March 31, 2025 • 18 mins
What happens when a teenage promise becomes reality? In this heartwarming conversation with James Dewinter, we explore the remarkable journey of a local entrepreneur who transformed from a 14-year-old ice cream shop employee to the proud owner of Walker's beloved Double Dip Depot.
James shares the serendipitous timing of purchasing his business in February 2020—just weeks before COVID changed everything. While many businesses struggled, Double Dip Depot's walk-up model became an unexpected sanctuary for community members seeking normalcy. "So many people were just driving around looking for something to do and they'd come by our shop," James explains, highlighting how adaptability and community connection helped his business thrive during unprecedented challenges.
Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, James serves Walker as a paid-on-call firefighter, balancing emergency response duties with running his ice cream shop. He offers a fascinating glimpse into how these seemingly different roles complement each other, from applying business acumen to departmental budgeting to creating innovative community programs like "freeze cards" that reward good deeds with free treats. With approximately 275 hours of initial training and ongoing commitments, James exemplifies dedication to community service alongside business ownership.
The conversation illuminates the soul of small-town America—where business owners understand their neighbors' needs, maintain nostalgic spaces that foster connection, and find creative ways to give back. Whether you're a small business supporter, aspiring entrepreneur, or someone curious about the hidden commitments of local heroes, this episode celebrates the community-minded spirit that makes places like Walker special. Ready to discover how you can better support the businesses and services that form the backbone of your community? Listen now and be inspired by one man's dedication to keeping both his town safe and sweet.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our guest today, you could say is known for staying
cool under fire.
I'm actually here with JamesDeWinter.
He is the owner of a smallbusiness, double Dip Depot in
Walker, and he's also apaid-on-call firefighter.
James, thank you so much forbeing here.
I know you're busy, so wedefinitely appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Oh, no problem, it's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Yes, yeah, walker.
Resident small business owner,firefighter.
What does that mean to you todo all of this and achieve so
much within your same town?
Yeah, you know it's great beingcommunity is kind of my
expertise.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
You know, I've always kind of been a community guy so
I really enjoy, you know,owning the business and also
supporting the business and thecommunity by firefighting
through Walker.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And we'll get into all of those details a little
bit.
First let's talk about DoubleDip Depot.
How did that come to be?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
So my journey with Double Dip started a little over
15 years ago.
I started there it was my firstjob when I was 14.
And the previous owner, Kevin,hired me, and day one I actually
ended up telling him I wouldown it someday and buy it from
him and never really actuallybelieved it to be, true, but it
(01:17):
did.
So I started working for him,learned everything.
He taught me everything aboutthe place.
So any questions with business,I was able to talk to him.
I was able to learn all theproduct, all the suppliers, all
a lot of the salesmen's I, youknow, was around and you know,
(01:38):
anytime I had business questionscause I always had a business
mind I like, okay, I wouldalways talk to him and he taught
me everything that I basicallyknow about business and and the
ice cream shop.
yeah, so I worked for him abouteight, nine years, uh, until I
was trying to find my own careerand get out from a part-time
(02:01):
job to an actual career, and,and at that time, you know, I
had multiple different jobs that, I think, led me, you know, up
to this point and provided me alot of experience for owning the
shop.
But it came down to him wantingto retire and he kept saying,
you know, to the right person,I'd finance them through it.
(02:21):
And finally, uh, him sayingthat a few times I kind of
realized is that me, you know?
And so we still had some fundingto figure out, uh and so, but I
was able to buy it from him anduh he was able to finance me
through it, which is basicallythe only reason why I was able
to actually buy it and uh, yeah,so then I was able to take it
(02:44):
over from him, and it's been ajoy ever since.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, so it's been about five years, right?
So we're looking back at 2020when you ended up taking that
over.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, february of 2020.
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
So a month kind of, before everything changed.
What was that like?
How did you make it through?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
So yeah, covid obviously hit, and when you talk
struggles of owning a business,covid was probably one of the
biggest ones that I've had todeal with.
I've been pretty lucky, Ihaven't had a lot of issues, but
it also isn't a brand newbusiness I took it over so that
helps too.
But COVID definitely was a gamechanger.
