Wishing a farewell and safe journey to our friend and president of Bolivar Peninsula Special Utility District (BPSUD), Lynette Johnson-Hardcastle. She’s turning in her water-wings, retiring and soaring north to Missouri. Lynette served as the president of BPSUD for the last 11 years; guiding the water utility before, during, and after Ike. And she saw it through the rocky road and into the blue skies ahead. Before Ike, Bolivar had over 6200 water customers. After Ike, the numbers drastically decreased to less than 600 customers. BPSUD had a sizable debt to deal with, along with employees questioning whether they still had a job. There were bond payments to meet and a contractual requirement for the monthly purchase of water that they no longer needed. Lynette recalls, “Those were scary times, but we got right to work dealing with the problems we faced.”
Over the years, Lynette helped organize numerous charity golf events and developed strong friendships on the peninsula. Many of her friends showed up for her goodbye party, several with tears in their eyes. When asked why she was moving to Missouri, Lynette pointed to David Wright, her beau whom she met on an Alaskan Cruise a couple of years ago. David then snuggled up close to Lynette and surprised the gathering with the announcement: “We eloped today!” As both showed their new wedding rings, cheers of joy and excitement rang out!
With her retirement, leadership passes to the new president, Hollis Gassen, a long time BPSUD Board member and Bolivar homeowner.
Congratulations, Farewell, and Best Wishes to Lynette and David…until we meet again.
[4-3-2017]
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