Mrs. Koch was the humbled recipient of an award this morning. It was a surprise. Her younger daughter, Natalie, somehow finagled getting Mrs. Koch away from the front gate this…
Read More »Posts Tagged: Mrs. Koch
Gate gifts
It's so sweet to see Mrs. Koch empty her pockets after spending the morning at our front gate, greeting Guests. There's always something interesting … Some of the smaller visitors…
Read More »Life is like a box of …
I’ve teased Mrs. Koch that she’s a bit of a Forrest Gump. No, she hasn’t suddenly become a ping-pong fanatic, but she’s taken part in a few moments of national…
Read More »“Carry the church around the village”
When Nathan started posting photos of the town's 132-year-old church moving to its new home one-half mile away on the Santa Claus Museum's Facebook page, Sabine from Germany commented, "……
Read More »A chilly perspective
Dan’s like a kid in a candy shop when he stops by the Mammoth construction site. He just can’t help himself. This morning, he dragged his mom along with him….
Read More »Pasta perfect

When a family-owned business has been around for 65 years, there are always new discoveries. By that I mean … we’re forever finding precious old photos and mementos tucked away…
Read More »A cast of thousands
Mrs. Koch was chuckling over this encounter from the other day. Man in park: How many of you are there? Mrs. Koch: Oh, gosh…I think we have hired about 1,700…
Read More »Cooking with Mrs. Koch
During the summer months, Mrs. Koch … well, she really doesn’t cook. She helps out a lot in our restaurants, though. The other day, right before her 80th birthday, she…
Read More »“She planted far more than flowers…”
She was independent and hard-working. She was smart and she was funny. And she lived to be 100. But sadly, our beloved "flower lady," Frieda Foertsch, passed away yesterday. From…
Read More »The Claus that refreshes
Not that we like keeping secrets, but sometimes we just have to… For example, last fall we were contacted by folks representing a soft-drink giant. They were contacting communities all…
Read More »Joking in the boys room
On Saturday, Mrs. Koch was conducting a site inspection to make sure everything was ready for the next new-hires Orientation session. Nathan happened by, heard her voice, and stood poised,…
Read More »“Excuse me, may I have this dance?”
Using this blog for little slice-of-life stories has been fun over the years. Here’s a memory from 2002 I’d like to share. It involves Mrs. Koch and a very special…
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