(03:20):
I didn't know a month in what Iwas going to do.
I didn't know if I was going tobe able to stay open.
If I was going to have to close, I didn't know if I would make
it.
I mean, I was hoping I wouldn'tbe in that percentage.
That doesn't make it the firstyear.
Luckily, with our drive-thru andbeing a walk-up shop, we were
able to stay open and so we wereable to shut down the patio,
(03:45):
shut down the golf course andthen put a lot of restrictions
on the inside.
So we were kind of playing thatby the wing of it and kind of
what the health department wouldsay and news would say, and we
were trying a lot of things andlearning what best would protect
us and our customers and wewere able to get through and
(04:09):
actually it helped us.
Covid hurt a lot of businessesand I feel real bad for a lot
for all those businesses, butfor us it actually helped,
because so many people were offand so many people were just
driving around looking forsomething to do and they'd come
by our shop and see that it wasopen and swing in and we didn't
(04:31):
even know you were here.
We'd just seen you were open.
So it helped us a lot.
We were busy and we were ableto get through, so that was
really good.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yeah, really a bright spot in some dark times.
Yeah, that's very fortunate.
And how do you think being aWalker resident, growing up in
Walker, has really influencedhow you run a business?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah.
So you know, I think anybusiness that lives and grows up
in the city that they're in isgoing to have a lot better
chance of succeeding.
You know, I mean, we've allseen businesses that come in
from big corporations build thisbuilding, never go into it, or
they they're there for a shorttime and it's not what the
(05:14):
community wants.
You know it might be, it mightbe a shake.
That's 14, 15 dollars and, youknow, very delicious, very good,
but also just too trendy andtoo expensive for the area.
You know, talking with myneighbors who are my customers,
talking with family who live inthe area who come up talking to
(05:37):
you know, people on the firedepartment and in the city and
you know all that kind of stuffthat I I'm around a lot, they're
all my customers and theythey're not there, especially
when I know them.
They're not afraid to tell mewhat they think, and I'm also
not afraid if somebody tells mewhat they think, because all it
does is help me.
But so they don't want thesehigh-priced, trendy items, you
(06:00):
know.
So we try and keep it amom-and-pop shop.
We try to keep pricesreasonable and just be able to,
you know, provide a good productfor a fair price.
So that's what I've really triedto do.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Yes, Trying to find time to be a business owner, a
father, a husband and apaid-on-call firefighter.
You've been doing that for awhile.
How did you get involved withthat?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yes, so I started paid-on-call firefighting about
nine years ago, uh, so before Iowned the Depot, and I was
looking at maybe turning thatinto a career.
Uh, once I fell in love withthat, I started I use that as
kind of a gateway of do I likeit?
And once I found that I likedit, I was thinking of creating,
uh, that as a career until Depotcame available, um, but so I
(06:53):
started out doing that and itwas a great, you know great
gateway, like I said to, to seeif firefighting was something
that I wanted to do or not.
And you know, so I was able todo that and it's, it's great.
But it also comes withstruggles, and so does owning
the business, you know, I mean,time management is kind of a big
(07:14):
thing.
So, and that's one struggle Ithink most businesses have is
time management, because, youknow, we're not just the cashier
or we're not just themaintenance guy.
We're not just the accountant,we do it all.
And so in order to do all that,that takes time.
(07:37):
You know a lot of people willsee the shop and see me there a
lot and but they might think,okay, he's here when we're, when
they're open, but they don'tsee the running around
beforehand or they don't see thebilling, you know.
and then you know even firecalls they don't see the billing
you know and then you know,even fire calls they don't see
the fire calls that I run atnight or in the morning before
work, and so time management isa struggle, but you kind of just
(08:01):
have to work through that andtry to.
You know, give yourself timewhen you can, and my time is, uh
, after the kids or after my kidgoes to sleep and my wife goes
to sleep.
That's when I try and get a lotof my work done, but time
management is probably one ofthe biggest factors.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
And do you think that any?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
skills that you've learned as a firefighter helped
with running a business, so yes,but more the opposite.
So, starting with firefighterto business, uh, I am medically
trained as a firefighter andthen I also have, obviously,
firefighter training, so ifsomething happens at the shop,
I'm able to kind of uh help takecare of that without you know
(08:47):
needing extra help.
