Hidden Talents

“My picture went out on that mailer this week, so I figured the office would be getting a lot more phone calls.”

Dan Perreira

The jury’s still out as to whether Dan’s photo on a recent mailer has triggered a spike in phone calls, but don’t worry Dan, there’s no reason why those phones won’t be ringing aaaaaaaaaaaany day now.

Dan is clearly awesome in photographs, but all of our guys in the field have notable talents and interests you may be unaware of. For instance:

• Ryan Francis is a pro at fluffing tails and wiping noses. (He and his family raise and show championship dairy cattle, including the recent Supreme Championat the World Dairy Expo).
• Jeff North is an accomplished fisherman and photographer. So his “big fish” stories are backed up with photographic evidence.
• Eric Kuck is a pro at restoring [red] International Harvester farm machinery. Too bad he has to wear [John Deere] green every day.
• Craig Frilling belongs to his hometown’s Volunteer Fire Department. His enthusiasm for fighting fires (especially the big, hot ones) will even prompt him to jump right out of his clothes to keep cool. He's also been know to play a pretty "mean" Easter Bunny.

Ultimately, any positive results from this mailer will be credited to Dan. However, Dan, if you want a little advice, Kaye would tell you that to really get the phone ringing around here, just invoice the Governor.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

"Believe it or not, you guys, gray isn't our natural hair color."

- Jeff Puthoff

Next Friday, October 24th, marks the 20th anniversary of Choice One Engineering. It also marks the 20th anniversary of Jeff Puthoff's awesome African safari tie (or are those eagles, Jeff?). Some of the "young punks" here, as Jeff would call them, don't know a Choice One without Jeff's gray hair, everyday green shirts, and afternoon coffee. Heck, they don't even remember the typewriter and the fax machine.
A few other things have changed since 1994 besides the graying of Tony's and Jeff's hair (sorry Tom, if you're reading this from retirement, there's no denying your hair was already gray). For instance:

• The Sidney/Shelby County area code was 513 and not 937. Those of us old enough to remember 513 can probably recall what a big deal the change was, especially when dialing on a rotary phone. Dialing "937" took so much longer!

• The internet, email, and cell phones were still just the "next big thing," just likewipe warmers and Diaper Genies are nowadays.

• Brian "Barney" Barhorst was still a humble resident of Fort Loramie and not Minster.

• Our Loveland office space was a Clermont County branch of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. 

• Some Choice One employees (such as summer help Camille and co-op Lexi) weren't even born yet.

If you'd like to take a walk down the Choice One memory lane with us, check out more photos here. You'll see a little less gray hair and a few more eagle/safari ties, but we hope you notice that the spirit of Choice One in place in 1994 has only grown in the past 20 years. Thanks to everyone--clients, spouses, families, advisers, and friends--who has helped us along the way. Here's to another 20 years of enjoyment.

Happy birthday Choice One!

Trumped

“Geez, give her one compliment and she thinks she runs the place!”

-Tony Schroeder

Meet Kecia, our digital media gal. Meet Kecia, our digital media gal, commandeering Tony's office. Meet Kecia, our digital media gal, commandeering Tony's office her third week on the job. Brave? Or crazy?

Truth be told, Kecia shouldn't worry. Tony's office has had numerous inhabitants and uses over the years. You may recall that Tony took two months to cross the USA on a bicycle several years ago (you can relive that "magic" at Tony Chasing Wade), and while he was gone we hijacked his office for all sorts of entertaining activities, such as ping-pong (Kaye won, of course), naps, and miniature farming. Come to think of it, it's fair to assume that Tony's office is actually far more productive and functional when used as a pizza buffet or executive bathroom.

With all of that in mind, and in a moment of weakness, Tony decided to let Kecia stay despite the fact that she hijacked his office when he wasn't looking. But the minute she blocks access to the snacks, steals Schmidty's dessert, or interrupts Kaye's daily nap, she's gone.