I turn 64 this month and thoughts of retirement have crossed my mind recently. Last weekend at our class reunion I was surprised at how many classmates have decided to retire. When will I know that I want to retire?

Friday night I was in Tracy to broadcast a football game between Lac qui Parle Valley and the Panthers of Tracy-Milroy-Balaton. As I was getting out of my car a familiar voice shouted my name. It was Heath Radke, a good friend over the years from Tracy. Heath works for Marshall radio and was the long time sports broadcaster for the TMB Panthers. Heath and his son were working the ice cream truck just outside the gate. We greeted each other. I bought a small bowl of ice cream and visited with Heath, who I haven’t seen in over a year because of Covid. Heath has done the morning show for Marshall radio for years and is very good and very well liked in the Tracy and Marshall area.

While visiting he informed me that he decided to retire from sports broadcasting because he wanted to spend more time with his family and wanted to be able to watch his own kids play sports. He couldn’t do that if he was broadcasting high school sports three and four times a week. I admired him for making that decision, because I know how much he loved broadcasting high school sports. He told me it has been tough because he misses it a lot, but spending time with his family and watching his kids is more important. Heath is still getting up before dawn and doing his morning radio shift. It was good to see and talk with him.

I thought about our conversation on my way home from the football game and I thought about my classmates that have retired and wondered what I might do in the next few years. Should I retire? Do I want to retire from working and doing sports broadcasting? When will I know it’s time to retire? These are the questions that were running through my head. To be honest I could answer them all. Here are my thoughts on retiring.

As of right now I have no plans to retire or slow down and here are the reasons why. I absolutely love my radio job! I enjoy the people that I work with, we all get along very well. I still have a passion to broadcast high school sports, I enjoy talking with the coaches, parents, grandparents and the kids. I am happiest when I am in a press box broadcasting a high school game. If I retire what would I do? I don’t hunt, fish or do any kind of woodworking. I really don’t have a hobby. The pandemic taught me one thing, I can’t sit home every night.

The one concern I have is that my grandchildren are getting to be teenagers and I don’t want to miss any of their sporting activities. I hate missing games that they are playing in. So when that time comes I will take advice from my friend Heath and put family first. So that means I will need to cut back on some broadcasting in a few years. That will be difficult for me. As long as I have my health I will continue to work and have no plans on retiring completely.