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Long service dinner 2019: a taste of the Far East

Some 70 people attended the long service dinner held by the Roche Employees’ Association (AVR) in Building 67 on Friday 11 January. As a way of thanking the guests of honour for their many years of loyalty to the AVR, the Association’s site representatives had delivered the invitations in person, along with a letter of congratulation.

The evening kicked off at 6.30 p.m. with drinks in the banqueting and seminar suite in the south wing of the Panorama Restaurant. After that, the long-serving employees moved to the restaurant area, which had been specially decorated for the occasion, for a welcome address by AVR President Adnan Tanglay, who explained that the Panorama Restaurant also used to be known as the executive restaurant, and that Building 67 does actually date from 1967. Also in attendance were Jürg Erismann, Head of the Basel/Kaiseraugst Site, and Bruno Weissen, Head of Human Resources for Basel and Kaiseraugst, who had come along to pay their own tributes to the evening’s special guests.

Then it was time to move to the starters buffet for a first taste of the exquisite things to come. Restaurant manager Jerôme Danner and chef Jan Trachsler, assisted by their respective teams, were responsible for the culinary part of the evening. Neither are unknowns in gastronomic circles. Danner used to be Chef de Service at Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basel, while Trachsler won Michelin stars and Gault-Millau points for various restaurants in Switzerland.

Once the guests were duly fortified, AVR Vice President Gernot Scharf took them time travelling to see how things had looked in 1978, when the people celebrating 40 years at Roche had joined the company. For example, it was the year that Roche launched the Cobas Bio, the first analyser to be developed by the company itself, and also when it closed its Iranian affiliate for political reasons. Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler made headlines worldwide by becoming the first people to climb Mount Everest without the aid of supplementary oxygen. John Paul I became Pope, and host nation Argentina beat the Netherlands to win the World Cup. Guests also got to hear the chart hits of the day, when AVR President Tanglay played such songs as Boney M’s “Rivers of Babylon” or “You’re the One That I Want” by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

All this information obviously made people hungry, so it was time for the main course. This year attendees were able to serve themselves at a tempting Asian buffet, rather than being served at table, an innovation that was generally very well received.

Then it was the turn of the people who joined Roche 25 years ago. AVR treasurer Andreas Winkler gave the review of 1993. He reminded his audience that it was the year Roche published its first corporate safety and environmental protection report and launched Pulmozyme, an inhalable treatment for cystic fibrosis. Adolf Ogi was President of Switzerland, and Bill Clinton was his US counterpart. The year also saw the birth of two new European states in the form of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Once again Tanglay played the year’s biggest hits, including DJ Bobo’s “Somebody Dance with Me” and Haddaway’s “What Is Love”.

Then it was the turn of the guests of honour to reminisce about the past and round the evening off with a delicious dessert.