And if a medical comes in, I'mmedically trained so I I might,
I at least have.
And if a medical comes in, I'mmedically trained, so I at least
have.
You know a lot of the basicsright away.
We can get extra help startedfrom life or, you know, you know
our PD and stuff like that.
But I at least have some ofthat training as well and I can
start some of those medical.
You know, business owner tofirefighter.
(09:12):
I think that's where it helpsmore because I'm able to kind of
give back a little bit throughthe business.
And you know we try and takecare of the community a little
bit as we can.
So we came out with PD and thefire department and then we
teamed up with Foremost Graphicsand they do our printing for us
.
But we came out with thesecards, these freeze cards, and
(09:36):
most of the firefighters and allthe cops carry them and so if
they see some child typicallychild, but it could be an adult
as well If they see them doingsomething good, they give them
to them and it gets them a freecone or a slush or a free game
of mini golf and it's just a waythat I can give back and uh,
(09:56):
but I also see as the businessowner.
I know you know budgeting andwhat's needed and wanted and
stuff like that, and I'm able tokind of bring that to the fire
side as well and understand.
You know, when we asfirefighters want something or
we want more, we might not beable to get that right away
because there's wants and needsand we need to kind of, you know
(10:18):
, go back and forth on whichone's which and you know, so I
can understand some of thatstuff, but I think you know it's
more business to firefighting.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
No kidding.
Yeah, Very unique perspectivewith that.
And for paid on callfirefighting.
For those who may not haveheard, what exactly is that?
What are you required to do?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah, so the first year of paid on call is probably
the hardest.
And it's the worst because youget on and if you don't have the
training yet, you know you gethired, you have to go through
firefighter one and two.
That's don't quote me, but giveor take 275 hours of class time.
It's a couple days a week,sometimes three days a week, and
(10:58):
so you do that for about six,seven months or so, give or take
.
And so you do that and thenbasically from there you start
doing trainings twice a monthand you run calls at night or in
the daytime.
So, right now we have seven daya week, full time from just
(11:19):
before 6 am to just after 6 pm.
So they cover a lot of thecalls during the day when most
of the paid on call guys are atwork.
But if it's larger than whatjust a few of our full timers
can handle, they'll call in thepaid on call as well during the
day.
But at night it's all paid oncall.
So whether it's a pin in atnight or a structure fire or you
(11:43):
know, if our police are busyand tied up and we're running a
medical or we have a fire alarm,we handle all of that at night.
So we're running from our houseor wherever we are to the
station and then we go fromthere.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
So you know the difficult factor with that is
family time, you know you'rewith your family, you're eating.
You might have people over anda call comes out and we're not
looking at how to get out ofgoing to the call.
We're typically looking at howto go to the call.
So you know I'll be like, okay,we're going, I'm running this
(12:19):
call.
And it's more wait what?
You know, and Right now, yeah,and it's right then you know and
I mean somebody's calling forhelp they need it now.
So, you know we'll run any timeof the night or day, and you
know.
But yeah, we have one duty weeka month, one duty weekend a
month and then a duty day amonth and then two trainings a
(12:40):
month.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
So it's a lot, but it's also not too bad.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
And as long as you're able to manage it you know, it
works really good and it's veryrewarding.
Absolutely, and we are lookingfor people, yes, so if you're
interested, yeah, walkercity,slash fire, get all that
information.
And then we also post onFacebook a lot too.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And with Paid on Call .
You all are coming fromdifferent walks of life.
Maybe you have some engineers.
You've got an ice cream shopowner.
Yes, you have so many skillsthat you can share with one
another.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yep, so, and you know , that's really good in a way,
because, uh, even full-time guysthat are that are doing 24 hour
shifts, I mean they might haveside gigs or you know, they've
all come from different, uh,different, walks of life and
they know different things, andyou know.
so having a variety of people ona call that know different
things is a game changer because, I might not know engineering
(13:36):
or I might not know this verywell, but you know, I know that
one of my other guys does, youknow, and so you can take
opinions from everybody and thenbuild a plan to do something.
