A New Chapter For Gail

We never thought this would really happen, but after 46 years, we must say farewell to Payroll Manager Gail Petrella Meabrod. On Wednesday we shared a piece of cake and took a few moments to celebrate Gail even though her official last day is June 28th. When Gail joined the company in 1973, she was still in high school, participating in a clerical job co-op program. She was hired full time by our father, Ernie Stahl, who immediately recognized she would be a great fit for the company. However not even Ernie could have imagined the impact she would have on the future growth of Stahls’. Over the years, Gail has done just about every job at the company, whether it was human resources, organizing and attending trade shows, doing payroll, taking orders, processing domestic orders, billing, and most importantly, helping us serve our customers around the world faster and better. My brother Brian worked closely with Gail and even though he wasn’t able to attend today, he sent a very beautiful note to Gail, along with a copy of The Press industry newsletter which featured a photo of Gail, Brian and myself on the cover. The newspaper dates back to 1981. Personally, it’s hard to really remember a time that Gail wasn’t a part of Stahls’, unless you want to count the years we operated out of our parents garage. I’m not really sure how I can convey to everyone just how important Gail has been to the company. In the early years, she could complete ANY task that was necessary to be done. But it wasn’t just about getting things done, it was about getting them done right the first time and at a very high rate of speed. That is just her nature. As many have noted, she didn’t need quality training, she invented it. I remember there would be lines of people outside her cubicle, because she had the answers for everyone. In addition to being instrumental in building the business here in the U.S., she also traveled internationally and represented our business abroad. I guess you could say her commitment to getting things right and truly serving the customer came from many of her personal principles. If Gail did something, you know it was done correctly. And that extended to both work and play. She will be remembered fondly not only for her work ethic and her personality, but for her ability to bring the team together after work and on special occasions. In addition, she is quite an athlete. Her very professional and poised appearance at the office showed no mercy to those who challenged her on the company softball or volleyball squads. With Gail, it was about the little moments, the quiet moments. and she always made people feel welcome and included. If you were to ask me one word to sum up Gail, that’s a difficult task. She is so many things, she is part of the fabric that is Stahls’. But I think we can all agree that she is indeed a CLASS ACT. An A-1 class act. Without her, we would not be where we are today, and I’m sure she would be the first person to say it was a team effort. Indeed, it is a team effort, but the team wouldn’t be the championship winning team it is now without Gail as a key part of the foundation. Thank you Gail for everything. Please know you are always welcome here and you are always a member of the Stahls’ family.

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