Nick Selhorst: “You don’t keep your green shirts together? What kind of barbarian are you?”

It’s certainly no secret that those of us working at Choice One have an extensive collection of green in our closets (or our cars…). But when engineer Luke Hemmelgarn mentioned his Choice One green was not hanging all together in his closet, the collective gasp from the surrounding Choice Oners barely left Nick Selhorst the air to pose his earnest question.

It’s hard to imagine Choice One folks wearing anything other than green, but, yes, we do have non-Choice One clothing in our closets. Shocking, we know—thinking of Choice Oners in other colors would be like seeing Santa Claus in blue or The Grinch (a.k.a Jeff Puthoff) colored red. But once in a while we do step out of our green and therefore become invisible, kind of like when Superman turns back into Clark Kent.

Perhaps Luke wants to add a bit of excitement to his daily method of selecting a Choice One shirt (although we think the off chance of accidentally not wearing green is pretty risky). Don’t let the rest of us closet conformers stop you from spreading your Choice One green amongst your wardrobe, Luke—we’re really all in favor of spreading the green (and therefore the fun) in every situation!

Troy Niese: “Now you can cook hibachi-style in front of us during lunch and learns!“

Last week Choice One held its annual Loveland Charity Cup. Kevin Hendrickson with Advanced Drainage Systems entered the event’s fundraising raffle and won a portable Blackstone Griddle, prompting Troy Niese to ask for a freshly prepared, hibachi-style “performance” meal during the next educational lunch Kevin held at our office.

The charity event, themed The Price is Right, included more than one “Come on down!” and “You’ve won a brand-new car… cleaning kit!” moment. Plinko chips were thrown, contestants consulted the audience for help, and a Showcase Showdown was hard fought between bucketball champs JK Meurer and second place team Owensville. When it came time to donate, however, our clients and friends didn’t just bid $1.00—attendees raised an amazing $20,260 for Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank and the Down Syndrome Association of Great Cincinnati!

Kevin, we didn’t hear you say “NO” to the live lunch performance the next time you visit. What we did hear, loud and clear, however, was the phenomenal “YES” from all who attended as they responded with extraordinary support for Sweet Cheeks and the DSAGC. Thank you everyone, and we can’t wait to see you next time. Until then, don’t forget to spay and neuter your pets!

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!