The Great Month of July

The beginning of July was filled with excitement.  From Scott and Sharon celebrating their 5 year anniversary here at CARSON wrappedhersheys.com to another Bingo winner.

Cheers to our second round Bingo winner, Dee. Once again the winner was not seen running throughout the building yelling “BINGO”.  Someday I hope to see a winner doing this and am able to capture the moment.  The third round has already begun and everyone is patiently waiting for a winner. Congratulations Dee!

The 1st of July was Scott and Sharon’s 5th year owning CARSON.  Just recently we had a company meeting and to their surprise a slideshow was shown in their honor. The slideshow was composed of pictures from now and then to even videos telling heartfelt stories of the great owners.  One of our fine graphic designers took the time to compose them all together.  Happy Anniversary Scott and Sharon!

CARSON Bingo

When someone suggested the idea of Bingo throughout CARSON wrappedhershey.com , FunShine just had to jump on the opportunity.  Though this is not your normal game of Bingo, we took it a step further by adding our own personal touch. Instead of just using plain old numbers we dressed it up with some images of our mini products. There are 24 images of product and one free spot that sports the CARSON logo.  The chosen images were picked by everyone in the building. The images were displayed everyday on a calendar on our lovely new monitors placed throughout the building. As we were coming closer and closer to playing Bingo for an entire month we had our first winner.

As much as we wanted our winner to run throughout the building yelling "BINGO!", Sue excitedly displayed her winning card to everyone. I keep wondering how she managed to get so lucky with her card? Congratulations Sue!

We just started our second round of CARSON Bingo. Who will be the lucky winner this time around? Could Sue win two in a row?

Food Gone Wild

Around here at CARSON wrappedhersheys.com  we try to celebrate some sort of event every month.  April was big this year.  From a Hot Dog Day to National Cheese Ball Day.  I believe I have now discovered what our team thrives on, any type of FOOD . 

Hot Dog Day, whoever thought there would be such a day.  Friday April 11 CARSON celebrated the day solely for
this fine meal. Bob the grilling master braved the rainy weather to grill 38 hot dogs for the CARSON team.  All day
long it was raining Dogs & Buns.  Definitely something I have not seen before.  It seems like everyone enjoyed
the freshly cooked dogs.

National Cheese Ball Day on Thursday April 17 was a huge success at CARSON.  The guidelines were to bring in a homemade cheese ball, then everyone would vote for the most delectable cheese ball.  We had a total of 10 cheese balls dispersed throughout the lunchroom.  That day the rest of the marketing team and I headed to Panera for lunch, but even though we were stuffed we had to give every cheese ball a try.  There was a wide range of cheese balls, from cream cheese and ranch mix to a dessert cheese ball (whoever thought of mixing cheese and dessert was brilliant).  After a close call, Joe was our Cheese Ball Winner.  His cheese ball was even decorated with  little “OLE” flags.  Congratulations Joe!

Luck of the Irish

Here at CARSON wrappedhersheys.com we try to celebrate as many of the holidays as we can. On St. Patrick's Day this year everyone in the office was spotted with either green shirts, scarfs or even those little shamrock headbands on. There were some other things that kept the Patty Day celebration going.

One employee, Sylvia Thornburg, showcased the artwork of her niece that was created 15 years ago. She made a "Wee Little Leprechaun" pin out of fimo clay. This little leprechaun was a great addition to our CARSON family for the day.

There was also a little treat that was brought to us by Dee Stammer. She brought in mini cupcakes. You had the choice of white or chocolate cake with a pile of green frosting topped with sprinkles. Even though I'm not a huge fan of frosting, I sure did love those cupcakes. I had to hold myself back to only eat one. All in all, I think ye was a terrific day.

Dress As Your Favorite Wrapper Day

A few weeks ago, Carson’s Funshine Committee held the First Annual “Dress as Your Favorite Wrapper Day” which basically means pick one of our hundreds of wrappers and make a simple costume representing it. And needless to say, it was quite interesting. As I strolled in that particular morning, I glanced around the office and had to laugh, I had never dreamt I’d be so “lucky” to work with a… Fairy, a person draped in Christmas Lights and a Butterfly. Not to mention I happened to be wearing bowling shoes and a crown.

