Marquardt celebrates a milestone

You may know him as the Voice of the Lions. But if you shop at the Kennewick WalMart, you may also know him as the friendly guy who empties the cart corrals in the store's parking lot, readying them for shoppers.

On October 20th, Tyler Marquardt celebrated 12 years at his job as a cart pusher.

"Pushing carts 8 hours a day is just terrific to me," he says. "It helped me lose weight."

Tyler is well known in the Tri-Cites, as a loyal fan of Kennewick High School athletics, announcing players' names over the PA system  during the school's baseball season.

Tyler, 34, has Asperger's, a syndrome that might have prevented him from finding meaningful long-term employment. But, he's found a job he loves.

"I really enjoy it. Twelve years I've been there, accident free, and I've received a ton of awards. I even got a safety card on the safety board for being safe. It's just been wonderful, Walmart is wonderful to me, and the people are really great. The people I work with and my mangers, they're all just really good to me."

The job allows him the flexibility to use his vocal talents to help KeHS, and he's not planning to stop pushing carts any time soon.

"Probably another few more years until I retire. I've got a long ways to go, I'm still young.