KINGSTON, Pa. — Luzerne County has seen a lot of change over the past 50 years, but one thing has been a constant Lester Lipinski in the driver's seat.
He's witnessed a lot of those changes, from behind the wheel of a bus working for the Luzerne County Transportation Authority.
"Especially after the flood [of 1972], that was something. We were hauling people around to get around their places to clean up. That was quite a job. It was dusty and everything. That would've been a good time to wear a mask," recalled Lipinski.
Lipinski remembers when the LCTA started charging a dime per ride, and he remembers when his salary was about $11,000 a year.
Five decades of service later, at the age of 74, Wednesday was his last day on the job.
"I started with Wilkes-Barre Transit and they were just on the edge of going out of business. I didn't think I'd have a job for a month let alone 50 years."
Lipinski says there were plenty of days when he was ready to retire, but once he got to close to the 50-year mark, he figured he might as well keep going!
"Les is a great guy. I mean no matter how bad it was for him during the day, he always looked at the light side of things, he never let things get to him. He just went about his job," said Kevin McGee, president of ATU Local 164.
"I like the job, I really do. It's something to look forward to. It's gonna be different now, on a permanent vacation," Lipinski said.
He'll miss his co-workers and his regular riders.
But one thing he won't miss?
"Getting up on a snowy morning to come to work. I remember I used to have a clock radio and Paul Simon would come on singing, 'Slip Slidin' Away.' And I'd be thinking, 'oh my god, I have to go to work in that?'"
Congrats to Lester Lipinski on a well-deserved retirement, from all of us here at Newswatch 16.