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Gleason was presented a reproduction of an 1869 layout of Lincoln.
The original was found just recently by county highway engineer Bret
Aukamp, who thought it would make a great gift to honor Gleason for
his years of service. JoAnne Marlin (left) and Vickie Hasprey look
on.
Paul E. Gleason
Gleason thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve together.
He said he'd probably seen more changes during his time than anyone
else in the room. He then spun a bit of his history.
When he began there were paper ballots that were hand-counted,
and it took until beyond midnight to get results. "So, my friends
and I would go out to the Keg, a little place at the corner of the
Logan County Fairgrounds to get something to eat," he said. "We went
in there, and I'll tell you what, I was scared to death that the
cockroaches were going to bring my food out."
It was only a few years later that a punch system was introduced,
which led to what he recalls was his first time to buck the system.
The county board chairman told him while they were out on the
courthouse steps, "Now Paul, this is the way we've got to vote."
When the bids came in, the machines that were proposed weren't
quite what was wanted, and Gleason voted against them.
Some years later the chairman confided to him that that was when
he decided Gleason was somebody he would pay attention to.
Another noticeable change that he misses most is that "when we
had our adjourned board meetings, all the board members of the old
generation wore sport coats and ties."
He, Voyles and Farmer were the only ones in coats and ties
Tuesday evening.
"I've served on about every committee that the board has had," he
said.
Gleason's forte committee has been Community Action. He's spent
26 years on that.
His least favorite committee, the "hardest" and shortest, was the
highway committee.
"I don't have any mechanical ability," he said. "When they were
talking different sizes of gravel, I always thought that there was
just one size. There's all kinds and all sizes. So, I said, ‘Hey,
forget it.' At the end of the two years I asked to be removed from
that committee."
"There's been some good times and there's been some rough
sledding," he said, "Anymore, everybody wants public services, but
they don't have the money to pay for them."
Gleason made one last charge to fellow board members, "Save the
county farm. That's a good investment for the county board."
[A side note: A bid for the farm that was received last month was
rejected as insufficient. The bidding process was reopened to be
concluded this month. County finance chairman Chuck Ruben announced
later in the meeting that he knew at least one board member would be
happy to hear that there had been no new bids submitted. He
recommended that the board not continue the attempt to sell the farm
for the time being. No one objected to that proposal.]
Gleason has also just retired from Lincoln College after 42 years
of teaching history. He said that he would still be working in
history.
[to top of second column] |
 Dale Voyles
"Six years goes by in a real hurry," Voyles said.
Dale Voyles receives recognition.
He wanted to acknowledge and thank those in the room who had made
the experience a good one.
To JoAnne Marlin, administrative secretary:
My two years as
chairman went by in a hurry because of JoAnne.
JoAnne was my left
leg, my right leg, my left arm and my right arm as chairman. She
does it all.
To Sally Litterly, county clerk and recorder:
She's the backbone
of the county board, keeps us on straight and narrow. She does a
terrific job of running her office, but also does a terrific job of
taking care of our minutes and our bills.
To the board:
Thanks, all of you.
It takes a lot of time and commitment, as you all know, whether it's
city, county, school board. A lot of people won't take the time to
run. But you folks do.
We have our
disagreements, which is normal and natural and we should have. But
in the end I think we serve the public. I think this group does a
good job of looking at all the issues and trying to do what's right
for the public. So, thank you.
To Paul Gleason:
Not only has he
been the historian for many years, he's now part of history in Logan
County. He deserves a place in history for his carrying forth the
information, the history about Logan County, the people of Logan,
the families of Logan County and what is happening.
And now as
president of Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County he's
going to do a great job there.
I have come to
appreciate his time and service to this board tremendously.
While now entering retirement Voyles has plans to continue to
stay in Lincoln and continue to work to serve the people of Logan
County. He will assist with overseeing the construction of the new
911 communications center, and he plans to do a little writing that
will communicate to the public what is happening at the county board
level.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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