I received an email from Dan just before Christmas. He saw my picture in the Walleye where I posed in front of a wall of my artwork.
Dan saw the picture and was particularly taken with the Tom Waits print. And why wouldn’t he be? It’s awesome.
I said, “Yes Dan, of course you can buy the print right off my wall! But if you want to buy it, you have to come get it!”
Aaaannnnd, if you come get it, I might just have to take your picture!
He was agreeable! I mean, look at him, he was smiling!
Dan was born in Thunder Bay and grew up loving sports. After high school, Dan spent two years studying and playing college baseball in Illinois, followed by two years of studying and college baseball in Iowa.
Upon returning to Thunder Bay, Dan played ball for the Border Cats. It was a good experience and it’s led to Dan’s current employment as the team’s general manager.
I asked Dan about his job description and he told me he does a bit of everything!
“My job entails so many things, it’s tough to describe. As the GM for the Border Cats I do everything from marketing, graphic design, sponsorships, recruiting, sales, customer service, community outreach, social media, budgeting, and a bunch more. It’s an everything in one kind of gig and that’s okay because it’s always interesting and I just hope that I’m doing a good enough job that people come and want to support us.”
Dan has led quite a busy life. He’s still busy. So is his wife. It’s no surprise that their favourite thing to do together (when off work) is just relax and enjoy down-time. They hang out with their rescue dog Lily and mostly just enjoy the quiet. I have no doubt that any and all down-time is well deserved.
Thank you for supporting my art, Dan! And thank you for being such a good worker for sports and athletics in our fair city. It was lovely to meet you!