We all got together in the farmhouse kitchen at noon today for our almost-annual potluck lunch and yankee swap. It's a rare opportunity for everyone to visit. Even though we're a fairly small staff, we're in separate buildings and many of us are out and about as often as we're at our desks. Deep winter offers our best chance to assemble and we had near perfect attendance, with 22 of us packed into the small second-floor room.

After the meal, but before the cakes and gift exchange, we had an impromptu celebration. If you were within a quarter mile of the house, you may have heard our rousing voices join in chorus — "For he's a jolly good fellow.…"

That was for Paul Dest, who this month marked his 10th year as director of the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. We surprised Paul with a "poem for the poet" and a photographic glimpse over a jam-packed decade. We can't help but share…

Our assignment for a collective poem was to write two lines (some penned more) without seeing what others had written:

You’ve been our fearless leader for ten full years,
So we’re here to celebrate and give three cheers!

Working away at the crack of dawn,
Zooming by my desk as I stifle a yawn.

Uses flavored coffee for concentration
Cheered for his passion towards conservation

Always willing to stop and chat
Usually 'bout fishing, or this and that

You ski, skate, hike, and bike
Getting outside is what you like!

You bike from the sea to Mount A
Whilst saving watersheds forever and today

The first email in my Inbox is often from Paul,
Plenty folks arrive early, but him first of all.
Sent from his desk at some ungodly hour.
How does he do it? Is it some kind of supernatural power?

Not only early mornings, but into the night
You lead trips to watch the woodcocks flight

He loves Irish music, bicycling, owls, the potato,
Runs Wells Reserve, pens heartfelt verse, does it all with a hey-ho!

It has been 10 years that you have come to serve
and protect this beautiful place we call the Wells Reserve.

Supporters and strangers see your friendly face,
as you welcome all comers with tact and with grace.

Many have benefited from your sense of rhyme
Your talent at verse is more than sublime

After 10 years at the Reserve, your roots are now as deep as mine,
You have energy and vision, and a heart as big as a lion!

Off to meetings, meetings everywhere
RMA, Congress, NOAA, and NERRS
Laudholm Trust, even Drakes Island
And through it all he just keeps smilin
Issues and people he all holds dear
But work slows down and even stops his career
When there's a basketball anywhere near

In the past, about twenty year
At Laudholm, yes, right here
That Paul brought his honey
On the porch they were married,
he and his dear.

We survived the economic crisis by working together
We overcame each challenge except for the weather
We are candid but respectful
We can compromise without any bull

Writing a poem for the poet,
is a challenge, and we know it

Here's a toast to the health of our waters -
Keep guarding against threats from all quarters.