When Penny Martin walked into Toronto’s Sheraton Centre last Thursday, she thought she was standing in for Flemming Friisdahl at an Air Canada event that he had said he couldn’t attend due to other commitments. Was she surprised when a roomful of travel types yelled “SURPRISE?” You bet.  And, an even bigger and better surprise, her son and sister had flown into town for her retirement party from The Travel Agent Next Door.

In this industry Penny really doesn’t need an introduction.  She started out as a travel agent and then had management positions at CAA and Sears.  As one co-worker from the CAA days volunteered, “we had a blast.” For the past 10 years she’s been Flemming Friisdhal’s “work wife” and right-hand, helping him build the Travel Agent Next Door from the ground up – till it is now Canada’s largest host agency.  Both Flemming and his wife Rhonda Stanley, paid tribute to Penny’s major contribution to the company as did Michael Friisdahl and, by video, various members of the TTAND team who could not be on hand.

Penny and her husband, photographer Dan Galbraith, well known in the industry as the eye behind the camera at virtually every travel event you attend, will be heading out to Nova Scotia where Penny confesses she will not exactly retire, but keep an eye on the industry, dabble a bit and perhaps answer a call or two from TTAND.

Meanwhile, she told the folks at the party, “To see all of you.  My heart is bursting.”

Penny Martin is a true original.  A big personality. Intelligent, innovative, not shy to offer a differing opinion (just ask Flemming), her staff spoke of her as caring and supportive. And then there’s that smile, the ecstatic flamboyance (caught so aptly and frequently, by Dan and his camera).  Undoubtedly the industry will lose some of its spark.  We will miss you Penny Martin.

Faces at the party: