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It's been a fun ride. I've been doing signs full-time as my primary means of support since 1965, and have operated my own business since 1972. The time has come for me to let go and leave this business to the young lions who will take the torch and run with it toward whatever the future may hold.
Recently, I've looked at the latest trade magazines and have come to realize that their articles are much more slanted toward computer assisted signmaking, both in the digital area and the router-driven dimensional area. I've become outdated and somewhat irrelevant. I've made no secret that I was one who was dragged kicking and screaming into the computer age, and it's now an integral part of this trade and that is never going to change anytime soon. While I did manage to get enough knowledge and savvy to survive this long, I no longer have the appetite or the will to stay on this hampster wheel of technology. I see the younger generation of signmakers who've embraced this and have mastered it to the point of turning out excellent work, and it's to them I will relinquish a place in this trade.
Hopefully, I've carried my load with the desire to continually improve and have done so with a measure of integrity. I've tried to help others along with whatever knowledge I was able to share, and did so willingly and enthusiastically.
It's now time to retire and devote more of my time to looking after my spouse, and spending more time with my grandchildren. I'll stop by occasionally to see and hear how things are going with you, my cyber friends and those who I've met at various live meets in years past.
Best wishes and hope that you all enjoy continued success and prosperity.
-------------------- Ken Henry Henry & Henry Signs London, Ontario Canada (519) 439-1881 e-mail: kjmlhenry@rogers.com
Why do I get all those on-line offers to sell me Viagara, when the only thing hardening is my arteries ? Posts: 2684 | From: London,Ontario, Canada | Registered: Feb 1999
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Good luck with the retirement Ken. You had no way of knowing this, but you had a major impact on my life. My very first meet was Cornwall in 2001. I'd never seen anything like that & I only knew 2 people going in..... Pete & Marj.
I was wandering around, overwhelmed, & you & Brenda Beaupit were sitting on a bench outdoors having a smoke. Brenda started a conversation, & after sharing a few stories, you told me about Chromatic Flow Enhancer, and, how much to use.
That wee tidbit, & Doug Downey explaining the "trim" tool in CorelDraw, saved me hours & hours of frustration & probably paid for my attending the meet in about a month, in time saved. I've often wanted to tell you this, although I figured you wouldn't remember anyway.
I'm not there often, but my son lives in London ....... someday I'd be honoured to buy you lunch/
-------------------- Rodger MacMunn T.R. MacMunn & Sons C.P.207, Sharbot Lake, ON 613-279-1230 trmac@frontenac.net Posts: 472 | From: Sharbot Lake, Ontario | Registered: Nov 2003
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I seem to be the only one left in my market who still uses a quill and maul stick instead of a computer to make those modern vinyl letters. I have painted thousands of handpainted windshields, not to mention a few window splashes with rollers and flats. I hear you about being outdated by the robots, but I seem to still be grinding out signs. I will retire soon to Santa Fe to open a new art gallery. Still waiting on a few things, but hope to set the maul stick down for good in the next year. Oh well. I sure learned alot and still respect anyone who can bang out 2" Helvitica on a door glass with no pattern and only a snap line and some simple lettering.
-------------------- Preston McCall 112 Rim Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 text: 5056607370 Posts: 1552 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Nov 1998
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All the best to you guys Ken!!!! I hope you enjoy retirement as much as Shirl and I are.
It is the end of an "era" for you but it is also the beginning of a new era!
Best of luck my friend and I'll call you and maybe we can all go out for a lunch in the spring.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
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I don't get it...retirement that is. I have no interest in retirement although I am well past the "age". I enjoy what I do and what I do is who I am. I have no quarrel with those who do retire but having jobs to do gets me going every day. I enjoy designing, seeing how a good sign brings new customers into a business, taking the "thank you note" to the bank and leaving a legacy as well. I know I have slowed down, the eyesight is not as good and coordination is off, but this I enjoy. I got out of show business because I could not stand constant travel on a bus and the "foul" air. I got out of teaching at the University because their pay was not enough to properly raise a family and the faculty was a bunch of unhappy people biding their time until retirement. I got back into the sign trade (over 40 years ago) because it came naturally and provided us a good living. Sure I watch the sunrise everyday with a fresh cup of coffee, work as needed to keep projects on time, play with the grandsons in between and travel to the others when a break in the action permits or we schedule it like a work order. Since we are all so independent, it is possible to have the best life anywhere and still have a decent income for just playing everyday.
