The City of La Porte honored long-time workers who are retiring this year on Friday. During a casual get together where cake and good times were shared, La Porte Mayor Blair Milo was on hand to present the retirees in attendance with certificates, personal thanks, and a pair of sunglasses to wear as they left.
"We are so appreciative of the service that our employees have provided to the city for many years," Milo said. "There's a lot of knowledge and dedication and service that all of these individuals have provided over a large number of years. They're going to be a tough act to follow, and we are certainly very appreciative of everything that they've done for the community and wish them well on their retirement."
The event itself was an attempt to make sure that no one would be excluded from an attempt to recognize all longtime city workers. An event will be held later in the summer to recognize those who are still with the city, but this event was scheduled to ensure that those retiring earlier than that wouldn't be left out.
"There was a general consensus across the city that we really wanted to recognize our employees," said Lisa Comingore, human and community relations director. "We're going to be recognizing some of the other employees who are not retiring later in the summer, for length of service, and we really wanted to make sure we got the chance to recognize the people who were retiring this year. It's something they'd been talking about for a while, so we all got together, figured out the longevity for everybody, and put this together for the retirees."
The overall mood of the event was festive and took advantage of the summer theme. Even the cake had sunglasses on before the retirees were presented with their own pairs.
"We wanted something fun," said Annette Loeffler, administrative assistant to Milo. "I thought they're all fairly young, and they're leaving employment with the city, and I thought that their future was so bright they needed sunglasses."
The event gave those in attendance the chance to meet with some of La Porte's retirees as they prepared to depart, sunglasses and other gifts in hand.
"I had the pleasure to work for the city of La Porte for almost 30 years as a city planner and director of community development and planning," said retiree Mary Jane Thomas. "I had the opportunity to work with a lot of talented colleagues and do a bunch of projects which I really enjoyed."
"It's really nice," added retiree Terry Woolam. "I worked for the city of La Porte for 14, maybe 15 years for the street department. I enjoyed working for the city of La Porte. I really enjoyed the people. The job's a little physical, but the people and the morale and everything else have been really great."
"Well, first of all the event is a surprise, and I'm glad that the Mayor and whoever else thought of it gave the recognition to the people who are retiring, because there's a bunch of us," added Mark Sobecki, former facility maintenance supervisor for the water department. "I sure appreciate it, and I think they do to... I enjoyed all the people that have been involved with my job, even those that aren't totally involved with my job. The people at city hall, the different mayors that we've had, I've always had a good repoire with all of them, and I've felt that everyone in the city treats the workers with the utmost of respect. I'll miss it, but I'm going to stay busy."