We all know that retirement parties can be a big ho-hum and so borrrrring.
This was most definitely not the case with Rick Sweet’s retirement party held on Dec. 10 at the Veterans Memorial Community Center.
This was a party with a lot of heart.
What made this one special was that the people on the program were entertaining. They did not want Rick to go out with a big collective yawn on the faces of the 180 friends, family, colleagues, and business associates who gathered to celebrate the end (sort of the end—he will work part time as a consultant for the city) of a 24-year, action-packed career. He retired as director of utilities for the city of Santa Maria.
There was no gift of a gold watch with “Farewell, Sweet Prince” engraved on the back, but there was an eye-catching, very clever, mounted-for-a-desk replica of a “street sign” (see photo), that says “Sweet Street” and shows the years of his service with the city.
Somebody on the party committee had a great imagination.
The affordable $15 tickets included a trip-tip dinner with beans, salad, and cake. The bar was no host.
Of course, City Manager Rick Haydon and Mayor Alice Patino were on board for the festivities, as were former Mayor Larry Lavagnino, county supe Steve Lavagnino, City Councilman Bob Orach, and Director of Recreation and Parks Alex Posada.
Teresa Reyburn of the Department of Recreation and Parks was one of the entertaining presenters.
Ted Maddux, who owns several McDonalds’s in the area, surprised those of us who don’t know him well with anecdotes about Rick’s one-time employment as a burger flipper at one of his McDonald’s.
Maddux revealed that he fired Rick, who left college for a time-out period, so that Rick wouldn’t become so enamored of wrapping Big Macs and yelling “three fries to go” that he wouldn’t finish his education.
Sounds like McDonald’s could horn in on Hancock’s motto: “Start here and go anywhere.”
Rick’s wife Nancy Jo Ward and daughter Sierra Pilcher were also part of the program, as was Rick’s mother who told us that when Rick was a little boy, he loved the day the garbage trucks came, never dreaming that he would one day, as director of utilities, be in charge of a whole fleet of garbage trucks. Talk about dreams coming true.
2014 Redux
I was remiss in not doing a review of the year’s action in the last Hobnobbing column of the year, but Hobnobbing was swamped in November and December and couldn’t sum it all up in time for the last-column-of-the-year deadline.
One event that deserved mention in Hobnobbing was the Historical Society’s first-time-ever Americana Antique Show held the first week of November at the Santa Maria Inn. “We made money!” board president Jim (Ed) Zemaitis reported.
We hope the Historical Society will repeat this fun event. Friends of the Library sold non-fiction books for a buck. The Historical Society sold duplicate copies of vintage photos and yearbooks. Such a crowd around that table!
And the incomparable Shirley Contreras gave a talk in the Ranchera Room, where, for $5, guests could enjoy really good coffee, Danishes, and fresh fruit while they updated their knowledge about the Historical Santa Maria Inn’s history.
And to top it all off, the Inn gave out coupons for 15 percent off lunch.
If you want to hobnob with Helen, you may contact her at helenthom232@yahoo.com.
This article appears in Jan 8-15, 2015.