Connie Clein has been on the scene of many of Clark County’s large traffic updates since she started flagging in 1990. On May 12, she celebrated her 71st birthday working in a job that she says keeps her eternally 39.
Clein is known by many as the flagger with a flower on her hat and bells on her feet, she said.
“Men seem to like the flowers,” Clein said. “They always give me a thumbs up.”
While the flower is just for show, the bells serve a purpose. She first attached them to her shoes to alert male co-workers of her presence on jobs where toilet facilities weren’t available.
She went into construction 20 years ago to help get a job for her son. The son only lasted six months, but Clein fell in love with the work.
Clein and her fellow construction workers typically work 12-plus hour days, she said. Once she worked a 21-hour shift when her company was paving Northeast 134th Street in Salmon Creek.
Clein’s longtime friend, who only gave her name as Dawn, thinks she just might be the oldest full-time flagger in the Northwest, if not in the country.
Clein has a sense of humor about her age and being a potential record-holder.
“I’m giving my hat to the Smithsonian,” she quipped.
Her bosses say her experience and attitude make her a valuable asset to the team.
“Our contracts don’t always call for traffic control, but when they do, she works for us,” said Clein’s boss, Ginney Caseday. “I will keep her working as long as she can walk. If I have to get her a walker, I will.”
Clein has a similar stance.
“As long as the mind’s good and the body’s good, I’ll keep on working,” she said. “I’m working on a motorized wheelchair with a jetpack that can get me out of the intersection real fast.”
