At a potluck lunch on Tuesday afternoon to honor Frank Fenner on his retirement after 12 years as a Chilmark selectmen, Chuck Hodgkinson, who has worked on many special projects with Mr. Fenner, read a top ten list of things the town employees will miss about Mr. Fenner.
“Number eight - receiving a 92 item punch list with details such as ‘front bedroom on right is missing a nail where the gable meets the closet.’”
“Number four – getting a call from Frank when he’s sitting in a deer tree stand in upstate New York with the flu asking me to check on an invoice payment and the remaining budget balance.”
“No wonder you didn’t see that deer,” someone said, followed by wave of laughter.
On a more serious note, selectman Warren Doty noted Mr. Fenner’s exceptional work on special projects, most notably the Middle Line Road affordable housing project, the Tea Lane Farm project, and the new Menemsha public pier.
“All of us selectmen have a lot of things we do every week . . . and we’ve all done that on an equal basis over the last several years,” Mr. Doty said. “But Frank has excelled on special projects. Nobody put more time into getting rental units right at Middle Line Road.”
During the construction of the new Menemsha pier, Mr. Fenner was known for hosting long debates at selectmen’s meetings over which nails to use, what type of caps to put on the pilings or the strength of a new wave wall in the harbor, all of which helped bring “Menemsha back to life,” Mr. Doty said.
“Today it’s better than it was before the fire,” Mr. Doty continued. “The dock is back and was done in an exceptional way and a lot of that was due to Frank. I want to take this moment to say thanks for all that extra work. There’s no selectmen I’ve ever worked with who put in more hours and worked harder on their special projects.”
In response, Mr. Fenner thanked the town employees, colleagues and volunteers he has served with over the years.
“I’ve really enjoyed this,” he said.
At the end of the celebration, Frank LaRusso and town administrator Tim Carroll presented Mr. Fenner with a new hammer and safety goggles so he could continue his side projects when he’s not busy serving milkshakes and burgers at The Galley restaurant. The goggles were for liability reasons, Mr. Carroll joked.
And the number one reason the town will miss Mr. Fenner.
“Watching Frank lead by example, providing clear direction, and setting a standard that raised the bar and expectations for all of us,” Mr. Hodgkinson said.
Comments
Comment policy »