As the Kenny Rogers song goes, “You have to when to hold them, and know when to fold them.”
In this case, I’m talking about retirement. No, not my retirement, but retirement in general. Over the last few weeks, there are been four retirements I’ve seen that I’ll mention and three of them seemingly are not of retirement age.
One person is a national legend and the other three have been a part of the local fabric for many years.
Of course it is safe to say the legend I speak of is Ellen DeGeneres and even though she’s at retirement age of 64, it seems that entertainers may go away but never seem to retire. I’m pretty sure Ellen isn’t about to fold the tent up to never been seen again.
She may be gone from talk show status, but I’m sure you’ll see her doing standup comedy, guest appearances on talk shows, probably hosting one of those game shows she has produced in the past or even act at some point.
I don’t think she’s need to work out her numbers to make sure she can survive on a pension and Social Security, but I’d suspect both of those financial numbers would be impressive. I watched her final show and it was sad, needless-to-say, but again, you know she’ll show up again someplace.
For those readers, if you were around when the G.O.A.T. (“greatest of all time” for those that don’t keep up on your acronyms) Johnny Carson retired, he pretty much retired for good. Rarely was he seen back on TV. The only exception was when he appeared on Late Night with David Letterman.
Here’s a reality check, Carson retired on May 22, 1992. That was 30 years ago last Sunday.
On the local scene, we saw our good friend Tom Williams, longtime morning anchor at WNEP-TV retire to try his hand at politics. That decision didn’t work out for Tom as he would have liked but at 57, there’s plenty of gas in the tank for Tom to end up back on a payroll somewhere.
Tom is a great guy and I trust he will end up on his feet someplace.
Another WNEP-TV personality exited his television career this past Friday after 17 years locally. Ryan Leckey said his good-byes on the early morning telecast and it wasn’t as sad as I believed it would be.
Leckey, at 39, has a Ph.D. in Strategic Leadership & Administrative Studies from Marywood University. I’m not sure where you can go with a Ph.D. degree like that, but I’m sure the sky is the limit.
Ryan’s energy level on a 10-scale is about a 12, so you won’t see him sitting home watching “General Hospital” eating Bon Bons, and even though he said he’s not sure what his next move will be, I’ll bet he has an idea.
It’s not clear what will happen to Ryan’s Run, his highly successful campaign at WNEP where he’s helped raise over $4 million dollar for St. Joseph’s in Scranton.
Look for Leckey in NEPA doing something because as he said, he and his partner Matt are not leaving the area.
See you soon, Ryan and best wishes.
Lastly, our good friend for many, many years and a familiar face to all Greater Pittstonians, Lori Nocito has decided step down and retire Leadership Northeast, formerly Leadership Wilkes Barre, a job she’s held for the past 22 years.
At 57, Lori felt it is a good time to step down while Leadership Northeast is thriving and feeling she’s leaving the organization is good hands.
Even though Lori believes she won’t be moving on to anything else, she will keep her hands in many of the organizations she’s volunteered with for many years.
One such organization is the Greater Pittston Chamber of Commerce’s Women’s Network. She was there from the beginning nearly 30-years ago and it’s an organization that is near and dear to her heart.
Lori is married to my longtime friend and Little League teammate, attorney Frank Nocito. Although Frank is not ready to retire, Lori will get a head start and finally do things she’s wanted to do for many years.
Every the traveler, she said she’s been to 45 different countries, no doubt she’ll be making plans for other trip soon enough or when it’s entirely safe to travel. Other than that, she’ll find herself taking in some of the winter months at their second home in Florida.
I would like to wish Lori a very happy and healthy retirement and hope she’ll remain retired. Sometimes it’s not easy keeping a personality like Lori on the sideline for too long.
Her official retirement date is the middle of July and she said she would stay on to consult and help with the transition of the new administrator of Leadership Northeast.
So even though you may not personally know each of the individuals mentioned today, we know who they are and as Ryan Leckey suggested, all feel like family.
Ellen, Tom, and Ryan, have been in our family rooms for many years and Lori has been seen running or volunteering at so many festivities, she too feels like family.
Good luck to all.
Quote of the week
“I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it.”- John Thune
Thought of the week
“The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting
gratitude.”- Jeff Miller
Bumper sticker
“America without her soldiers would be like God without His angels.”- Claudia Pemberton
