If you have ever eaten at Main Meal, you’ve probably seen, greeted or even had a small conversation with the daytime cashier, Penny Hughes.
Hughes has been working for ETSU as a Main Meal cashier for 17 years. She works full-time during the breakfast and lunch hours.
Her favorite thing about the job is getting to meet so many people from so many countries.
“I like to get to know everyone – how they like the climate, how classes are going,” she said. “I like to be a mommy to them.”
Hughes could not name a single bad thing about her job.
“I like the students and people I work with,” she said. “The faculty and staff are fantastic.”
After Hughes fell a couple of years ago, she was bedridden and started doing crafts as a hobby.
She decorates small brooms, wreaths and hats, which are on display in the Main Meal cafeteria. She also sells her crafts and gives them as gifts.
Hughes collects decorative pins and wears them on her shirt while at work.
Faculty and students who know this will give her pins to add to the collection.
Hughes was born on March 21, 1951, in Elizabethton, and graduated from Hampton High School in 1969. Her parents are Dayton and Clara Henegar.
Hughes said she is of German and Swedish decent. Although she doesn’t know the exact date, she knew her great-grandfather came to Ellis Island, N.Y., from Sweden.
She is married to Jerald Hughes, who works for ETSU Public Safety, and they reside in Johnson City. Hughes has two children, Christie, 28, and Eddy, 31, and she has two pet finches.
Her hobbies include watching NASCAR, football and baseball.
“My dad watched baseball, and my son got me into NASCAR,” Hughes said.
Her favorite NASCAR driver is Kyle Petty.

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