There is no formal structure and there is no agenda.

For the 40 or so ladies that gathered at the CPO Club on Ault Field Road in Oak Harbor May 18, it’s all about seeing familiar faces.

They are the Tired and Retired Civil Service Ladies of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, and this year they represented 975.5 years of cumulative service. The group gets together once a year to see old friends and catch up on news.

“People share things they don’t get to share otherwise,” said Barbara Wilson, as a friend stops to show her a family photo.

Wilson is the group’s unofficial leader. She said the group has been around since at least 1980, and emerged following the disbanding of the Federal Managers Association and the Federally Employed Women groups at NAS Whidbey.

“Shirley Lengyel, who worked in the supply department, started meeting with a small group of supply people,” Wilson said. “When you were working (at NASWI) you would move from one department to another, so you would kind of get to know people.”

The meetings just kind of grew, Wilson said, and have evolved into a once-a-year gathering each spring. She said the meeting this year was also meant to honor long-time Oak Harbor resident and member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, Margaret Martin, although she could not attend the luncheon. A display paid homage to Martin and her service during World War II, and featured photos from prior gatherings as well.

This year’s turnout was one of the best in recent years, thanks to the hard work by Wilson and a small team of helpers.

“We worked our butts off to find everyone,” laughed Jean Hayden, who retired in 1985, and lends Wilson a hand. “This year we worked days and days and days on tracking down people.”

Over and over again, the tired and retired ladies listed camaraderie as the number one reason they attend the annual luncheon.

“It’s just a fun thing to see old friends. There are no ulterior motives,” Hayden said. “Women like to get together. You don’t need all that formal stuff.”

Ann Thomas hadn’t been to a meeting in three years. At 90, she was one of the oldest participants and was happy to have gotten a ride to this year’s meeting.

“I love seeing everyone,” she said.

Out of 29 years doing data processing in the Civil Service, Thomas said she probably spent 24 years on Whidbey Island. She retired in 1982.

The prize for who had traveled the greatest distance went to Dorothy Cort Hoover, who worked in Civil Service for 20 years.

She and her husband come from Arizona each year for a visit, so they moved their plans up when she found out about last week’s gathering.

“This is the place I feel most at home,” she said.

Those attending were asked to share a funny story about their time working at NAS Whidbey and there was no shortage of tales or laughter.

Lulu Santos, who worked for housing, shared the story of a time she went to do an inspection at a home in Mount Vernon. She pulled into the driveway of the vacant house, but her foot slipped off the brake and hit the gas — her Navy pickup truck went through the garage door.

Sandy Dillard, who worked for Public Works during her time in Civil Service, told the ladies about the time a co-worker made a beautiful tray of candies to fool the engineers who worked on the floor below.

Because the ladies in the administration office were tired of them coming to their floor to eat their food without ever reciprocating, they thought they’d put one over on them. The candies were filled with dog food, soap and garlic. Dillard said the engineers caught on fast to the soap and garlic candies, but never figured out the candy with the crunchy centers were actually kibble.

In a brief story about how times have changed, Hoover described how her office was moving to another building, and her boss told the women they could wear pants to work that day.

Former public affairs officer and an editor of the original “Crosswinds” newspaper, Lee Brainard, shared this story:

“One of the big shot admirals was here from Washington, D.C. I went to cover the story and take his picture,” she recalled. “When I got back to the office, I discovered I didn’t have any film in the camera.”

With 1,200 federal employees currently working on base, Hayden estimates there have been hundreds of ladies who’ve come and gone over the years. Many of them have come and gone from the group as well.

“They die, they move away,” she said. “Sometimes I marvel we’re all still walking.”

There are currently 126 people on the mailing list, and Wilson said she keeps thinking of others. And she’ll keep tracking them down.

“I’m a super sleuth,” she said.