For his years of hard work as Chairman of the Grace PC Service Committee, the church had a roast/toast dinner and awards night in honor of Ron Pickett.  This page covers a few of the highlights of the evening.

The theme of the dinner was Hawaiian and the evening began with Don Ho singing in the background of a delicious Luau meal.  Next was a few opening remarks by the MC and a 300 photo slide show of highlights of Ron, Kathy and Pam's lives.  The main entertainment was a series of presentations from Ron's friends and admirers (shown below) for accomplishments above and beyond the call of duty.  

Presenters and awards were as follows: Karl Zick & Todd Meurer:  Stuff  fixing;  Averill Walters: Little church building; Mollie Zick & Armeen Stone: Drama improvising; Michelle Solarek: Vacuum repairing;  Sue Cross:  Bluebonnet gardening:  Elaine Franks:  Animal rescuing;  George Seitz: Label making;  Sue  Burns & Beverly Brown: Pillow fluffing;  Charlie Galbraith: Grounds maintaining;  Morele Blaylock: Choir supporting;  Arnold Ott: Audio visualizing;  Vernon Slagle:  E-mail forwarding;  Ruth Camp: Talent show clowning;  Rose Cavazos: Rummage sale rambling;  and Kathy Pickett & Pam Cantu: Family caretaking.

I think you can tell from the looks on the faces that a good time was had by all-especially Ron & Kathy!!

Shown at the bottom of the photo's are pictures of Oscar and his room-mate Felix the frog.  Due to budget constraints, Ron received Felix awards (@ $1 ea) from the presenters instead of the traditional Oscar.   Here Ron fondles one of his many Felix's.

Following the presentations, Ron and his parrot had to get their 2 cents worth in.

This collage is a brief glimpse of Ron Pickett, past and present.

The following is the Gospel truth about Ron Pickett's life (and if you don't believe it, just ask him!).

Ronald E. Pickett was born in Daytona Beach, Florida on April 14, 1931, the same day that Lincoln was shot and the Titanic was sunk. He is the son of Robert and Doris Pickett, and he has two brothers, Jack and Dick. Jack, Dick and Ronnie were infamous when they were growing up for their Halloween `trick-or-treat' antics.

Ron was born during the depression but fortunately his father was a supervisor with the Winn Dixie Grocery Store chain and people had to eat. Ron even made a little money working in his dad's grocery stores which he used to put gas in his motorcycle and take his girlfriend Kathy for an occasional burger, soda, and drive-in movie. He and Kathy had started dating at a very young age and Ron says he even remembers when they used the same pacifier in nursery school.

Ron began his adulthood by enrolling at Florida State University and majoring in Hotel & Restaurant management. He also signed up for the Air Force ROTC program, a VERY wise decision. While attending college he worked as a cook at nearby restaurants and hotels and he never lost a victim.

After college Ron took advantage of his ROTC training, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1953, and reported to active duty in January, 1954. His first assignment was as BX Officer at Tyndall AFB, Panama City Florida, and there he and Kathy were married in August of that year.

Ron's Air Force career was very unique in that there was the `other' Air Force, and then there was the Air Force that Ron worked in. To say that Ron had 'cushy' jobs might be unfair to the man, but Ron had cushy jobs. During his Officers Club days he only wore his uniform once a week - and that was to keep the mold off of it. I would also say that if anyone on active duty could have planned a better career for themselves, he hasn't been born yet. Ron's one 'hardship assignment' was as housing officer at Goose Bay, Labrador where the housing officer's big job was to keep the mice out of peoples homes. However, it is so cold in Labrador that there weren't any mice.

Ron did get around a bit. During his Air Force days, he was stationed at Tyndall AFB, Panama City, Florida; Goose AFB, Goose Bay, Labrador; McDill AFB, Tampa, Fla.; Presque Isle, Maine; Brize Norton, England; Shreveport, LA; Bolling AFB, DC; Andrews AFB, MD; and Randolph AFB, San Antonio, TX. His most challenging Air Force jobs were as Officers Club manager at Andrews and Bolling Air Force bases, and as Chief of the Open Messes Division at the Air Force Military Personnel Center at Randolph AFB, TX. In the last position he didn't make messes, he managed them, and he was in charge of all staffing and personnel matters for 424 Air Force Clubs worldwide (officer, Non-com, airmen and civilian). This last job was a tribute to a man who had proven he knew how to get the job done.

He retired from the Air Force after 20 years as a Lt. Col and hit the civilian job market immediately. In only two weeks he and Kathy had relocated to Corpus Christi and Ron was General Manager of the Corpus Christi Country Club. He worked there for 13 years until family illness caused Ron and Kathy to uproot in and move back to their home state of Florida. After 8 years their mission of mercy was over and their only child Pam and her husband Ed encouraged them to return to Corpus - which they did in 1995.

After returning to Corpus they purchased a home near Pam and Ed and decided to officially stay retired and just enjoy gardening, travel, hobbies, and each other. Ron did return to the Corpus Christi Country Club temporarily on two occasions to help get them out of a bind, but offers from them of returning to work full time fell on deaf ears.

Ron and Kathy became active in Grace Presbyterian Church in 1975 before it was a church - and their contributions to its growth and success cannot be measured in hours, dollars, or achievements, but in dedication and love. It is hard to look around at Grace and not see something that has not been touched by them. Ron is stepping down from his monumental task of Chairman of the Service Committee but he and Kathy will be around for a long time to come doing more than their part for Grace and our Grace family. Saying thanks doesn't really do it Ron, but anyway, Thanks for everything!

Before and after the entertainment, Buz Sawyer held an auction of donations from church members.  Several hundred dollars were raised for our Youth Ministry from the Auction and cash donations for the dinner.  A great end to a great evening!