Inquiring Mindsets: “What has been your all-time favorite Halloween costume?“

This past Monday was Halloween, and if you’ve followed our Mindsets over the years, you know most of us at Choice One (except Jack Poeppelman) enjoy this this spooky time of year.

Cue this fantastic photo from ten years ago of Choice One’s Alex Kraemer and his wife Courtney, who dressed as national monuments closed due to the 2013 government shutdown. While we’ve talked about our favorite costumes before, Alex recently shared this photo, cementing his status as a “monumental” fan of Halloween. (If you haven’t had the chance to meet Alex, he’s our Client Relations representative in the Cincinnati area, and, in our opinion, one heck of an Abe Lincoln.)

With Halloween safely behind us (Jack can relax now… or can he?), we’ll now be focusing on the upcoming 2023 Loveland Charity Cup on November 8. Come out and hang with Abe… er, Alex, and help us celebrate and raise money for a couple of great causes! Happy Halloween!

Casey Reichert: “Try to stop them from talking about traffic, I dare you.“

It’s the most wonderful time of the year [for transportation engineers, at least]: the annual Ohio Transportation Engineering Conference (OTEC). Engineer and business development representative Casey Reichert had heard the myths and legends, but this week, as a first-time OTEC attendee, she was in the thick of it all. And when you spend two and a half days with passionate traffic engineers like Michael “Mike G.” Goettemoeller and Craig “Traffic Celebrity” Eley, it’s all traffic, all the time.

OTEC and traffic engineering are things we can’t help but get excited about. For many of us at Choice One, it’s just a part of who we are—like pizza, sports, doughnuts from Jeff Kunk, and the color green. We try to hide our excitement, but it just spills out, like Nick Selhorst knocking over a drink.

Casey, remember that you’re participating in the largest engineering conference in the nation. You’re surrounded by 4,000 traffic engineers and professionals, all excited to talk roundabouts, congestion, funding, safety, transportation, intersections, signals, and, well, we could go on for days… at least two and a half of them!

Adam Gill: “It’s October. You know what that means.”
Jack Poeppelman: “It’s the longest month of my life.”

Happy October! For many of us, October means pumpkin spice lattes, beautiful foliage, spooky costumes, and long-sleeved green shirts instead of short-sleeved green shirts. But for engineer Jack Poeppelman, who is a little easier to scare, it means the persistent possibility of a Halloween ambush.

When the calendar turns to October, Jack can no longer confidently walk about the office discussing subdivision plans and talking football. Instead, he has to warily peek around corners, carefully peer behind doors, and constantly watch his back lest another Choice Oner sneak up behind him. Despite his best efforts, we’re still able to catch him off guard (as pictured in Troy’s recent success).

If you missed the Choice One “Scare-tober” video a couple of years ago that originally started Choice One’s fondness for fright, we suggest you watch it again—you’ll see Jack jumping out of his skin in the first clip. Sorry for finding humor in your scare-ability, Jack. We hope this Mindset finds you comfortable and relaxed in your office chair, with no one under your desk waiting to frighten you at all.

Allen Bertke: “I love it when a plan comes together.”

You can’t see the mohawk in the photo, but Project Surveyor Jesse Waggoner, pictured, played a heck of a B.A. Baracus from the 1980s TV show The A-Team for a recent video introducing Choice One’s new drone surveying services. Check out The Choice One Team video to see Jesse’s mohawk in all of its glory, Allen’s delivery of the iconic line, and all of the acting “skills” of Choice One’s surveyors.

While there are many excellent acting accomplishments in The Choice One Team video we feel the award statue for “Best Awkward Performance” should go to co-op (and future full time employee) Justin Puthoff for his portrayal of “Concerned Property Owner.” And although Jesse’s real (albeit temporary) mohawk is pretty rad, the top honor in that category should definitely go to Jim Niergarth, playing Faceman, for “Performance by Bad Hair.”

If you’ve been reading Choice Mindsets for a while, you’ll know this isn’t the first time this particular quote has been declared. Back in 2012, Jeff Puthoff commented on Tony’s bad luck when his tire went flat on vacation. However, this time, the statement was made without any flat tires, as Allen, playing a Choice One version of The A-Team’s Hannibal, quoted the line while signing a survey plat with satisfaction. We do love it when a plan comes together!

Maggie: “This is MY Farmer Jeff.”

Miss Maggie, who is almost three years old, is Jeff Puthoff’s neighbor. Maggie’s backyard faces one of Jeff’s fields, and she enjoys watching Jeff manage his crops next door throughout the year. When offered the opportunity to dress like “Farmer Jeff” for the day (complete with green Choice One shirt and cowboy boots), Maggie eagerly agreed!

Jeff is not the first Choice One celebrity. Engineer Craig Eley is famous at the annual Ohio Transportation Engineer’s Conference and is often caught signing autographs for adoring traffic engineering fans. Engineer Nick Selhorst is still regularly appreciated for his portrayal of National Lampoon’s Cousin Eddie on Choice One’s 2017 Christmas card. And who could forget surveyor Dan Perreira’s appearance on a postcard that reached mailboxes in at least 15 Ohio counties?!

Much like surveyor Eric Kuck’s son Owen, Maggie looks pretty adorable in her Choice One gear, and we appreciate her excitement about green (even if it’s just to match “Farmer Jeff”). Maggie, we could use a few more enthusiastic engineers, so keep following in Jeff’s farmer footsteps, and perhaps you’ll become a civil engineer someday, too!

P.S. Watch Facebook and LinkedIn for some up and coming Choice One celebrities from our survey department next week!

Inquiring Mindsets want to know:
What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of Fall?