Lake Metroparks park service director Rick Stenger has said his final farewells to the agency he worked for the past seven or so years.

Add a couple of more years as a member of the agency's three-person board of park commissioners and Stenger's stint with the agency goes back a ways.

Actually, this is Stenger's second retirement. Even further back in time Stenger was the publisher for The News-Herald.

After consulting with his financial advisers, the 62-year-old Stenger came to the conclusion that now is as good a time as any to hang up his Lake Metroparks' spurs.

This will give him more time to spend with his family, Stenger says, along with a golden opportunity to train for next year's Ironman athletic competition in Hawaii.

"I love Lake Metroparks and that was the hard part about retiring. But there are no guarantees in life," Stenger said.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com