Many times, people assume that Honeyrun Farm is made up of two people: me and Isaac. But this couldn't be further from the truth. We could not make this business happen without the help of our workers, who also happen to be our friends. Isaac and I have never posted a "help wanted" ad. We prefer to hand-pick people we enjoy being around. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration- some of our workers have called us, and others have been recommended by friends, but for the most part, we have found people who share common interests and enjoy the type of work Honeyrun Farm can offer. Most of our employees are only here a few hours a week. We like this arrangement so that our workers' schedules can be flexible, we have a lot of folks trained in a variety of jobs, and they can all pitch in for big events like the Lithopolis Honeyfest.
This blog post is dedicated to all those that help keep Honeyrun runnin'...
Libby Brigner:
She was our first employee and came to us as a babysitter over 5 years ago. I didn't really want to hire a babysitter, but Isaac did it behind my back (she was a student in his science class). After one day of having Libby here to watch the kids while I got things done, I wanted to know "When can you come again?" Libby now helps us at the Worthington Farmer's Market every other Saturday, and is a student at OSU.
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| Libby and her boyfriend Henry also play music at the farmer's markets. |
Julia Thompson
Julia was also one of Isaac's star pupils back when he taught Science at Westfall High School. When we first hired her, she labeled a lot of bottles, cleaned pollen, bottled honey, and did some babysitting. Julia is now in college, studying to be a pharmacist. Luckily, she comes back in the summer to help us in the honey house from time to time. Here she is cutting a fresh batch of soap, preparing it for curing.
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| Julia Thompson |
Lafe Blair
We met Lafe through Isaac's aunt Sarah, and he began by helping us when we were remodeling our kitchen. It happened to be close to our busy time of year, preparing for the Lithopolis Honeyfest, so we pulled him into the honey house to help us label bottles. Now, Lafe is our main man when it comes to hard work. Lafe does it all and never complains one bit. Honeyrun couldn't do what it does without Lafe.
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| Lafe Blair |
Maggie Hovermale
Maggie first came to us to learn about our business to prepare her for the State FFA competition. Her enthusiastic personality really shined through, and we hired her to help us at market and assist in the honey house. She makes many of the Honeyrun Farm lip balms and salves, and loves to share her knowledge of our products with customers at the North Market on Saturdays. Pictured below, she is modeling the Honeyrun Farm t-shirt- which will be for sale in our online store soon. Maggie will be a senior at Westfall High School this Fall.
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| Maggie Hovermale |
Petyn Scanlan
Without Petyn, you would not be able to purchase our products at the farmer's market. Why is that? She assumes the task of watching our 4 kids for the full 8 hours while we are away at markets on Saturdays, which is arguably the biggest job on the farm. She also babysits while I make soap each week, and during the winter she helps out with all the honey house tasks- specializing in making salves and lip balms. Petyn is also entering her senior year of high school at Westfall.
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| Petyn Scanlan holds up a full frame of honey, with our son Bridger |
Seth Brumfield
Seth just started working for us this summer, and helps Isaac in the bees. He is very interested in learning more about beekeeping, and lucky for us, doesn't mind getting stung on occasion while assisting with the beekeeping tasks. He also helps out my sister in law Becky at Dangling Carrot Farm. (pictured working in the fields below). Seth is also entering his senior year of high school.
Henry Barnes
Henry Barnes is our delivery man. He comes each week to pick up our vehicle full of honey and drive it to all our retail locations throughout Columbus. He also helps out in the honey house from time to time. Pictured below, he is stringing up our hand-dipped candle maker.
Linda Bixby
If you've ever been to our booth at the Worthington Farmer's Market, you may have run into Linda. She is our "market nanny," and held Eden every week at Worthington for the past year. Now that Eden is mobile, she stays at home with our babysitter (much to Linda's dismay). We certainly were grateful for Linda's love of babies and earnest dedication to taking care of Eden during busy market Saturdays.
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| Linda, our market nanny |
Delinda Tonelotti
Although Delinda no longer works at Honeyrun Farm, I had to include her because she has been such a help to our business over the past 3 1/2 years. She helped make soap after the birth of our third child Bridger, and became our chief soap-maker for several years before she moved to the hills of Laurelville. She also helped us at the Worthington Market every Saturday. She is seen below, hiding out at the back of our booth at the Lithopolis Honeyfest. We miss you Delinda!
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| Delinda Tonelotti smiles in the background |
Jeanne Brigner
Jeanne is Libby's mother, and we've pulled her in the honey house to become our chief pollen cleaner. As a retired teacher, she said she needed a hobby to pass the time. Pollen cleaning it is! Thanks Jeanne!
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| Jeanne Brigner |
Jessica Waldegar
Jess is a former Honeyrun Farm customer that we turned into a customer service specialist. She helps out from time to time at the Worthington Farmer's Market. I look forward to our chats during market, and Jess has learned how to expertly answer the question- "What's the difference between Spring, Summer, and Fall honey?" Jessica and I met at market, but we were also both members of Etsy Team Columbus, and have a shared experience with craft shows and a love of all things Etsy.
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| Left- Me, Right- Jessica Waldegar |
Katie Massie
Katie has been a God-send this year. She's only been helping out for about 2 months this past summer, but without her, I would not be able to spend much of my summer time hanging out with my kids. Katie is now our Shipping manager - shipping out all our Honeyrun products to our Etsy customers. I am also in the process of training her to make soap, and she helps out with all the other honey house chores. We're so glad to have her!
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| Katie Massey wraps a beautiful batch of Tangerine Soap. |
It takes a village, right?
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