Oct. 2. marks National Custodial Workers Day, which means it’s a day to thank the custodial workers in your life who usually work behind the scenes and don’t receive much recognition.

Many custodial workers help keep Central Connecticut clean everyday. One of these custodians is Jonathan Famiglietti, who works in Maloney Hall. He has worked at Central for over five years, ensuring that the campus looking nice.

“As a custodial worker, I clean my building of course,” Famiglietti said. “I assist with maintenance on campus, and I also assist in other buildings when other custodians are out.”

Famiglietti does not just clean the campus, but he is also a member of Central’s Safety & Health Committee.

“I’m also on the safety committee here on campus. I’ve been there for two years now,” Famiglietti said. “But basically I keep people safe, keep the building clean and of course assist students, assist faculty and any parents if we have an open house or anything like that.”

When asked to recount any noteworthy stories of being a custodian at Central, Famiglietti mentioned a “visitor” that he had in the odd hours.

“I do snow removal on campus, and occasionally I’ve come in during breaks. You know, we get breaks in between some of our shifts, during the downtime of the storms,” Famiglietti said. “I’ve actually come in and just kinda hung out in [Maloney], have a snack or something in the building, and after the hours we’ve had a little noise here or noise there going on in the building. The building makes its own noise.”

Famiglietti said “maybe” to the possibility of it being a ghost, but ultimately chalked it up to “part of the age of the building, I guess.” Being  a recent graduate of Goodwin College, Famiglietti majored in environmental studies and minored in health & safety. When he is no longer working at Central, he’d like a job pertaining to those fields.

“I’d like to stay with the state and move to energy and environmental protection,” Famiglietti said. “My goal is to not only help with the environment, but also help keep people safe. Any kind of incidents, any kind of hazards, I want to be involved. I want to help with the project, clean up, stuff like that. I’ve always been looking into doing that.”

On top of working at Central, Famiglietti is also working at Lake Compounce’s “Haunted Graveyard” this fall. This will be his third year working there. Famiglietti shared what he does at the “Haunted Graveyard.”

“I chase people with a chainsaw,” Famiglietti said. “I have a 20 inch husqvarna chainsaw that I bring in. I work in a trail all the way in the back of the ‘Haunted Graveyard,’ and I chase people. And they run. It’s a lot of fun.”

Famiglietti’s daughter also works at the “Haunted Graveyard,” which is partly why Famiglietti started working there.

“I work with my daughter, that’s part of the main reason that kinda got me to work there,” Famiglietti said. “My daughter worked there, and it’s funny cause my daughter said, ‘Well, if I’m working here, why don’t you work here? Because you’ll be my ride home.’”

Famiglietti said that when he’s not working, he spends time at home taking care of his house in Prospect.

“I’m in a suburban area, but I’m in a town that’s up on a hill, so we get storms and we get a lot of wind,” Famiglietti said. “I have my chainsaw, I have a splitter, I cut wood, I take care of my yard, we have a pool, you know. Quiet neighborhood. It’s a lot of fun.”

He also said he likes to spend time with neighbors and other people in town.

“I’m connected with a lot of people in town,” Famiglietti said. “On Friday nights, normally we get together about maybe 15 or 20 of us, and we actually have a dinner at one of the restaurants in town. We get to talk, so it’s really cool.”

Famiglietti has a passion for helping others, and expressed how important it is to him.

“I’ve always been a person that’s always been willing to help others,” Familgietti said. “I think that rubbing off kindness on others, but also helping them in times of need is huge. I know that things have changed in society, but I still continue being the person I am and continue trying to get others to in turn be that way. And I think that’s big.”

Be sure to thank custodial workers like Famiglietti today, and let them know you appreciate what they do.