State College community. This story focuses on Terry Summers, equipment operator for the State College Borough Department of Public Works.

Cigarette butts, broken beer bottles and pizza boxes are swept from the streets of State College each night Sunday through Thursday by Terry Summers, equipment operator for the State College Borough Department of Public Works.

Each evening Summers, 38, arrives at work at midnight and cleans the streets of debris with massive machines until 8 a.m. Following a regular routine, Summers said it takes about a week to sweep the whole town, and downtown State College is usually swept every other night. He maneuvers the sweepers down the streets, sometimes traveling the opposite direction in the wee hours of the morning on College and Beaver avenues.

"The orange stands out so we don't get run over," Summers said. As he laughed a hearty laugh, a grin peeked out from his brown beard.

His job is solitary, not lonesome. Summers rides by himself at night. At 8 a.m., near the end of his shift, he may see other members of the 12-person crew arriving for the workday.

"I work better when I am alone," Summers said. "I don't stop for breaks or lunch."

There are two massive machines Summers operates -- two large sweepers. One is run by vacuum power and the other by diesel fuel, he said.

"This broom extends and goes into the (street) gutter and kicks dirt into the vacuum nozzle," Summers said, as he pointed to the large bristles of the vacuum truck.

Wednesday evening Summers said he started to use the vacuum sweeper, a truck roughly 12 feet tall, but had to backtrack to the Public Works station located at the intersection of Corl and Osmond streets to change to the diesel truck. The diesel truck, he said, is better equipped to collect brush.

However, dirt and brush are not the only items Summers said he has swept into his truck throughout the years.

Sometimes dead animals such as rabbits wind up in the truck or other odd items such as wallets are swept off the street and into the large bins, he said.

Through the years Summers has collected a lot of trash and taken a lot of trash to a landfill on U.S. Route 322.

For six years he has worked as equipment operator sweeping the streets for the borough, he said, adding that he has worked for the borough for about 19 years.

Perhaps the biggest job benefit for Summers is the hours. His wife, Linda, works during the day, Summers said, and he likes having the daytime off to watch his 8-year-old son Zack.

During his off hours, Summers fishes, works on houses for Habitat for Humanity and spends time with Zack and his daughter, Lindsay, who is turning 15, and Joe, who is turning 13, he said.

Summers said he will probably work at his job as equipment operator until he retires.

"I enjoy it," he said. "I'm home every day and it's better than a lot of other jobs."