Forty years of familiar faces and friendly smiles mingled for two hours Saturday afternoon as the Perry Hy-Vee celebrated four decades of retail service to the Perry community.
Several former store directors, many former employees and a large number of customers gathered with current staffers for cake and coffee and a chance to see old friends, look at old pictures and tell old stories over again.
The Perry Hy-Vee originally opened in January 1977 in a building on First Avenue that was recently demolished. Hy-Vee built a new store in the present location on 141st Street in 1996.
The Perry Hy-Vee gave special recognition to seven current employees, each with 25 years or more of service with Hy-Vee: Paula Blaisdell, Phil Bricker, Sean Iben, Mary Kautzky, Karen Martin, Marcie Neuhalfen and Marie Pohl.
The seven workers have put in a combined total of 226 years of service in Perry.
Store Director Matt Rohe, who started his Perry stint two weeks ago, welcomed out-of-town visitors including longtime Perry point person Denny Glick of the Villages, Fla., and Glick’s successor as Perry store director, Brett Bremser, now Hy-Vee’s senior vice president for perishables.
