Employees from the Lawrence Hy-Vee stores are among 2,325 Hy-Vee employees honored for achieving service milestones in 2009.

Hy-Vee’s Service Awards program, now in its 45th year, recognizes employees for continuous service to the company. At a series of eight banquets held in October throughout Hy-Vee’s seven-state operating territory, the company paid tribute to employees reaching milestones ranging from five to 45 years.

The 18 Service Award recipients from Lawrence were honored at an Oct. 8 banquet in Kansas City, Mo. They are :

• Five years: Mike Burghart, Chris Davis, Dan Fisher, Gary Jiang, Shelly Lara, Linda Leedy, Gary McCormick, David Wanzer and Scott Wempe.

• 10 years: Debbie Barnett, Mike Clark, Shirley Hadl, Becky Kearns, Kevin Merz and James Swoyer.

• 15 years: Leroy Beers, George Ma and Terry Nord.