-------------------- Kent Smith Smith Sign Studio P.O.Box 2385, Estes Park, CO 80517-2385 kent@smithsignstudio.com Posts: 1025 | From: Estes Park, CO | Registered: Nov 1998
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Congratulations on your retirement Ken. I hope it brings you happiness.
I sit in Kent's corner as to my own personal retirement. Doing cool projects is what gets me up each morning. I hope to continually get pickier about the type of work I take on as the years roll on, getting more creative every day. Sharing knowledge and tricks of the trade allow me to keep in the game and travel too.
We all need to do what we love each day.
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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-------------------- Michael Gene Adkins The Fontry 1576 S Hwy 59 Watts OK 74964 Posts: 845 | From: Watts, OK USA | Registered: Jun 1999
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Ken, thank you for what you have added to our craft and to me personally. Without knowing it, probably, you have influenced many to become more than they think they can. I am one of them.
Like others, I am slowing down and becoming more selective in what I promise out and when. Deadlines are not as important as they once were.
By the age of 70 (almost two years away) I hope to be slowing down even more and locking the door to the studio for the last time, but it won't mean the end to doing creative things, just going in a different direction - one that takes me back to doing more with my hands rather than a computer.
Good luck. Keep us informed on how retirement goes.
-------------------- Chapman Sign Studio Temple, Texas chapmanstudio@sbcglobal.net Posts: 6306 | From: Temple, Texas, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Good Luck Ken! Congratulations! I know the feeling about Computers.. but If I did'nt change to the technology, I most certainly would have been left behind.. sure there's a Few who can still make a living out of using a brush and I admire them for that.. but you have to have the weather, which we don't have....All the Best!
-------------------- "Keep Positive"
SIGNS1st. Neil Butler Paradise, NF Posts: 6277 | From: St. John's NF Canada | Registered: Mar 1999
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Bless you, Ken, for the many years of good service to the trade; and may your retirement be one of happiness and good health.
I'm in the boat with Frank and Ole Ray. I've been winding down too, but I still love the sign biz; and it does make me get the day started off on the right foot.
I still love hand lettering, and still have a small number of customers that still like that type of work. I've just recently picked up the pinstriping brushes again; and after some false apprehension on my part, seem to be able to do that once more. And there's just one more thing I love to do, that may serve to keep my hands and brain occupied, and me out of the wife's hair.
The computer's fine for a lot of things, but building something out of nothing was one of the many reasons I got into this wonderful, crazy business in the first place. As long as the hands and mind keep working, at least in some measure, I'm going to keep working. I always hated doing layouts by hand, and making pounce patterns; the computer's good for that. We'll just have more time off, more play-days, and a little more goofing around.
I belong to an arts guild in our county; I'm an alderman in our city; the wife and I are involved in various civic projects; and I'm riding herd over my mom's affairs (she's old - 94) up in Ohio; so my plate's pretty full.
Retirement is for old people! I'm not planning to be there for a good while yet.
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Hope you enjoy your retirement Ken. I'll never forget seeing you and your lovely wife at your house, and then the two of us meeting up with Grundy for a few beers. I was such a novice back then and you two helped me more than you know.
-------------------- Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 sherwoodsign@sbcglobal.net Posts: 5396 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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Thanks to the American Sign Museum our hand lettering will be preserved for years to come. Just think, if I had retired I would not have been asked to participate in that project. It was an honor to be among the 26 others that did all the work. Next month will be my 85th year on the planet and it has been a wonderful life. Thank God I am blessed with good health and some of the finest friends a man could hope for. Bill
-------------------- Bill Riedel Riedel Sign Co., Inc. 15 Warren Street Little Ferry, N.J. 07643 billsr@riedelsignco.com Posts: 2953 | From: Little Ferry, New Jersey, USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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I chose to retire at age 63 for two reasons.
