CARNDUFF - It was a special evening March 31 at the Royal Canadian Legion's Carnduff branch.
Annette Brown had her final day as the town’s administrator, and her 33 years of service to Carnduff were acknowledged. Approximately 125 people attended, including current and former employees and council members, along with ratepayers, friends and many of Brown's family.
The retirement party was emceed by Mayor Ross Apperley and featured humorous, good-natured and touching tributes from a number of people.
Former town administrator Kevin Stephenson, whose departure opened the door for Brown to move into that position in 2010, was the first to speak. He reflected on his days when Brown was his assistant and introduced the nickname that he had for her: AACKA – Annette Always Covered Kevin’s Ass. He talked about the challenges he had as an administrator working with ratepayers and councillors and how valuable Brown was to him in dealing with them.
It was noted that during her total years working in the town office, Brown worked with 25 councillors, three mayors, 10 town foremen and four recreation directors. Apperley noted that he was the only mayor that Brown had to work with during her 15 years as administrator, and jokingly seemed sympathetic about that.
A few people who were unable to attend the event sent their reflections and best wishes, which were read by people such as Coun. Greg Wall.
Tianna Dumaine of the RM of Mount Pleasant, which shares a building with the Town of Carnduff office, shared a few thoughts on behalf of the RM.
Tara Beck, the newly-appointed town administrator, was accompanied by office assistant Agnes Duncombe as Beck reflected on their years working with Brown. She talked about Brown's value of family first and how she always worked to the best of her ability to serve the people of Carnduff.
Apperley took time to mention Brown's volunteerism and how she often used her holiday time to do so. He indicated that Brown was always quick to give credit to council for decisions they made, but it was usually her preparation that led to those decisions. He noted that Brown's first priority when it came to her work was "ratepayers first". Her expertise was valued – the question was often asked by her co-workers of WWAD – What Would Annette Do?
One of the highlights of the evening was when her children took the microphone. They told the crowd that their mother always tried to downplay her knowledge by attributing it to plain old common sense. In spite of their mother's busyness as an administrator, they always felt she was there for them.
The evening wrapped up with a speech from Brown. She laughed about how she had made it clear she didn’t want any commotion about her retirement, but Wall told her to shut up. She indicated that if she suddenly bolted, it was to run to the washroom to throw up. The trip to the washroom never took place. Brown spoke for about 30 minutes and had her audience laughing most of the time.
She talked about her decision to become the administrator. It was not a position she initially wanted, but when she saw the applications, she felt the ratepayers needed someone who could offer more and subsequently applied. She thanked her mentor Stephenson and welcomed Beck as the new one, which was part of her succession plan.
She gave permission for Beck to change the office any way she pleased, except for adding a dart board to the décor with Brown's picture on it. She indicated to Beck that she had full confidence in her.
She spent a portion of her speech recognizing and thanking people that she had worked with in the past, as well as those whom she was leaving in her retirement. She expressed her appreciation to the RM that shared the building she worked in and reflected on the great working relationship that the town and RM had.
As she brought her retirement speech to an end, she concluded, “It’s been an honour to work for you.” The crowd rose to their feet and gave her a standing ovation.
