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Retired SIUC staff honored with banquet

BY ADAM TESTA, THE SOUTHERN

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 11:50 PM CDT

CARBONDALE - For Paulette Curkin of Carbondale, every day is Saturday.

Curkin retired as coordinator of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center at Southern Illinois University Carbondale on July 1 after 21 years of service. Now, she has time to travel and volunteer her time to various organizations.

She joined more than 130 other SIUC retirees at a reception and dinner Wednesday evening at the SIUC Student Center to honor their careers.

In the opening comments of the evening, master of ceremonies Jak Tichenor welcomed the crowd of retirees, their families and university officials to a night celebrating "one of those happy times for the university, when we get to come together as friends."

For some, it was indeed about friends. For others, it was about reflecting on their tenures at the university and what really matters most.

"I always felt, no matter where I went, that we were here to serve the students and to take care of them," said Brenda Hellmer, who joined SIUC 21 years ago as a health service employee and retired in May from the College of Education. "They're number one."

She said it's "wonderful" that the university, especially Interim Chancellor Samuel Goldman who was announced as the host of the event, honored its retirees and showed appreciation for their service.

"I didn't realize SIU did things like this," Hellmer said. "Of course, I only retired once."

adam.testa@thesouthern.com

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