Intro

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and friends, welcome. I also want to welcome our esteemed Director of Overseas Operations, Mr. Stan Miller and his lovely wife, Patty. As you all know, we are here tonight to honor an exceptional person, Mr. Mark Green, or as he’s known around the office, Superman. Along with Mark, I would like to acknowledge his wife, Andrea, who deserves her own round of applause for being able to handle this dynamo for over 35 years!

Reflections

It seems like only yesterday that a long-haired, bearded young man of 26, fresh out of Santa Barbara State University, walked into the office of Ace Enterprises looking for a position as a procurement agent. He was something, all right! Carrying a back pack decorated with peace symbols and wearing a hideous tie-dye shirt, he was anything but conservative…more like scary! Even so, Mark’s outstanding academic achievements were noteworthy and against his better judgment, Mike handed him the application and directed him to Stan’s office.

Okay, confession time: During Mark’s interview, we all made bets on how long it would take Stan to show him the door! Sorry Mark, I lost the bet. You performed your first super hero feat that day by winning Stan over, and we were all stunned when you walked out with a triumphant grin on your face, not to mention the key to the office that you made your second home for over 40 years.

Mark wasted no time in endearing himself to the ladies! He was very popular with them...until Andrea snagged him.

Acknowledgment

After some of us more “establishment” types recovered from the shock, it didn’t take long for us guys to warm up to him either. Mark’s strategy has always been “shock and awe” - strike quickly and be amazed at the results, and did we see results!

We are convinced at Ace Enterprises that Mark has super powers. Now, I haven’t seen him stop a bullet in midair or leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he does seem to have the energy of ten men and his intuition is spot on. For the past 40 years, our company has been fortunate to have this dynamic powerhouse in our employ. Because of his creative strategies for obtaining funds for our offshore ventures, he was able to increase our profit margin by 200%. He worked his magic by overhauling the entire operational stream. Yet, even after his reputation for miraculous results caught the attention of the Board of Directors and his responsibilities increased, he was always willing to come to the aid of a co-worker no matter how small a task.

The Future

What can top the remarkable career that Mr. Mark Green has had? Probably nothing, but a well deserved vacation in the Islands where Mark and Andrea will be relaxing in the sun, playing golf and sipping Margarita’s at poolside is a pretty good second. After that, they plan to procure and operate a comedy club right here in Portland. That is appropriate because Mark has brought us a lot of laughter over the years. Some of his jokes are classics! Besides the laughter though, Mark leaves with us with a willing acceptance of change and of new ideas without the fear that usually accompanies these things. In other words, he has taught us to loosen up!

Conclusion

Thanks again Mark for your invaluable contribution to Ace Enterprises. I hope that you will take with you many good memories, and as a token of our appreciation, this gold watch for you to remember us by. Best wishes to you and Andrea! I leave you with an old Irish blessing my grandfather used to say:

A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.

Good-night all! Thanks for coming.