~ July 2, 2024

Summer is a great time to be out in the field tending to the trees. Aside from the scorchers, summertime brings beautiful blooms, lots of wildlife sightings, and a nice farmer’s tan. Before we know it, we will be headed into Fall and everything will hit the ground running again to finish up before Winter sets in. We wanted to take time to highlight some of our Summer college interns before they head back to school next month! We have a great group of guys working with us for this summer, so let’s get to know them a little better! 

 

Carter Thomas

Favorite Tree: Tulip Tree

Favorite Nursery Task: Delivering & Planting local trees

Least Favorite Nursery Task: Hoeing

School & Major: Freshman at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying Agriculture Engineering. Carter is Jamie and Becky’s nephew and we’ve loved having him working with us on the farm this summer! He’s taken lots of field trips to local spots to help deliver and plant trees for all types of projects like staging a tree backdrop for a friend’s wedding, planting and removing trees at Grandma Thomas’, and doing forest management down in the timber. It’s been a fun summer!

 

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Chris Poyner

Favorite Tree: River Birch

Favorite Nursery Task: Delivering & Planting local trees

Least Favorite Nursery Task: Watering

School & Major: Sophomore at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying Agriculture Engineering. Chris is one of our neighbors down the road! We were excited when he came looking for a summer job because we love having local kids work with us. Chris is also one of Carter’s good friends from childhood, so they have had a nice summer together. Both of them head down to Champaign in the Fall in the same major! Good friends stick together. I-L-L! 

 

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Christopher Collet

Favorite Tree: Sugar Maple

Favorite Nursery Task: Pruning

Least Favorite Nursery Task: Watering

School & Major: Just graduated from Wartburg College with his Bachelor of Athletic Science. At the end of this summer Christopher is planning to take an Assistant Coaching position at Brown University!! We have an ~Ivy Leaguer~ in our midst. Christopher is our local cross country and track running legend – he has been an amazing athlete over the years, competing at the state and national levels since back in middle school all the way through college! It’s been so fun to watch him grow up and succeed in something that he’s so talented in! Congrats, Christopher!

 

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Athen Zingre

Favorite Tree: Redpointe Red Maple, especially in the fall!

Favorite Nursery Task: Harvesting/Digging – He likes getting into a good rhythm and seeing the visual progress being made

Least Favorite Nursery Task: Hoeing

School & Major: Sophomore at Providence Baptist College in Elgin studying Missions. Athen has been with Spring Grove Nursery for many growing seasons! He started working here full-time when he was in high school and we have loved having him as a member of the SGN Team. Athen has also spent the last year learning Spanish to communicate better with our Spanish-speaking employees, his skills are ¡muy bueno! This summer he plans to help out with VBS at his church before heading back to school!

 

This is just a snapshot of some of the amazing individuals we have working on the farm with us this summer. We’re grateful for all of our employees and find joy in supporting their endeavors. We hope that anyone who comes to work with us, if it’s for a summer, a few growing seasons, or a life-long career, is able to learn and grow in ways that are fulfilling to them. Whether that’s going to college, learning a trade, in the mission field, doing independent study, or hands-on learning, we are happy to have crossed paths here on the farm!

~ Maggie Thomas Harper