August 28, 2009! The big day for Warren's Retirement Party finally arrived. It started with Warren playing golf with 2 foursomes. In the meantime, Arianna & I collected lots of memorabilia from Warren's 32- year career in education. We packed it in the car & headed for our friends Rob & Wendy's house. Rob has been friends with Warren since college - 37 years! They were Assistant Superintendents in Arlington for 5 years together. What a team! Misti, their secretary for about 5 years (and as crazy as they are), Rob, & Arianna organized a retirement celebration for Warren! It was such a loving gesture and much appreciated.
Misti, Rob, and I decorated the outside of the house. Arianna decorated the inside. Wendy was the floater & helped out where needed. The location was perfect and the weather certainly cooperated!
Misti brought some memories from all the building projects Warren had been involved in. Arianna & I stole many things from the wall in Warren's office showing his many achievements through the years.
Arianna had originally thought she'd create a slide show on her computer, but once she started looking through 24 yearbooks, it was just easier (and more amusing) to flag all the pictures of Warren through the years. The first administrative picture was from Soap Lake. The first yearbook page features John S & Warren. John, a dear friend, hired Warren into his first principal job in Soap Lake right before Arianna was born. We moved there over Labor Day in 1986. Katharine was 5 and starting kindergarten. Arianna was 2 weeks old. Diane was their first babysitter! Ari is a living growth chart of our friendship.
Our theme was True Colors, so we even chose the wine based on the color of its foil top - green, gold, orange, & blue. If you've never looked for wine based on color before, it's quite fun!
Wendy & Arianna got busy tearing up the romaine for Caesar Salad. The menu, created by Rob, was marinated flank steak, corn on the cob, Caesar salad, & french bread. Bon appetite! Dessert was a retirement cake chosen by yours truly.
There were lots of wonderful people who came to help Warren celebrate. It was so much fun to talk to them.
The food was excellent and everyone seemed to relish the meal.
Arianna & I hit the jackpot at The Party Store in Lynnwood for finding retirement decorations. But, the biggest coupe was when Arianna found orange plates - only because the stores are stocking Halloween decorations! We laughed about that one. True Colors as a theme can only happen between late August and October 31!
Mike A brought his big propane cooker for the corn on the cob. It was delicious!
Warren's cake has a golfer on it, in case you cannot figure it out. Fitting, since he bought himself a new set of irons as a retirement gift to himself! Too bad he's got his new job - no time for weekday golf - but, that's OK. He is looking forward to working at the middle school - back to his roots!
Rob had lots of funny things to say about his long relationship with Warren. John gave a lovely speech about why he hired Warren & our wonderful friendship.
Linda, retired superintendent, won a golf prize. Later, she talked about working with Warren and his influence in creating an amazing high school for our community.
Diane & John were able to spend the night with us. We had a lovely morning together before they headed back to their home. They'll soon be snow birding it around the country. We count ourselves truly blessed to have such wonderful friends.
Warren was presented with this beautiful ring celebrating his work in Arlington. It was an honor to celebrate his career with so many friends and colleagues. And a lot of fun!!!
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