Darren Campbell
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 26/98) - If you have ever been driven to the Yellowknife Inn by Vic Evoy you were likely treated like someone out of Robin Leach's Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

And that has probably been the main reason for the popularity of the 53-year-old Newfoundlander whose last day on the job as the airport shuttle service person for the Inn was Monday.

"My mom said you have to treat everyone equal," said Evoy. "They (the guests) were all VIP to me and that's how I survived."

But after 11 years of meeting and greeting guests of the hotel, telling them jokes and driving them to and from the airport, Evoy is calling it quits and moving back to his home town of St. John's.

He said the 12 to 15 hour work days were starting to burn him out.

"It was time for a change. Eleven years is a long time when you work a long shift," said Evoy. "You get kind of worn down and tired."

Evoy came to the Yellowknife in 1985 after his sister encouraged him to come and take a look. He immediately liked the place and started working as chief of security at the airport.

After a couple of years, Evoy took the position of operating the airport shuttle service with the Yellowknife Inn. He said when he first started on the job he wasn't the jovial, joke-telling driver his regular passengers now know him as. He credits his passengers, whom he refers to as his "family", many of them customers travelling to Yellowknife from other communities in the North, for helping bring out the best in him.

"I was kind of shy and naive at first but I kind of grew out of it because of the native and Inuit people. They are so kind," said Evoy.

During his time with the Yellowknife Inn, Evoy said he has made friends with people all the way from Cambridge Bay to Iqaluit.

Yellowknife Inn owner Jack Walker said Evoy's ability to win friends and influence people is simple. He said Evoy went "above and beyond the call of duty" for his hotel guests.

"He went out of his way for everyone, whether they were first-time guests or regular guests," said Walker.

Evoy added that as he prepares to make the seven-day, cross-Canada drive to St. John's, he has a bittersweet feeling leaving Yellowknife.

"I'm excited to see my family at home...but I'm very sad right now because I'm leaving some wonderful people," said Evoy.