Late last month, Everett DeWald marked 60 years working at the Bird-in-Hand location of VAL-CO.

The anniversary was celebrated with a sandwich luncheon laid out on folding tables in a company warehouse at 2599 Old Philadelphia Pike.

Among the employees in attendance was Jean Hershey, a parts inspector who remembers when DeWald began with VAL-CO as a janitor.

That's because last year, the 83-year-old Hershey marked her own 60-year anniversary with the company.

"What we saw here today, you're probably not going to see again," said vice president Richard Steudler.

"These people come from a different age, where people went to work and they worked for the company, and then retired," he said.

Steudler's father, Fred, began the firm some 70 years ago as Vallorbs Jewel Co.

Based in New Holland, it makes precision machined parts as well as watering, feeding and ventilation systems for farms.

DeWald and Hershey both say their jobs provide steady work and little stress.

For them, their jobs have become things they could hardly imagine doing without, even though both could have retired long ago.

Neither DeWald nor Hershey has plans to retire soon.

"I still feel good," DeWald said.

He scoffs at "sitting on his butt" all day or being at home "with a cat or whatever" — lifestyles that he said often come with retirement.

In an interview in a conference room after the luncheon, Hershey and DeWald reflected enthusiastically on their years at the company.

Their Bird-in-Hand workplace had been Hostetter's Play Barn, a venue for dances that was converted into space for the business.

The 76-year-old DeWald, who lives in Bird-in-Hand, explained his career choice by saying "it was close (to) home and you just jumped in and that's how it started."

DeWald, who is married with two children and five grandchildren, said he sometimes is asked, "Why the devil don't you quit?"

To which he replies, "I still feel good."

Hershey, who never married, said she would be lost without her job.

"I don't know what to do at home. … I had 10 days off over (the holidays) and I said, 'I'm glad to get back to work.'\!q "

Hershey inspects small, precision parts with the help of a magnification device and measuring tools.

Recently, she has been taking a close look at small metal parts that are the seat in a watering system for chickens. Hershey samples each lot, checking a variety of characteristics. If she finds even a single defect on a single part in her sample, she then checks the whole lot for the same flaw.

Since a lot can have 1,000 to 1,200 parts, that can mean up to three hours of work.

"There's no tension in this job for me," Hershey said.

"You know, I have my parts to do, and I know what to do. When I go home I don't worry about what I'm going to do the next day. I don't even think about the place."

Hershey, raised on a farm as the oldest of eight children, said she has learned one key lesson about doing her job well.

"Be sure you know what you're doing and listen to the boss. And if you don't know what you're doing, be sure to ask, just don't pretend you do," she said.

DeWald said that while some of his friends made more money at their jobs, he is grateful to have always had one.

"We always had steady work, knock on wood," DeWald said. "Like RCA and Armstrong, boy, you thought if you had a job there, you were set for life. But, my word, it didn't turn out that way."

DeWald turned to his colleague and added, "Whoever thought we'd be set for life here, Jean? I never did."

The pair also marveled over a recently unearthed inspection report from August 1953 that Hershey did on parts DeWald made shortly after he moved to the machine shop, where he still works.

"That is something!" DeWald said.

The report shows that Hershey inspected 35 of the 1,700 parts, which were identified only by a part number. She found no rejects.

At the time, VAL-CO was making small jewel bearings for aircraft instruments as well as sapphire phonograph needles.

Later, VAL-CO moved into precision machining, including parts for the commercial nuclear industry.

In the 1970s, the company developed a drinking system for chickens and founded Val Watering systems.

Today, VAL-CO has some 400 employees, with about 150 in Bird-in-Hand and about 70 more at the company headquarters in New Holland.

VAL-CO also has a plant in Coldwater, Ohio, as well as smaller plants in Brazil, China and India.

But through more than 70 years of change for VAL-CO, the work has stayed remarkably the same for its two longest-serving employees.

"I don't like change," Hershey said. "If you don't like change, you just stay here."