Kankakee Sends Back Letterman's Gag Gift As Retirement Present

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Things came full circle Tuesday night for David Letterman and the good people of Kankakee, as the city turned a gag gift from 16 years ago into a retirement gift for the Late Show host.

Last week, "Todd The Intern" from the Late Show traveled to Kankakee to pick up a rocking chair the community made for the comedian.

It wasn't any old rocking chair. The wood used to make it came from a bit Letterman did in 1999, after Kankakee was ranked in one survey as the worst place to live in America.

Letterman made a mocking Top 10 list about Kankakee, and sent a gag gift of two gazebos, joking the city could promote itself as home of world famous twin gazebos.

After learning Letterman was stepping down from the Late Show, a Kankakee High School teacher and his students decided to tear down one of the gazebos and turn it into a rocking chair as a retirement gift.

As you'll see in the video above, Todd had quite a blast visiting Kankakee to pick up Letterman's gift.

CBS 2 actually caught up with the Kankakee students spearheading the gazebo destruction in February, as they excitedly detailed the plans to turn one of the gazebos into the mocking gift for Letterman.

You can see the students in the midst of their revenge below.

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