The mood that Friday was so much fun! At work, having a great time and still being productive, not a lot of people can say that. For lunch we were treated to an early Thanksgiving dinner catered from Burbanks. My eyes wanted seconds but my stomach said no… my eyes always win. After the delicious meal, we were going to have a contest to vote on the best dressed. But with the tryptophan kicking in and belts loosened, we decided that there was no reason to stand up in front of a crowd and be judged after a meal like that.

People got really creative, which is great because it just makes the experience even better. And that is one of the things you’ve got to love about Carson, the people… the crazy & creative people - myself included of course!

               

Betty, Goldie & The Place Setting

Last Wednesday, the 31st of October was Halloween. And for those of you who don’t know, this is a serious event around Carson. Complete with trick-or-treating, Costume Contests and Apple Cider, this year’s Halloween Party was a hit. The costumes made the day, true to form our fearless leaders did not disappoint with Ugly Betty and her love interest Henry leading the way! Everyone got into the act, even the Hippies in the phone center. Best Group Costume was awarded to the Silver Ware in marketing. The No Mercy Hospital in Shipping was a haunt also. But, yours truly won the best-dressed award as Goldie Locks, although I couldn’t have done it without my amazing trio of Bears!

You can still spot a few pieces of Halloween candy around, but with the amount of sweet tooth’s here I can guarantee you it will be gone very soon. Thankfully there is over 13,000 lbs. of chocolate in our shipping and receiving area, so I think we’ll be o.k. until next years Halloween.

- Mike

Company Fun at Parky’s Farm

We recently had the annual Carson Company Picnic at Parky’s Farm. A great family friendly atmosphere where everyone could relax and take in the beautiful fall afternoon. Of course, this was on a Sunday Bye Week for the football team of our choice, The Cincinnati Bengals. Upon arrival, we were treated to a hearty feast topped off by a variety of desserts. After the post meal food coma, we ventured out of the party barn and into the comfy surroundings. Some took a “Hay-less” Hayride, others strolled the paths merely taking in the scenery. And others chatted with co-workers and their families. And needless to say we all got a kick out of the kids (and playground monitor Bob) playing on the jungle gym. All in all, it was a delightful day for all to enjoy, together outside of the office with family and friends.

Our Man Milton

Today we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of Milton Hershey.  We had some pizza and a very nifty cake. We could have let this pass as merely another excuse to have a little fun (we seldom need much to kick things off around here), but instead thought it prudent to take a closer peek at the man whose confection is at the core of our very business.

Milton Hershey.  Entrepreneur, Businessman, Visionary, Philanthropist… “Chocolatier.”  A man of humble origins, a 4th grade education and a heart of gold, he built an empire upon chocolate.  Not only did he develop the means to manufacture, market and distribute the first affordable chocolate confection in this country, he was also a man of immense magnanimity with a humanitarian spirit to which few could compare. He began many philanthropic entities, too numerous to recount here, still thriving today as a result of his generous endowments. 

But we here at Carson Wrapped Hershey’s Chocolates have another reason to hail this man.  A reason that on the outside may seem trivial, but to us it’s the world.  That reason is his name, Hershey. 

One might be tempted to quote a little Shakespeare here and say, “What’s in a name, guys?  A rose would smell just as dandy no matter what you call it.”  (I may be paraphrasing a bit.)  Yes, this is true; Mr. Hershey’s chocolate would be just as delicious were his surname Johnson, his empire just as vast, his legacy as generous. 

But consider this.  On that fateful day in 1993, when upon the birth of his new granddaughter Ed Carson sat pondering a chocolate bar, and in the mesmeric haze of his overwhelming bliss fancied the term HERESHEIS® out of HERSHEY’S, I say upon that very day, if the chocolate bar before him was called but Johnson’s, why, the reason for this blog would not even exist. 

So, with fingers sticky from icing and pizza sauce, we give a double salute to Milton Hershey, for excellence not only in character and product, but also excellence in NAME.

