{"id":267424,"date":"2019-03-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/after-23-years-bill-walby-retires-from-hammer-nails-ace-hardware\/"},"modified":"2019-03-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T08:00:00","slug":"after-23-years-bill-walby-retires-from-hammer-nails-ace-hardware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/after-23-years-bill-walby-retires-from-hammer-nails-ace-hardware\/","title":{"rendered":"After 23 years, Bill Walby retires from Hammer & Nails Ace Hardware"},"content":{"rendered":"

Co-workers and friends sent Bill Walby into retirement in style March 2 with a good-bye bash to remember.
\nLongtime manager at Hammer & Nails Hardware in Pacific Beach, Walby\u2019s last work day was Feb. 28.
\nHis party was something Walby told the Beach & Bay Press he was really looking forward to, even though it would be bittersweet.
\n“I\u2019m going to miss that store big time,” admitted Walby, who\u2019s been there more than 23 years. “It\u2019s the longest I\u2019ve ever been employed at one place. There\u2019s definitely a family feel to it.”
\nWalby\u2019s known for being recognizable by practically everybody in the neighborhood. “Even if they didn\u2019t know me by name, they\u2019d see me and say, \u2018There\u2019s the Hammer and Nails guy,\u2019 ” he said.
\nHammer & Nails Hardware has served Pacific Beach in the same location since 1946. Bill and Patty Meanley purchased the store in 1991 and manager Ron Roman joined them a month later. Walby came aboard three years after that.
\nMeanley said his truly family business joined the Ace Hardware co-op in 2004 “for better access to a wide range of products and services at low cost.” He added, “Hammer & Nails Ace Hardware<\/a> supports the community in many ways including youth activities and local school projects. We provide a complete assortment of the basic hardware departments with friendly, knowledgable service and competitive prices in a convenient location.”
\nMeanley gave Walby kudos.
\n“Anyone who has dealt with Bill at Hammer & Nails appreciates his humor and helpful advice,” said Meanley. “He has the gift of spontaneously relating to others in an open, friendly and respectful way. Bill generates a sense of community, whether at work or enjoying leisure time.”
\nThere\u2019s a lot about Walby most people don\u2019t know. Like the fact that his wife, Marie, was a customer. Or that Walby has a multitude of outside interests including classic cars and being a lead singer in bands, as well as his being an avid collector of 1960s rock art posters.
\nThere\u2019s a habit Walby has that\u2019s no secret.
\n“He sings and whistles his way through his workday,” noted Meanley. \u00a0
\n“It\u2019s just tied back to my love for music,” explained Walby. “Being a singer, I habitually sing random stuff during the day. It\u2019s in my heart.”
\nConcerning\u00a0 classic cars, Walby said, “Growing up, everyone I hung out with in the \u201960s and \u201970s was into them. I\u2019ve had several, a \u201970 Chevy C10 pickup truck and a \u201973 Pontiac Grand Prix I restored, as well as a Chevy Camero Z 28.”
\nConcerning meeting his future wife at work, Walby noted it was a natural. “She was from New Orleans and was living with her parents, and when they went back there for an extended stay, she took it upon herself to renovate their house while they were gone,” he said. “You\u2019ve heard the old adage about love at first sight? That\u2019s what happened with us.”
\nWalby said Marie would come in regularly and he would help her get whatever she needed. When her remodel came to an end, he said, “Let\u2019s celebrate the occasion.” She agreed saying, “Sure, if you can think of something fun to do.”
\nApparently he did. A year later they were wed.
\nWalby\u2019s enjoyed being in the hardware business because, “I\u2019ve really been attracted to helping people get through whatever problems they have. A hardware store is a mini emergency room. People come in because they have something that\u2019s broken and needs to be fixed. That\u2019s my forte.”
\nMeanley acknowledged it\u2019s tough to see Walby go.
\n“Bill has set a very high bar in the store and it will be a real challenge to replace him,” he said. “He will surely be missed.”
\nBill and Marie Walby are planning to relocate to Idlewild in the near future.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Co-workers and friends sent Bill Walby into retirement in style March 2 with a good-bye bash to remember. Longtime manager at Hammer & Nails Hardware in Pacific Beach, Walby\u2019s last work day was Feb. 28. His party was something Walby told the Beach & Bay Press he was really looking forward to, even though it […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":267425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"After 23 years, Bill Walby retires from Hammer & Nails Ace Hardware","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}