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Hello, nice to meet you!
Another week at Bowtreader and you wouldn’t believe the number of kids who have come in this week to get set up! Sure the rut is starting, which means our hunters are all the more eager to get out in the woods, but 4H families have been pouring in this week more than ever and we couldn’t be more thrilled to help the kids get into (or return to) the sport!
There is nothing like that time spent together picking out accessories to go on a kids' bow, resizing, adjusting, and shooting together to prepare for the perfect shot on the range.
Times like those are what inspired us to reach out with this business — we can’t help but get excited every time we see another family join the great sport of archery!
Family is important to us for many reasons. The first and most important reason is because God set the family apart as sacred and holy. We are dedicated to fixing bows and getting people ready to head outdoors, but it would be a lie to say that the families who come in as our customers don’t matter.
Our family is here to love on yours. We tell our story here so you can be involved in our antics too and hopefully learn from some of our mistakes!
We want to tell our story here and, like most, our story starts with the people.
JOHN - THE MAN
John is our man — we would say the boss-man but we all know “Boss” is the title his wife has been explicitly given. He is the founder of Bowtreader along with his wife and kids and organizes pretty much everything that goes on around here.
John is our commander in chief, drill sergeant when it comes to employees with wrinkly clothes, and rock when it gets down to deeper spiritual issues with anyone at our shop. We would say he is the starting point for this business, but if we did we would have it all wrong. John along with all of the rest of us recognizes Jesus as our starting point. Everything we do is owned by Him!
MISS DEE - THE BOSS-WOMAN
Some call her the "Bowtreader greeter," but most know her as the real boss around here. Miss Dee is John’s better half, the one that makes it her mission to help hold it all together.
Whether she is bringing all the guys lunch, sweeping the shop floor, helping with social media, answering the phone, or sitting at her usual greeting spot, she is up here most days keeping everyone straight.
Like John, she has a passion for both the outdoors and the people here, and a deep reverence for the Lord. She loves dogs, cooking, and all things classy but more importantly, she is committed to showing compassion to the employees at Bowtreader, even when it means telling them to sit up straight or get up and clean the break room!
From here, there is no particular order — we won’t start that fight over favorites! 😉
GRIFFIN - THE LONG DISTANCE MANAGER
Griffin was the manager of our store throughout his time here for college, and was our original student employee. Though he now lives in Augusta with his new wife, he is still up here some Saturday mornings to visit the Bowtreader family and resume his job as normal.
If John and Dee are the leaders here, (second to Jesus, of course) Griffin is third in command, covering everything that needs to be done from cleaning, to inventory, to working on bows. The distance doesn’t make much of a difference when it comes to his role in our family!
MICHAEL - THE MOUTH OF THE BUSINESS
Michael is recognized pretty generally as the mouth of the business. Don’t ask him why, because that's about the only thing he doesn’t have you a story about. Until he is halfway through one… following you around through the shooting range telling you about the time he talked so much someone just stopped listening… 😉
He knows everything there is about working on bows. If you have any questions, he's probably got all the answers you need. Stop by the store and he'd be happy to help you with bow maintenance, service, or an awesome set up!
Michael is a student at Georgia Southern and is a great worker, a wonderful storyteller, and one of our top bow techs. He can give you tips on nearly everything about bows and equipment — and always has a story ready to go with it!
JOHN WESLEY - THE KNIFE GUY
If you need to ask why he's called the knife guy, all you have to do is listen to him when he walks. That’s right, when Wes is in the shop, there is a perpetual jingle going back and forth in the store, coming from the pockets (and boots and hat) of this cool guy.
Wesley is considered our knife expert and also goes by “the Dub,” when he is behind the knife counter. That glittering case of deadly objects at the front is his domain. He is a pro at all things knives - from sharpening to using knives in every area - from cooking to throwing them at a target.
Ask him anything about a knife and he can help you fix, use, customize, decorate, throw, practice with, or buy a knife. If you are done with some old collectors one, he might even help you sell it!
NICK - THE ASSISTANT’S ASSISTANT
Nick is what we call the assistant’s assistant around here. It started as a joke but it really just means we let him do everything.
Find him stocking shelves, setting up bows, helping customers, talking about knives, helping John with his other business, taking photos, packaging online orders, receiving orders, or rummaging through storage to get out more products.
Not only is he great with bows, Nick is also the Sitka expert around here. He'll help you find the perfect gear to wear in any season. Nick is always glad to assist you in any way, whether it's choosing the right Sitka gear, setting up your bow, or anything in-between.
He does it all!
Like Michael, Nick is a student at Georgia Southern and a fantastic worker. Our favorite skills of his include speaking in different accents, taking great photos, and making us all laugh!
This cool guy comes last in the Bowtreader boys but certainly not least. Parker is known for two things - fixing bows is perhaps the most common of those two.
Parker is up there with the pros at fixing bows, helping people improve their skills, and telling a good dad joke.
Parker is really good at fixing bows, but he's also great at giving lessons! If you or a friend are interested in starting out or want to improve your skills, give Parker a call and he'll get you ready to hunt!
The second thing he is known for, however, is his incessant habit of drinking sweet tea. We have started to expect him to show up any day now carrying around a pitcher and a cup like Uncle Si — he just never stops drinking it!
We could make a long list of the fun times we have had with Parker but our favorites have to be when he won the piñata contest last Halloween, the numerous times he has given us a good joke, and back in the middle of January when Mr. John baptized him in the freezing cold water of a friend's in-ground pool. Parker is a student at Georgia Southern as well and a loyal worker at Bowtreader for the past two years!
THE BOWTREADER GIRLS
And finally a little bit about our girls!
ALANNAH
Alannah works as the behind-the-scenes wizard here, managing our social media and aiding in the momentous task of “holding it all together!" She helps with t-shirt designs, places orders, decorates the shop, contributes to the blog, works hard on our website, and acts as Mr. John’s personal secretary — she is ready to do it all!
She graduated May 2020 from Georgia Southern with a Public Relations degree and you can find her in the office or around the shop taking photos for social media - don't forget to pose if you see her, and you might just see yourself on our feed!
She may not work on bows but it's impossible to deny that her work around the clock makes her a true member of our family!
You can find her around the shop every week with a smile on her face and a coffee in her hand 😉
This is just a piece of our Bowtreader nation. The rest is composed of many, many loyal customers and friends who make our work possible. Some contribute to the blog themselves while others hang around here so much we are liable to start using them as hanging racks at some point. 😂
If anything has been made abundantly clear, it's that we are all needed to pursue this mission.
To offer good service.
To provide education.
To get outdoors.
And to ultimately bring the one and only Good Kingdom on earth.
Without you, it wouldn’t be possible, so welcome to the family and to our story of the Bowtreader journey!
The weather isn’t the only thing that can change in a matter of minutes in Georgia — each shot is different from the last one and they just keep getting more epic!
