Feb 3 - Pruitte celebrates 30 years of service...

Thursday afternoon, Capt. Jerry Pruitte of Lebanon Public Safety celebrated 30 years on the job.

The ladies in the Lebanon Police Department's records office had not one, but three, cakes decorated with plastic badges and police cars and Pruitte's No. 12 badge number. They, along with an assortment of LPD officers, crowded into Pruitte's office to congratulate him on the milestone and to thank him for his service.

Asked about how things were when he began his career as an officer, Pruitte responded with humor.

"When I started, I was on horseback," he said.

When asked if he always wanted to be a police officer, Pruitte took exception to talking about himself as if he had already retired.

"I ain't gone yet," he said, adding that he always wanted to be an officer. Pruitte credits his co-workers with his success.

"The most helpful are the men and women who work for me. They have made my job so easy," he said. "They can make or break you, but with their support anyone can do it. Without them you ain't got nothing."

As of now he has no firm plans to retire, but five good reasons to think about it — his five grandchildren.

"I don't have plans. I don't like to watch T.V. and there's only so much hunting and fishing you can do in a year. I do have five grandkids and it's time I devoted my time to them."

His wife, Marcia, owns a flower shop in town and he said she has wondered what he plans to do when he does step down.

"She asked what I was going to do and I said I didn't know," he said. "She said 'well, you're not going to hang around my flower shop' and I knew that is not an option."

From the look on everyone's face during the celebration, it's clear they all hope he won't retire anytime soon.

"He's the best," said Corey Linville of the records office, adding that she took her job just months after Pruitte began his. "It's just like family. He's real, he says it like it is."