By Monty Siekerman
This is gift-giving season, but the mayor of Ada extends his gift-giving all year long by making tokens for numerous occasions and events.
You may pass by Dave Retterer at a Veterans Day service, Halloween, Merry on Main and he’ll slip a small wood token into your hand. The unexpected gift always brings a smile and “thank you” from the recipient.
He began making the half-dollar sized tokens a year ago. Since people appreciated them, he decided to make tokens for every national holiday. As Ada Mayor, he is called upon to make welcome speeches and remarks at Farmers and Merchants Picnic, Harvest and Herb Fest, at statue dedications, conferences, and many other events. So, he began making the tokens for those occasions, as well. In the past year, Mayor Retterer has produced more than 50 different tokens.
To those who have received one—keep it, it may be valuable to your heirs. Some old and rare tokens can fetch more than $200 each, according to internet “for sale” listings.
Dave Retterer, Ph.D., came to Ada in 1979. He taught mathematics and computer sciences in Ohio Northern’s colleges of Arts and Sciences and Engineering until he retired two years ago. His wife, Deb, an ONU pharmacy graduate, retired from Greg’s Pharmacy in Bluffton. She now does quilting and embroidery in a serious way.
Their children are in creative careers, too. Melissa, who recently moved to Ada, makes purses. Brian, of Springboro, makes pottery.
Dave Retterer—the mayor, computer scientist, now token-maker—has always enjoyed woodworking. He began the avocation as a youngster in 4H. His father and grandfather were woodworkers, too.
Dave continued to dabble in woodworking during his college teaching career. He’s made some larger pieces, such as furniture, on special order. He produced the Lenten table for the Ada United Methodist Church, but that was lost in the fire.
He’s made wooden business cards, puzzles, and other items. He produced 168 flag cases for the Ohio VFW and others.
How is a token, or larger item, produced? A machine cuts a large board to the size he wants. The board is sanded by another machine, then placed in the laser that actually burns the wood to make the image. His routers can cut up to 1,000th of an inch.
After the wood is ready, he finds an image he wants, transfers the image to his computer, crops and sizes the image, then the computer sends that information to the laser to finish the job.
The process takes a lot of equipment, skill to operate, computer knowledge, and creativity. He may soon sell his handcrafted items on the Internet.
