In East Butler, 50 years of work and change
In 1974, Gerald Ford was the 38th American president, a new Ford Mustang cost little more than $3,000, and Blazing Saddles was the biggest movie of the year.
And Chuck Crispin started his career with the borough of East Butler.
You often hear stories about people retiring after many years with the same employer. But, to be sure, you hear those stories because they are so uncommon.
Crispin was asked in January 1974 to plow roads in the borough by his older brother, then-councilman Kenneth Crispin. Chuck Crispin went on to be the first full-time employee of the borough.
He went full time in 1978 and spent his career documenting new technology, tools that eased the workload and changes to leadership around the borough in journals.
“When I first started, you had 80-pound bags of salt you had to pull onto the truck,” Crispin said. “Now you just get the bag, load up the salt and it takes you about 15 to 20 minutes.”
East Butler Council member Tracie Williams said council helped plan a retirement party for Crispin that took place on his 50-year anniversary with the borough — also his retirement date — Jan. 13.
“On a personal level, Chuck will be very missed. Everybody in the borough knows Chuck,” Williams said. “He was very dedicated, took the job very seriously.”
While Crispin started a “semiretirement” in 2008, it was only so he could start his own company, Crispin’s Backhoe Service. He stayed on part time with the borough at the request of administrators, who would have missed his know-how.
This time, Crispin isn’t playing. Now he’s only going to run his own business when he feels like it. But he said he will always be available to East Butler administrators if he is needed.
Dedication is hard to come by. And years in the same job watching co-workers come and go leads to a level of institutional knowledge that’s hard to replace.
We applaud the borough for recognizing this, and we wish Mr. Crispin all the best in his second semiretirement.
— RJ