And that's one of the greatthings about the firefighting
side is, you know there's I'veheard that we shouldn't be
called firefighters, we shouldbe like an all hazards
(13:56):
department, because you justnever know what it's going to be
.
And by having people that arein so many different things like
that, they're able to kind oftake care of all those hazards.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yeah, sam, we are so grateful to have you all in our
community.
And going back to the smallbusiness and that community
support and such, what do youthink the community and
residents should know about thesmall businesses in our area and
how best to support them,especially during these times?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yeah, so you know one of the big things is support
local.
Local businesses are.
You know, they're born andraised in our community, they're
based off of us, you know, andso if you can support local,
that's the best thing you can do.
I understand sometimes it's alittle bit more money than you
know than going to the big blackstore or something, but it's
(14:45):
better and you're supportingyour neighbor or you know
something like that neighbor oryou know something like that.
Some of the best ways, I think,to support your business is
social media.
You know as good as socialmedia is, there's a lot of bad
to social media as well, we knowthat.
But you know the good side ofit is.
You know, if you share theirposts, you know, engage with
(15:09):
them on Facebook, it reallypushes their post to the bigger
audience.
And you know, engage with themon Facebook, it really pushes
their post to the biggeraudience, and you know so.
And then also going to thebusinesses when you don't think
about going to the businesses.
So for restaurants, usually weall know Friday nights, saturday
nights, restaurants are busy,but some of the slow days for
(15:32):
restaurants are Mondays andSundays, and so if you look
around, you can actually find alot of specials on different
days of the week and thosespecials are usually when
they're slower.
So take advantage of thespecials.
You get a little bit out of aspecial, but yet you're
supporting that business whenthey're slower and they need it
most.
That you're supporting thatbusiness when they're slower and
(15:54):
they need it most, and I knowthat's the key with me.
You know, this week it was 70degrees, it was great.
But also we have snow on some ofthe days.
Right, and on those days I meanthose are days that it's not
long lines.
We're slower, you know.
So on days like that is whenyou can really support your
local business.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Wonderful to know.
And then finally, just lookingforward in the next few years,
where do you see your businessgoing?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
So I hope the business kind of stays about
where it's at.
My goal is to kind of keep itas it is.
I don't want this crazy fancyshop.
I don't.
You know, I like the mom andpop ice cream shop.
Uh, you know, this kind of gotthat little bit of rundown feel
to it, but you know not yeah,it's nostalgic, we love that.
(16:40):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, and youknow, as I redo things I'm
trying to kind of keep it thatway.
Uh, I hope to maybe eventually,as I get paid off, put on a
little bit little addition, newroof stuff like that, um, so
some of those are the changesthat I I'd like to make, but
that's what time and money andall that stuff and uh, we'll see
(17:00):
how it goes.
But I kind of want to keep itthe way it is because it's just
nice and nostalgic, like yousaid, and yeah, I just it's a
good feel.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yeah Well, james, we are so fortunate to have you,
not only as just a residentwalker or a small business owner
, but for all that you do, togive back as a firefighter as
well.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah, no problem, I appreciate you having me.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Made
in Walker podcast.
If you have comments orquestions about this podcast, or
if you have suggestions forfuture episodes, we'd love to
hear from you.
Please drop us an email atpodcast at walkercity.
Made in Walker is the officialpodcast of the City of Walker,
Michigan.
You can find Made in Walkerwherever you get your podcasts.
Our guest today, you could say is known for staying
cool under fire.
I'm actually here with JamesDeWinter.
He is the owner of a smallbusiness, double Dip Depot in
Walker, and he's also apaid-on-call firefighter.
James, thank you so much forbeing here.
I know you're busy, so wedefinitely appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Oh, no problem, it's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Yes, yeah, walker.
Resident small business owner,firefighter.
What does that mean to you todo all of this and achieve so
much within your same town?
Yeah, you know it's great beingcommunity is kind of my
expertise.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
You know, I've always kind of been a community guy so
I really enjoy, you know,owning the business and also
supporting the business and thecommunity by firefighting
through Walker.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And we'll get into all of those details a little
bit.
First let's talk about DoubleDip Depot.
How did that come to be?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
So my journey with Double Dip started a little over
15 years ago.
