6 July 2015

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TOWN tourist officer Simon Kerr hosted friends, family and colleagues at the library last night (Friday) for a celebration of his retirement in two weeks’ time.

A much-loved and familiar figure in the town for the past 18 years, Simon’s enthusiasm for photography and his natty dress sense were celebrated in a retirement cake decorated by his colleague Dawn Spalding with a camera and silk ties.

His colleagues said they had valued Simon’s devotion to duty, his willingness to get involved with whatever was going on, and the sheer good fun of having him around in the library, where the tourist desk is based.

Joan Roberts, the former chief librarian, said she was delighted to have been proved so comprehensively right when, as one of the interview panel nearly two decades ago, she had decided Simon was the right man for the job.

“The tourist officer post ago was a new idea, a new venture, and I think it has been a spectacular success,” she said.

Simon, in reply to these plaudits, said he had had the time of his life, adding that while he was retiring from the tourist desk, he had no intention of retiring “from being Simon” and is now looking forward to becoming involved in other areas of town life

Photos courtesy of East Grinstead Online