I would like to thank the many of you who expressed interest in working here. Once again, I was surprised to see how many people responded.
  The new guy starts this coming week. His name is Mike Ryan, and many of you will recognize him, as he is a customer & frequent visitor. His beer knowledge is good, not Rich Thatcher good, (but how many of us are Rich Thatcher good?) and he is very interested in learning more. He has been assisting customers & making recommendations for a long time here, which is what gave him the edge. Iv'e been able to watch him in action, and he is pretty good! He also REALLY wants to work here. He left his other job to work in the beer biz. It was a bold leap on his part, but as he said, "I like you, I like the people that come here, I like the atmosphere here, and I like beer!" I think this will be fun.
  Rich will not be leaving right away, he will be here full time for another week, and will be staying on as a sales guy/ beer guy/ friend for at least a little while. His main hours will be Friday 4-8 and Saturday 2-8. He will fill in a bit as well, but that will all depend on his new job and his available hours. I, for one, hope that he will be able to do the Friday/Saturday thing for a long while. It's nice to have Rich around, no matter what his role.
  But let's welcome Mike. Stop in and say hi & introduce yourself. He's a good guy, funny too. I hope that he is around for a long time, and I know that he will be an asset to both you guys and me.