I started there it was my firstjob when I was 14.
And the previous owner, Kevin,hired me, and day one I actually
ended up telling him I wouldown it someday and buy it from
him and never really actuallybelieved it to be, true, but it
(01:17):
did.
So I started working for him,learned everything.
He taught me everything aboutthe place.
So any questions with business,I was able to talk to him.
I was able to learn all theproduct, all the suppliers, all
a lot of the salesmen's I, youknow, was around and you know,
(01:38):
anytime I had business questionscause I always had a business
mind I like, okay, I wouldalways talk to him and he taught
me everything that I basicallyknow about business and and the
ice cream shop.
yeah, so I worked for him abouteight, nine years, uh, until I
was trying to find my own careerand get out from a part-time
(02:01):
job to an actual career, and,and at that time, you know, I
had multiple different jobs that, I think, led me, you know, up
to this point and provided me alot of experience for owning the
shop.
But it came down to him wantingto retire and he kept saying,
you know, to the right person,I'd finance them through it.
(02:21):
And finally, uh, him sayingthat a few times I kind of
realized is that me, you know?
And so we still had some fundingto figure out, uh and so, but I
was able to buy it from him anduh he was able to finance me
through it, which is basicallythe only reason why I was able
to actually buy it and uh, yeah,so then I was able to take it
(02:44):
over from him, and it's been ajoy ever since.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, so it's been about five years, right?
So we're looking back at 2020when you ended up taking that
over.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, february of 2020.
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
So a month kind of, before everything changed.
What was that like?
How did you make it through?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
So yeah, covid obviously hit, and when you talk
struggles of owning a business,covid was probably one of the
biggest ones that I've had todeal with.
I've been pretty lucky, Ihaven't had a lot of issues, but
it also isn't a brand newbusiness I took it over so that
helps too.
But COVID definitely was a gamechanger.
(03:20):
I didn't know a month in what Iwas going to do.
I didn't know if I was going tobe able to stay open.
If I was going to have to close, I didn't know if I would make
it.
I mean, I was hoping I wouldn'tbe in that percentage.
That doesn't make it the firstyear.
Luckily, with our drive-thru andbeing a walk-up shop, we were
able to stay open and so we wereable to shut down the patio,
(03:45):
shut down the golf course andthen put a lot of restrictions
on the inside.
So we were kind of playing thatby the wing of it and kind of
what the health department wouldsay and news would say, and we
were trying a lot of things andlearning what best would protect
us and our customers and wewere able to get through and
(04:09):
actually it helped us.
Covid hurt a lot of businessesand I feel real bad for a lot
for all those businesses, butfor us it actually helped,
because so many people were offand so many people were just
driving around looking forsomething to do and they'd come
by our shop and see that it wasopen and swing in and we didn't
(04:31):
even know you were here.
We'd just seen you were open.
So it helped us a lot.
We were busy and we were ableto get through, so that was
really good.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yeah, really a bright spot in some dark times.
Yeah, that's very fortunate.
And how do you think being aWalker resident, growing up in
Walker, has really influencedhow you run a business?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah.
So you know, I think anybusiness that lives and grows up
in the city that they're in isgoing to have a lot better
chance of succeeding.
You know, I mean, we've allseen businesses that come in
from big corporations build thisbuilding, never go into it, or
they they're there for a shorttime and it's not what the
(05:14):
community wants.
You know it might be, it mightbe a shake.
That's 14, 15 dollars and, youknow, very delicious, very good,
but also just too trendy andtoo expensive for the area.
You know, talking with myneighbors who are my customers,
talking with family who live inthe area who come up talking to
(05:37):
you know, people on the firedepartment and in the city and
you know all that kind of stuffthat I I'm around a lot, they're
all my customers and theythey're not there, especially
when I know them.
They're not afraid to tell mewhat they think, and I'm also
not afraid if somebody tells mewhat they think, because all it
does is help me.
But so they don't want thesehigh-priced, trendy items, you
(06:00):
know.
So we try and keep it amom-and-pop shop.
We try to keep pricesreasonable and just be able to,
you know, provide a good productfor a fair price.
