Employee Name: Linda Brown
Number of years of service at Pahl’s:
I’m a new kid on the block in just 2 years!
Briefly describe your job duties at Pahl’s:
The year starts in early March when I help out with Moss Basket Days. In the spring and early summer I work in the glorious greenhouse, helping customers plan their annual gardens, answering questions and keeping things tidy. I move over to the market in August where I run a register and sort through the tomatoes daily to make sure only the fresh ones are on the shelf. Then come pumpkins and squash and all the fun of Halloween. And finally Sparkly Spruce Tip Pots and Kissing Balls, all the glory of Christmas. When I run out of things to do, I pick up a broom and sweep, sweep, sweep.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
I really enjoy everything about it, even picking green tomatoes! But mostly I love working with our customers and having them come back to tell me that their annual planting looked fabulous. Most people have more skill than they think, and I love to plant little ideas that they take and run with. (pun intended) I also thoroughly enjoy the people I work with, and learn so much from them.
Tell us about your family..
I’m lucky to have my daughters, Amanda and Katy, living in the area. Amanda is a web graphic designer; Katy works at Fairview Ridges Hospital and is in a nursing program at Inver Hills. Then there’s the love of my life, my granddaughter Maya. My 2 sisters live within an hour of me, and my brother lives in Dubuque. I share my home with Harlee (a Heinz-57 rescue dog) and Sadie (a short-hair domestic rescue cat).
What is your favorite time of day/day of the week/month of the year? Why?
I guess spring is my favorite season, when everything that has laid dormant through the winter starts showing signs of life, the birds start singing with the sunrise, the days get longer and the temps start rising.
What is your favorite indoor/outdoor activity?
Indoors- reading. I love everything that has been written by Elizabeth Berg, Barbara Kingsolver, Jodi Picoult, J.R.R.Tolkien. Outdoors fishing. Give me a pole with a bobber and a worm on the hook, and I’m happy. Same with a warm ice fish house.
What is the farthest you have been away from home?
Tell us the most unique experience from that trip? The summer I graduated from high school I spent a month in Europe. I was amazed at the buildings that went back to the 11th/12th centuries; the fabulous art galleries; the canals of Venice; the Alps; but I guess my favorite place was Piccadilly Circus in London.
What are three things on your ‘Bucket List’?
Visit all the state parks in Minnesota; owning a small earth-friendly cabin on a small lake with big fish and a nice fenced garden; writing a children’s book
What do you miss most about being a kid?
Trick-or treating
If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
Play a harp
What was the first thing you bought with your own money?
Took my family out to dinner with my first paycheck. Steak-n-Shake
If you could choose anyone, who would you pick to be your mentor?
Why? My dad. He was an amazing, fun-loving, giving, principled, caring man, who dedicated his life to what he believed in. I think of him every day, and smile with the memories.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do?
Well first I would probably faint. Then I would help out family, friends, and set up a foundation for charitable giving. Yes, I would keep working at Pahl’s – priceless!
Which celebrity do you get mistaken for?
My dad used to say I looked like Debbie Reynolds.
What is your all time favorite movie?
Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Peter Jackson did an amazing job on these movies, and I can’t wait to see what he does with The Hobbit.
What song do you play the most often?
So many to choose from. You’re Beautiful as you Feel (Carole King). Bridge over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel). You’ve got a Friend (James Taylor)
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?
Held my 18 yr old cat, Donut, in my arms as she was put down.
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