A Very Mary Retirement Party by Kim Ottesen

Post Road Library hosted Mary Kretsch’s retirement party aptly named ‘A Very Mary Retirement Party’, where we celebrated Mary’s 18 years of service to FCPL.   If you’ve ever seen Mary’s house or car, you could guess the color of the décor: yellow!   The guests enjoyed the usual party fare with one ‘Very Mary’ exception: a toast station! 

A highlight of the party was that many of Mary’s past and current coworkers stopped in to celebrate her.   Every FCPL retiree is presented with a proclamation detailing their special contributions to the library, and Anna read it to the group.  Mary’s proclamation mentioned her creative displays, encyclopedic knowledge of all things FCPL, excellent customer service, and her ingenuity in creating the hit Instagram series Every Day is a Holiday.   After the proclamation, Kim Ottesen spoke about meeting with Mary for the first time as her supervisor. Mary had one question for her, “Why do you want this job?”   Other people shared some of their favorite memories of Mary, too.   Leslie Marinelli pulled out her phone and read one of Mary’s hilarious daily reports from 2019*.   Alicia Cavitt shared a story that illustrated Mary’s amazing memory.   Many people mentioned Mary’s willingness to share her knowledge.   Mary’s last day at the desk will be Monday, May 3.  We will miss you, Mary!

*From Mary's Daily Report:  The printer in the workroom was doing hold slips properly today. Of course, very long titles are cut off, so the “Storytime takeout: birthdays” was shortened to “birth.” That would be a very different set of puppets, but could still be fun and educational.