So that's what I've really triedto do.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Yes, Trying to find time to be a business owner, a
father, a husband and apaid-on-call firefighter.
You've been doing that for awhile.
How did you get involved withthat?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yes, so I started paid-on-call firefighting about
nine years ago, uh, so before Iowned the Depot, and I was
looking at maybe turning thatinto a career.
Uh, once I fell in love withthat, I started I use that as
kind of a gateway of do I likeit?
And once I found that I likedit, I was thinking of creating,
uh, that as a career until Depotcame available, um, but so I
(06:53):
started out doing that and itwas a great, you know great
gateway, like I said to, to seeif firefighting was something
that I wanted to do or not.
And you know, so I was able todo that and it's, it's great.
But it also comes withstruggles, and so does owning
the business, you know, I mean,time management is kind of a big
(07:14):
thing.
So, and that's one struggle Ithink most businesses have is
time management, because, youknow, we're not just the cashier
or we're not just themaintenance guy.
We're not just the accountant,we do it all.
And so in order to do all that,that takes time.
(07:37):
You know a lot of people willsee the shop and see me there a
lot and but they might think,okay, he's here when we're, when
they're open, but they don'tsee the running around
beforehand or they don't see thebilling, you know.
and then you know even firecalls they don't see the billing
you know and then you know,even fire calls they don't see
the fire calls that I run atnight or in the morning before
work, and so time management isa struggle, but you kind of just
(08:01):
have to work through that andtry to.
You know, give yourself timewhen you can, and my time is, uh
, after the kids or after my kidgoes to sleep and my wife goes
to sleep.
That's when I try and get a lotof my work done, but time
management is probably one ofthe biggest factors.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
And do you think that any?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
skills that you've learned as a firefighter helped
with running a business, so yes,but more the opposite.
So, starting with firefighterto business, uh, I am medically
trained as a firefighter andthen I also have, obviously,
firefighter training, so ifsomething happens at the shop,
I'm able to kind of uh help takecare of that without you know
(08:47):
needing extra help.
And if a medical comes in, I'mmedically trained so I I might,
I at least have.
And if a medical comes in, I'mmedically trained, so I at least
have.
You know a lot of the basicsright away.
We can get extra help startedfrom life or, you know, you know
our PD and stuff like that.
But I at least have some ofthat training as well and I can
start some of those medical.
You know, business owner tofirefighter.
(09:12):
I think that's where it helpsmore because I'm able to kind of
give back a little bit throughthe business.
And you know we try and takecare of the community a little
bit as we can.
So we came out with PD and thefire department and then we
teamed up with Foremost Graphicsand they do our printing for us
.
But we came out with thesecards, these freeze cards, and
(09:36):
most of the firefighters and allthe cops carry them and so if
they see some child typicallychild, but it could be an adult
as well If they see them doingsomething good, they give them
to them and it gets them a freecone or a slush or a free game
of mini golf and it's just a waythat I can give back and uh,
(09:56):
but I also see as the businessowner.
I know you know budgeting andwhat's needed and wanted and
stuff like that, and I'm able tokind of bring that to the fire
side as well and understand.
You know, when we asfirefighters want something or
we want more, we might not beable to get that right away
because there's wants and needsand we need to kind of, you know
(10:18):
, go back and forth on whichone's which and you know, so I
can understand some of thatstuff, but I think you know it's
more business to firefighting.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
No kidding.
Yeah, Very unique perspectivewith that.
And for paid on callfirefighting.
For those who may not haveheard, what exactly is that?
What are you required to do?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah, so the first year of paid on call is probably
the hardest.
And it's the worst because youget on and if you don't have the
training yet, you know you gethired, you have to go through
firefighter one and two.
That's don't quote me, but giveor take 275 hours of class time.
It's a couple days a week,sometimes three days a week, and
(10:58):
so you do that for about six,seven months or so, give or take
.
And so you do that and thenbasically from there you start
doing trainings twice a monthand you run calls at night or in
the daytime.
So, right now we have seven daya week, full time from just
(11:19):
before 6 am to just after 6 pm.
So they cover a lot of thecalls during the day when most
of the paid on call guys are atwork.
