The Story of an Old Retired Guy

Yesterday was the retirement luncheon for Jon's dad. His "official" last day of work is July 5th, but he will be on vacation, so we celebrated yesterday :) All of the family that lives in the area was there:

Chris:

Beth:

Mike:

Amanda:

and AnnMarie:

And there is the man of the hour! All hopped up on cough syrup.

The whole luncheon was travel/camping/picnic themed. They had posters up showing where Steve will go on his next adventures. On the list: San Diego, Italy, Tahiti and Russia!

We had some delicious food:

And some delicious cake:

AnnMarie was really into the blue frosting.

Steve's coworkers did an awesome job roasting him for all his years of service at the State. (Look at him sitting there, so unsuspecting...)

Among some of the favorites were his top 10 "Steveisms"

including "You old Goat!" (see retirement cake above) "Have a rotten day" and "Flippin' idiot!" Much laughing was done by all:

 

We also loved his front cover headline on AARP:

and the "Retired Guy's Survival Kit"

"Everything you need to get you through your days of leisure, relaxation and ever increasing old age!"

which included hair dye for those stubborn greys...

 

ex-lax...

and MANY pairs of flip flops in assorted styles and variations which Steve can now wear for any occasion with his knee high socks.

 

The party really got going when the whole OBS department got up there and sang a song about Steve and his root beer drinking, Quaker oatmeal harrassment, and retirement.

Steve's good friend Mike Canepa from the railroad days even came up and shared some good experiences of working with Steve, with a little touch of humor of course :)

 

There was of course a good amount of seriousness. Steve was awarded a certificate for his service:

 

and one of his coworkers painted him an amazing watercolor:

 

One of the greatest parts of course was when Chris came up to the mic and presented Steve with this:

a brand new camera!!

The team talked about all of the great improvements Steve had done for the department and he even gave an uplifting speech at the end.

 

It was neat to see how much he has been appreciated and loved.

and we know he will be missed.

On to the next adventure!!