OT: Retirement gift

[mochinist]

The boss/owner of the shop I work at is retiring as of March 30th of next year. I get to go from being a machinist shop lead to the shop manager in charge of the the repair side ,the machine side, and the office. Anyways since I am gonna be in charge, I figure I should take the lead in gathering up some money and getting a retirement gift for the boss and his wife who is our office manager. I really have no idea as to what to get or how much to spend, should I get a joint gift for the both of them or something seperate for each. His only real hobby is restoring old cars, and hers is quilting. I don't want to do something cheesy like a goldwatch either. Float some ideas out there for me, I really haven't known anybody that well that has actually retired except for my grandparents. Thanks for the help guys.

[MikeHenry]

If he has a brand/model preference on the cars you might look for some antique advertising memorobilia that he could put in his home shop. An old clock with a Ford logo or something similar. Ebay can be good for that sort of thing. That's assuming he'd appreciate something like that, of course. Some folks would just see it as a waste of money.

Mike

[cuemaker]

Depends on how much you can gather.

A cruise these days is cheap. But still an expensive retiremtnet gift.

A gift certificate for a hotel? Dinner and theater tickets? Candle sticks made in the shop?

Some kind of trip for 2 to somewhere.

[Michael Moore]

I retired 7 weeks ago, and the best gift I could receive was not going to work any longer!

My personal take is that too often retirement gifts are chosen by people who don't really have a clue what the person would appreciate receiving. You can give money, but whoopdedoo about that for "meaning". About 90% of the retirement gifts I've seen are something that leaves the recipient saying "oh great, what am I going to do with this thing? oh yeah, smile, and say "thanks ever so much, you don't know how much this means to me"."

Take them out, have a nice party, and show that you like the guy. But don't inflict useless knicknacks on him.

cheers,
Michael

[Michael Moore]

Then again, he may be horribly hurt if you don't inflict useless knicknacks upon him.

Your mileage may vary,
Michael

[lugnut]

You will never know what he or his wife would think the most of, and then neither would they! So you have the advantage. I think if you can get as many of their friends and coworkers together for an (above special dinner) lots of good stuff. You couldn’t go wrong. Showing them that you CARE will mean more to them than all the golden trinkets you can buy! Make arrangements for a group Photo at the dinner by a professional photographer. Hope it turns out OK , Let us know.
Mel

[Ian B]

Mo,

Can you make a photo album for him? I did this a few months ago, it was well appreciated. Photos of where he works, group & staff photos, any special projects that he was involved with, and (if you can be sneaky about it) photos of him at work too.

I used a digital camera, picked 36 of the best photos, printed them A4 size and found a decent quality album.

It takes time - all told, expect to spend about 1/2 hour per page of album, so start early!

Ian

[Evan]

A quality laser engraved micrometer?

Several subscriptions to various quilting magazines?

[Your Old Dog]

Dinner for 4. Let them share the joy with close friends instead of sitting there stareing at each other! If not that, throw a small retirement dinner where each of the workers buys his own meal ticket. Ask the workers to show as well. If you're gonna be the new boss you simply walk up to them, stare the guy in the face, grab them by the short hairs and say "ya know Bruce, it'd mean a lot to me if you could make Ralph and Mary's retirement party." (the short hair thing while optional, may be necessary for some employees) Make it a place everyone can afford to go to.

[This message has been edited by Your Old Dog (edited 10-11-2005).]

[mochinist]

Hmm all good idea's, I may do more than one, i especially like the photo album idea. The cruise would be cool, but man would we have to pony up for that one, I think a resort may be the better option and more feasable. We will definately have a dinner or maybe a BBQ with friends, family, and co-workers there.