Imagine being at your job for 46 years, and only missing two days of work throughout that entire time.
That is what Cecil Wiest has accomplished throughout his nearly half-century of service to the Municipal District of Taber as a councillor for the Enchant area.
Back when Wiest first took office, the M.D. was nothing like it is today.
In 2010,  the M.D. is a modern rural municipality, which offers its residents both choice farm and agricultural land and various residential areas.
Residents in the M.D. enjoy a standard of living very different from what it was back 46 years ago, and Wiest and his fellow councillors certainly played a large role in that achievement.
Not only that, but the M.D. features a major potato processor, Lamb Weston, and is one of the leading spots in all of Canada for it diverse agricultural base.
Certainly, Wiest has helped see the municipality through a lot of changes, as reeve and as the Enchant-area councillor. As Reeve Hank Van Beers noted in this week’s front-page story, Wiest's knowledge will be difficult to replace on council.
That’s perhaps an understatement, as anyone who has been at one job for nearly 50 years will have an abundance of knowledge in many different areas.
Wiest will be a difficult councillor to replace, and it will be interesting to see who will be the person, or persons from Enchant that step up and vie for his council seat this fall.
One thing is for certain, however — the M.D. council table will never be the same.