Want to feel old?
Robby Droessler, Iola’s newly minted parks and cemetery superintendent, was having a recent conversation with a seasonal employee of his who helped with mowing during the summer before returning to school in the fall.
The chat steered to Iola’s 2007 flood, which filled Riverside Park with 10 feet of floodwater and ultimately resulted in construction of a new swimming pool and a new community building.
“He didn’t remember anything about it,” Droessler said.
That’s when it clicked. The high-schooler was still in diapers when the flood occurred.
“That’s making me feel old,” Droessler, 32, laughed. “Of course, he wouldn’t remember it.”
DROESSLER ascended to the superintendent’s position after long-time parks and cemetery boss Berkley Kerr retired this summer.
It marked the latest step up the city’s ladder for Droessler, who started with the city 12 years ago on the back of a trash truck.
He did that for a little more than a year, before getting promoted to Iola’s street and alley department.
Droessler enjoyed the work there, but after about five years, he saw an opening for an operator within the parks crew.
“I figured I was looking for something different, a little change of scenery,” he recalled.
Droessler proved to be a quick learner, particularly under Kerr, who recognized Droessler’s problem-solving abilities, but more importantly, his work ethic.
Not long after that, Droessler was promoted to Kerr’s chief assistant.
Then, after a couple of years of hinting he was about to retire, Kerr made it official near the end of 2023 that he was going to step down in 2024.
What followed was a nine-month cram session to learn the ins and outs of the job.
