CAIRO, Ill. -- A retirement roast will be held to honor Waymon Butler Jr. at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Cavalier Club in Cairo, Ill. All friends are invited to attend.

Butler, principal at Meridian Elementary School, is retiring after 34 years as an educator and school administrator. He has served Meridian school District as an elementary teacher, athletic coach, driver's education teacher, assistant principal and principal of both the high school and elementary school.

He is a Pulaski County native and received his education in schools that were incorporated into the Meridian 101 School District. Butler attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and has earned a bachelor of science in biology and driver education, a master of science in public health, and certification in school administration.

He and his wife, Shirley, have three children.