REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
By John Tredrea
I only know a few things about Michelle Hunt. I know she is retiring Feb. 1 after working for the local school district since 1973. And I know she has a fantastic smile.
The greatest smiles, to me, are the ones that match the look in the smiler’s eye. It seems clear to me that Ms. Hunt looks reality straight in the eye, while keeping a twinkle in her own eye, always. I don’t know how you can top that. Whatever reality is, winking at it seems like a very good idea.
Ms. Hunt’s current post with the school district, and one that she has held for years, is that of confidential secretary to the superintendent of schools. Working with a superintendent of necessity involves dealing with all kinds of emotionally charged issues involving all kinds of people. Being involved with that sort of thing is enough to make you wonder and maybe even enough to take the smile off your face and the twinkle out of your eye.
Not Ms. Hunt. Many’s the time I’ve dropped unannounced into her office with a question or a request for some document or other. She was always doing at least one thing already at those junctures and always cheerfully helped me get whatever I needed. Often, in fact, she would offer to do extra, just to be helpful. But there was a lot more to it than that.
It’s not always easy to know which end is up in this world, and it’s not always easy to feel confident, so it’s good to be able to kid around a little. That’s another good thing about Ms. Hunt. If you try to say something funny, it’s all right. She’ll laugh and kid right back, never saying anything that could be hurtful to anyone. That’s the salt of the earth.
Maybe one way to divide people into two groups is to say there are those who make you feel better when you see them and those who, well . . . you know how it is. Maybe they don’t make you feel any worse! That’s something!
When you walked into Ms. Hunt’s office and she heard your footsteps and turned to look over her shoulder while she typed and smiled that dynamite smile, things got better and stayed that way for a measurable while. It was a very special generosity and quite a lucky thing, indeed, not to be taken for granted at all.
Thanks, Michelle Hunt, and bon voyage.

