The town where retirees can't retire

At 86, Bob Bastion would be forgiven for sleeping in on the recent subzero mornings in Alcona County, Michigan, a one-stoplight former timber community of around 10,000 in the northeast part of the state’s lower peninsula.

Instead, the retired dairy truck driver often wakes up at 3 a.m., climbs five feet into the seat of a six-wheel Champion road grader and drives the roads of Lost Lake Woods Club, the private gated community and resort where he lives with his wife, clearing snow so cars can get through. It often takes eight hours or more.

On his belt, Bastion wears a Motorola emergency pager, because, in addition to running the grader, he’s also a volunteer firefighter. He no longer suits up in 50 pounds of turnout gear to fight fires, but when the alarm is given, he often drives the 2,100-gallon tanker truck.

“I’m not here for the paychecks,” Bastion told me when I visited him in Alcona in 2016. This winter, I checked in with him and found him in good health and still on the job. He attributes his robust condition to hard work and good whiskey. “I do it because I like it,” he said. “It keeps me going. You can’t just sit in the chair watching TV. It’s not good for you.”

Like so many older Americans who find themselves still clocking into jobs past traditional retirement ages, some among Alcona County’s graying workforce are working because of economic necessity. But they’re also working because the town needs them to stay on the job. This rural corner of the Upper Midwest is one of the oldest places in America. The median age here is 58, according to a 2017 U.S. Census estimate, 20 years older than the median age of the country. More than half of residents in Alcona County are 55 and older. The region serves as an extreme example of a phenomenon that’s happening across the country as the vast Baby Boom generation moves through the retirement years.

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