6 Degrees of Elvis!

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches… Poodle Skirts… Pompadors… What’s going on at Carson? Well, to cap off the summer here the Funshine team (which is a team of Carsonites in charge of planning fundraisers and other events) decided we needed to celebrate or better yet pay homage to the King himself, Elvis Presley! So we did it the best way possible, by playing the 6 Degrees of Elvis! If you don’t know, the 6 Degrees is a game made famous by Kevin Bacon. To play it you connect individuals by who they may have been in movies with, relationships they have had etc. So with this in mind everyone at Carson dressed up as someone through Elvis’ “grapevine”. Our Creative Production Associate, Gail Hale dressed as Michael Jackson ( ELVIS to LISA MARIE PRESLEY to MICHAEL JACKSON) that’s only three degrees. Just imagine how crazy and creative people got with their connections and costumes. Needless to say, it made the day very memorable. And oddly enough it left me craving some more PB and Banana Sandwiches, which by the way were one of Elvis’ favorite snacks! So, with a full stomach and greasy hair we closed the summer with a bang… and some Hunka Hunka Burnin Love!

Mike Reuter
Carson Wrapped Hershey’s
Graphic Design Team

See if you can find us in the photograph…

I am Mary Tyler Moore.  Before I had my own show, I was in a movie called Change of Habit with Elvis Presley where I played a nun.  -  Laura Ash

I was Lauren Conrad from The Hills.  She was in Epic Movie with Darrell Hammond who was in New York Minute with Frank Welker who was in The Trouble with Girls with ELVIS.  -  Pam Bottles

I'm the Killer himself! Jerry Lee Lewis. I was being groomed to be 
The King of Rock n Roll. That is until I married my 13 year old 
cousin. The public did not think so highly of me after this incident. 
Either way I've still had many hits (i.e. Great Balls of Fire) 
throughout the decades and I'm still kickin' today. I know Elvis 
because the two of us and Johnny Cash toured together in 1957. I also drove to Graceland once while inhibriated with a gun and got arrested.  -  Mike Reuter

June Carter - She toured w/Elvis, was said they dated.  Elvis introduced her to Johnny Cash.  -  Kelly Fulmer

Elvis, hi I'm your future son-in-law, Michael Jackson, white glove. bandaged nose and white socks.  -  Gail Hale

Rudi Johnson , Regina King, Jamie Foxx, Jay Leno, Lisa Marie Presley, ELVIS  -  Kim Bires

I was the understudy to Julie Adams who co-starred with Elvis in the 1965 film, "Tickle Me".  While I didn't get to be in the film, Elvis did admire my coiffure behind the scenes.  I vowed from that day forward to never change my hairstyle for the rest of my life.  -  Dianne Beeson

I am the King himself, soaking up the sun in Hawaii with my guitar.  -  Scott Frederick

Wrapped Hershey's at the Beach?

While we can't all take off and head to the beach, we can bring a little bit of the beach to Carson and on Thursday, July 12 we did just that.  With non-alcoholic pina coladas, beach balls, island wear and our very own inflatable palm tree we nearly forgot we were in Fairfield, Ohio.  There were no occurances of sunburn.

No Gutter Balls, Please

We are proud to announce Carson Bowl July 2007! That's right!  We're putting down the chocolate and heading to the bowling lanes on July 27th starting at 6:30pm. You and a guest are invited.  A sign up sheet will be passed around the week of July 16th. Names will be drawn from a hat to determine teams.  Good luck to all!  O-and remember even if you don't want to bowl, come on out to cheer on your team!  See you at the lanes..

Funshine & June

At Carson, you’re a person, who makes an impact.  We celebrate everyone and no job is too big or too small, whether it’s taking an order for someone’s special event, producing and shipping the packages, helping with the art work or taping the standard bars.   

Employees at Carson enjoy the work environment.  There are always fun things to participate in.  If we’re lucky – Scott grills lunch for us or Funshine brings it in.

Funshine is a program that, well, is fun!  It’s an employee group of volunteers that puts together ideas for holidays, birthdays, company events or sometimes cool games.  Funshine is getting ready to plan some great events for this summer like the Company Picnic and a few others yet to be announced.

Help me in wishing a Happy June Birthday to
Sylvia Thornburg
Celebrating employment anniversaries are
Linda Mason
(4 years)
Carola Stiver
(1 year)

Check back next month for more exciting FUNshine!