“There are worse ways to spend retirement.” That’s what Harry Stokes, owner of Yard Perfect in Hampton Cove, Alabama, told the Walker Talk editor in 2010. Seven years later, at the spry age of 73, he’s still mowing lawns. In his words, “I’m still kicking despite taking a licking.” The licking he took was losing all his retirement savings in the 2008 recession.
A few things changed since his story appeared in Walker Talk, Volume 35, however. For starters, he’s on his third Walker Mower, a 25-HP electronic fuel injection model with a 42-inch GHS deck. He’s working alone now, too, subbing out landscaping and most of his pruning requests.
Harry Stokes, owner of Yard Perfect, sits on a Walker Mower with his wife, Barbara, and his dog.
“I just don’t have time to do those jobs,” he related. “I maintain 34 to 37 yards a week, which amounts to 44 hours of mowing, not counting travel time. Even though 80 percent of my customers are within a 2- to 2.5-mile radius of my home and some even closer, there’s no time left in the week to do more when you add in paperwork and taking care of your equipment.”
This former vice president of an electric component manufacturer’s rep firm has more than half his accounts on an annual contract, which helps with year-round cash flow. In fact, any new customers are asked to do business that way. He joked, “There isn’t much call to remove snow in Alabama during the winter months.”
Stokes didn’t even bring up the subject of retirement. What he did mention was that his wife, Barbara, an elementary school teacher, just received national recognition for her work for the past 30 years. As he said, “We’re both very fortunate to be doing something we enjoy.”
Read the original story, Career Change at 60 which first appeared in Walker Talk 35
Site Search
