You only get days like I had last week a few times in your life. A birthday or two, school graduation, wedding day, all days where you are happy those around you are there to help celebrate.
After 28 years at WXPR, I retired Friday and continued my polka celebration Saturday morning.
Friday the station announced I was retiring. It hit the airwaves, webpage and Facebook and I was overwhelmed with the outpouring of messages. I tried to respond as best I could, but it got to be too much. I'm not a 'Facebooker" so I was limited in how to respond to the multitude of folks wishing me well.
The story and the audio tribute were incredible. It was well produced along with some voices I had not heard in awhile. Stunning.
To those of you who put thanks on Facebook, while I thank all you deeply, I want to particularly acknowledge Peter Nordgen. Peter founded WXPR and without his vision none of what is there today would have materialized, including me at WXPR. Thanks, Peter.
Mick Fiocchi was my boss for many years until his retirement. Mary Kay Dadisman was also a member of the staff when I came on board. Cori Skolaski and Sarah Beutelschies were also staff members from long ago. Current and past members of the Board of Directors also chimed in. There were dozens of others, including Kris Adams Wendt who gave me the moniker "The News Troll" and it stuck. I'm ending it there because I don't want to forget some great people and there are many more to thank.
There were best wishes cards from current staff and friends.
I told my spouse Sharon when I got home I was overwhelmed.
But Saturday meant I had to return to the station to bring my love of 30+ years to life: the polka show.
I was at the station getting ready for the show. Scott Simon and Weekend Edition was on the speakers but I was concentrating on what song would follow my weekly lead off, "Arise My Darling". There were daysponsor messages from Kim and Arlene and the Derbers wishing me well in retirement. They spent money to say thank you to me. Incredible.
Then I got an email from a fellow I had had contact with many years ago listening in California. Huh? He wrote to wish me well in retirement as Scott Simon of Weekend Edition (National Public Radio) had just wished me well on the air.
ZAP! Do you ever get the feeling, like the movie 'Vertigo', when the world starts spinning a bit? Scott Simon talking about me, news and polka on NPR? Coast-to-Coast? ZAP!
The show goes well. Jan Leschke answers request calls from her home and emails them to me at the COVID-quiet studios. The system works well, though it's much more fun with Jan in house. She emailed about 11:30 a.m. that she was "pooped" and was cutting off the requests. I had enough to finish the show and that was going to be that.
About 11:55 a.m. station manager Jessie Dick shows up and says after the show she has a 'special project' and asked if I would help her. Sure. Show ends and I walk to the front of the office.
"The insurance company wants to know how wide the building is and I need you to hold the tape measure", she said. Sure. I walk outside and put the metal to the brick wall and Jessie walks almost all the way to the end of the building.
At that point a Rhinelander Police squad car turns on the lights and turns right on Stevens St.
"Somebody got pinched" I told Jessie.
But no one pulled over, and there were cars following the squad car. Noting a funeral home just around the corner, "must be a funeral", I said.
The cars kept coming, and coming. In front was Jan and Jim Leschke saying Happy Retirement.
One of our polka show volunteers, Polka John was sitting on top of his car playing a tune. Rachel Zarm, the Polka Princess, was there with her family. They, like Polka John, drove more than an hour to wish the Polka Troll good-bye(sort of-I'll still be in to do polka as a volunteer). Car after car after car. WXPR Morning Edition host John Burton, all-round good guy, was there. I couldn't count them all, but at the end of the caravan was the Rhinelander Fire Department truck. Police and Fire! The caravan circled the block twice.
I nearly fainted.
Jan and Jessie later said it took weeks of planning to put all this together. Special thanks to them. Volunteers, board members, long-time community members and friends all driving by to wish me a happy retirement.
I emailed my family and friends afterwards to say I was 'blown away' by it all. I spent the rest of Saturday trying to process it all. It still seems surreal.
This wasn't the usual gold-watch-and-good-bye kind of retirement. It meant so much that people would take time out of their lives to do something just for me.
I asked Jessie if I could write this to simply say "Thank You" to everyone who thought of me. I'm glad that our time together was good. I'm hoping that post-COVID we can renew the good times in person. I didn't want to retire without being able to say how much all of this meant to me and I didn't want to forget anyone so this message is meant to say WOW to all of you.
I'm humbled and polka on!