I hated Canadian winters and hated that Shirley had to drive to work in snowstorms.
Ken Henry was very supportive and helpful while I was winding things down.
I loved the sign business, but to me it was a business. And even though I loved it, I couldn't own/run a viable business for 6 months of the year.
Hence...we are "suffering" being in Mexico for 7 months in the winter and back in Ontario for 5 months in the summer.
(for us it is a very pleasnt experience)
The retirement decision is very personal. For us it has worked well. For others it might not.
We all have to make our own decisions.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
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Dave, I imagine you run short of cash now and then and have to dive for oysters to make it thru the month?
-------------------- dennis kiernan independent artist san francisco, calif, usa Posts: 907 | From: san francisco, ca usa | Registered: Feb 2010
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For me it's amen to Kent, Dan & Bill Riedel. I'll be 75 in March and still enjoy what I do and like the variety. If I was a young guy I would want to get into more of the new toys available, but for now I'll keep trying to crank out stuff that looks OK and people can actually read.
Just a thought, if I had become a proctologist I probably would have wanted to retire at about 45!
-------------------- Tom Rose 1938 Model Sign Dude T.Rose Signs Whitehall,PA Posts: 327 | From: Whitehall,PA,USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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What Kent, said. With an exception. I make lots more art these days and it makes me happy..
-------------------- Jack Wills Studio Design Works 1465 E.Hidalgo Circle Nye Beach / Newport, OR Posts: 2914 | From: Rocklin, CA. USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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quote:Dave, I imagine you run short of cash now and then and have to dive for oysters to make it thru the month?
Well, Yes we do run short of cash every couple of weeks....But a drive to the closest ATM machine works for us. Beats diving for oysters!!!
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
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Ken, I wish you well and thank you for stating so well how many of us feel. I also embrace the sentiments of the others and feel the pull in both directions. As one that never saved for retirement I don't have the luxury to consider the option of retirement as I'd like to. Wouldn't it be nice to make signs the old way for no money and just the rush again? I'm finding myself using greater selectivity to the projects I take in now. The stuff that doesn't excite me I'd like to steer towards my colleagues across town. Enjoy the ride Ken, and the grandsons!
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6712 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Congratulations on your retirement,Ken! Thanks for all your contributions and for being part of this community.
-------------------- Judy Pate Signs By Judy Albany, Georgia USA 229-435-6824
Live simply...Love generously...Care deeply...Speak kindly...Leave the rest to God. Posts: 2621 | From: Albany,GA,USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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When I turned 40 in 1983, had a meet in my shop in California. The 4B was on display, I knew the end would come.
Funny, here in Oz there are fewer than 5 Accubend machines, I was running one of them in a small shop. Nobody wanted to take the time to learn how to run it. Even the router table is too much work for most.
How many Really want to learn the sign trade any more? It's too much effort if it isn't printed, knife cut, or laser cut.
Enjoy your time off Ken.
-------------------- Bill'n'Annie Davidson Heathcote, NSW, Aus. my Aussie wife, a Toohey's Old, my Holden Ute, Retired from the rat race! Posts: 309 | From: Heathcote, NSW, Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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-------------------- Jack Wills Studio Design Works 1465 E.Hidalgo Circle Nye Beach / Newport, OR Posts: 2914 | From: Rocklin, CA. USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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Congrats Ken on your retirement, and I bet in a couple years you'll start swinging a brush for fun not work, not that there wasn't fun in your work before...it's just that it is part of our souls. You brought a lot to the table, although I haven't met you, thank you. As for me, I took a break for my back injury and slowed down for a while since 1981, lost my drive but still have the creativity, although for 10 years slowed away from the brush, now anxious to pick it up and do more of the board signs and boat lettering in the future for extra enjoyment or novelty, or money.
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
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I wish you nothing but the best and hope that you will find satisfaction in your new life direction.
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6451 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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