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Employee Spotlight

Lajuania Lovelady

By: Lodge Cast Iron / September 28, 2016

"When I used to walk to school, I walked past the foundry every day, but I never thought I'd be working here. Now, I've been here 30-something years, and I love my job."

Lajuania Lovelady

Lajuania Lovelady came to work for Lodge in 1981 when she was 21 years old. "All my family worked here," she says. "My dad, my four brothers, my sister." Lovelady grew up a few blocks from Lodge and remembers her dad working in the foundry. "He was a molder, back when everything was done by hand" Lovelady says. "When I used to walk to school, I walked past the foundry every day, but I never thought I'd be working here. Now, I've been her 30-something years, and I love my job."

When Lajuania first came to Lodge, she worked in the packing department. She then spent some time on the rock machine, a machine that tumbled the cast iron with rocks from the Tennessee River. "The skillets would come through there to get smooth, then we'd hang them up on the other side. When I worked there, it was called the wax line." (Before Lodge started preseasoning its cookware, the cast iron was coated with a thin layer of wax to prevent rust.)

Lovelady now works in the packing department making boxes. She says she loves her job because she works with great people. "I made a good living here," she says. "I raised my daughter, bought a house, two or three vehicles. It's been a good job."

Thanks, Lajuania, for all your hard work over the years!

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