It was a wildly busy day at the Hy-Vee on Mills Civic Parkway today as the grocery chain helped celebrate Van's retirement after 50 years in the business.
Many people stopped by or called in to wish Van well before he retires at the end of this week.
The he got a chance a couple of times to talk with Brad Waller, the Assistant Vice President of Community Relations.
Van also got to talk with Jamie Stephens, who is the Fleur Drive Hy-Vee Store Director. They talked about the time Van slept in the store ahead of its grand opening.
Donna Tweeten joined Van a little later. She talked about how he helped her in broadcasting and helped lead her to her job with Hy-Vee in the Communications Department.
Mark Luke talked with Van a couple of times. First, he presented Van's wife Becky with a gift from the store. He reminisced with Van a little later on.
Perhaps the biggest highlight of the morning came when Governor Kim Reynolds hopped on the show to make a special proclamation and wish Van well.
Wes Snook, freshly retired after a long career with Hy-Vee, called in to chat with Van about life in retirement and welcomed him to the club.
There have been many interesting events on the show over the years, and Van met a listener who took part in the Invisible Dog Walk some years back. He was also joined by Simon Conway and Jeff Angelo to talk about the unrest in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
Randy Edeker, the current Chairman and CEO of Hy-Vee, called the phone line to wish Van a happy retirement as well.
Finally, one of Van's former co-workers, Greg Chance of 107.5 KISS FM, came to the store to wish him congratulations and to talk about some stories they shared in the office over the years.
It certainly was a memorable day. Van's career officially wraps up on Friday.
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