I would like to thank all of you for taking the time tonight to celebrate my retirement – it’s good to know that we’re all excited I’m leaving! It’s especially nice to see Ace Enterprise’s CEO Rob Stryder and former HR Director Stan Lowell here this evening. Thank you, gentlemen. For those of you who don’t know, Stan was responsible for hiring me thirty years ago, and Rob was responsible for not firing me during those thirty years. It is an honor and a pleasure to have you both here tonight.

About four years ago I started wondering if it was time to retire. Every time I thought about it, though, I wondered what I would do during retirement. So I decided that in order for me to retire, I would first have to find an activity to occupy my new free time.

First I thought about golf. Most of my colleagues are avid golfers, but I had never even touched a club. Though I had always been in charge of organizing our annual Ace Enterprise Customer Golf Tournament, my interest had been focused on choosing between Turkey Clubs or Ham Clubs instead of choosing the right golf club.

I decided to ask Peter Smith if he would mind going to the driving range with me. Peter has always been an excellent head of our training program and has also managed to secure spots on the winning Tournament team several years, so I figured he would be the best choice for my first golf lesson. His first drive took the ball about 250 yards. “Not bad,” I told him. Of course, I had no idea if that was bad or good, but it seemed like the appropriate thing to say. 250 yards ended up being about the shortest distance he hit the ball. Then it was my turn. Unfortunately, I only hit the ball off the tee three times, and never farther than about 15 yards. One of the few times the ball did actually leave the tee, it was only to have it end up hitting Peter in the head, nearly causing him to blackout. Obviously, golf was not going to be my retirement hobby.

Next I focused on fishing. This time I asked Bill Davidson if he would take me fishing with him sometime. Bill is not only a master angler in customer negotiations, but his reputation as a first class fisherman is legendary – almost as legendary as the fishing stories he told me that day. Bill, having watched patiently as I struggled to balance in the boat while casting my line, said: “Mark, do you want me to show you how to do it?” Of course I insisted I was fine, but as I went to try to cast the line again I somehow managed to get the hook caught in my jacket. Between both of us laughing and then struggling to try to keep the boat straight as Bill worked the hook out of my jacket, we were both pretty much done for the day. Bill, being a great team player though, did tell my wife that I caught “a big one – but we had to let it go.”

Now, some might think that I was too frustrated to continue to look for a hobby at that point. But if my time at Ace Enterprise has taught me anything, it has taught me that it is important to embrace change, to look for opportunities to grow and develop in ways you might never have imagined you could. It is this philosophy that led Ace Enterprise to earning the Consumer Choice Award five times in the last seven years -- an unprecedented accomplishment by anyone else in our industry.

I tried many different activities until I found my personal passion. For the first time in my life, I ran a marathon last spring. Not only that, but I also won my age division – of course, the field was a little smaller than that of some of the other age divisions, but a win is a win, and I’m looking forward to more of them in the coming years. Best of all, I achieved what seemed like an impossible challenge at the start. At Ace Enterprise we have always embraced a challenge and worked together to find ways to succeed. I will take that sense of determination and perseverance with me into the future. Many thanks and regards to each of you.