But if it's larger than whatjust a few of our full timers
can handle, they'll call in thepaid on call as well during the
day.
But at night it's all paid oncall.
So whether it's a pin in atnight or a structure fire or you
(11:43):
know, if our police are busyand tied up and we're running a
medical or we have a fire alarm,we handle all of that at night.
So we're running from our houseor wherever we are to the
station and then we go fromthere.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
So you know the difficult factor with that is
family time, you know you'rewith your family, you're eating.
You might have people over anda call comes out and we're not
looking at how to get out ofgoing to the call.
We're typically looking at howto go to the call.
So you know I'll be like, okay,we're going, I'm running this
(12:19):
call.
And it's more wait what?
You know, and Right now, yeah,and it's right then you know and
I mean somebody's calling forhelp they need it now.
So, you know we'll run any timeof the night or day, and you
know.
But yeah, we have one duty weeka month, one duty weekend a
month and then a duty day amonth and then two trainings a
(12:40):
month.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
So it's a lot, but it's also not too bad.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
And as long as you're able to manage it you know, it
works really good and it's veryrewarding.
Absolutely, and we are lookingfor people, yes, so if you're
interested, yeah, walkercity,slash fire, get all that
information.
And then we also post onFacebook a lot too.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And with Paid on Call .
You all are coming fromdifferent walks of life.
Maybe you have some engineers.
You've got an ice cream shopowner.
Yes, you have so many skillsthat you can share with one
another.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yep, so, and you know , that's really good in a way,
because, uh, even full-time guysthat are that are doing 24 hour
shifts, I mean they might haveside gigs or you know, they've
all come from different, uh,different, walks of life and
they know different things, andyou know.
so having a variety of people ona call that know different
things is a game changer because, I might not know engineering
(13:36):
or I might not know this verywell, but you know, I know that
one of my other guys does, youknow, and so you can take
opinions from everybody and thenbuild a plan to do something.
And that's one of the greatthings about the firefighting
side is, you know there's I'veheard that we shouldn't be
called firefighters, we shouldbe like an all hazards
(13:56):
department, because you justnever know what it's going to be
.
And by having people that arein so many different things like
that, they're able to kind oftake care of all those hazards.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yeah, sam, we are so grateful to have you all in our
community.
And going back to the smallbusiness and that community
support and such, what do youthink the community and
residents should know about thesmall businesses in our area and
how best to support them,especially during these times?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yeah, so you know one of the big things is support
local.
Local businesses are.
You know, they're born andraised in our community, they're
based off of us, you know, andso if you can support local,
that's the best thing you can do.
I understand sometimes it's alittle bit more money than you
know than going to the big blackstore or something, but it's
(14:45):
better and you're supportingyour neighbor or you know
something like that neighbor oryou know something like that.
Some of the best ways, I think,to support your business is
social media.
You know as good as socialmedia is, there's a lot of bad
to social media as well, we knowthat.
But you know the good side ofit is.
You know, if you share theirposts, you know, engage with
(15:09):
them on Facebook, it reallypushes their post to the bigger
audience.
And you know, engage with themon Facebook, it really pushes
their post to the biggeraudience, and you know so.
And then also going to thebusinesses when you don't think
about going to the businesses.
So for restaurants, usually weall know Friday nights, saturday
nights, restaurants are busy,but some of the slow days for
(15:32):
restaurants are Mondays andSundays, and so if you look
around, you can actually find alot of specials on different
days of the week and thosespecials are usually when
they're slower.
So take advantage of thespecials.
You get a little bit out of aspecial, but yet you're
supporting that business whenthey're slower and they need it
most.
That you're supporting thatbusiness when they're slower and
(15:54):
they need it most, and I knowthat's the key with me.
You know, this week it was 70degrees, it was great.
But also we have snow on some ofthe days.
Right, and on those days I meanthose are days that it's not
long lines.
We're slower, you know.
So on days like that is whenyou can really support your
local business.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Wonderful to know.
And then finally, just lookingforward in the next few years,
where do you see your businessgoing?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
So I hope the business kind of stays about
where it's at.
My goal is to kind of keep itas it is.
I don't want this crazy fancyshop.
I don't.
You know, I like the mom andpop ice cream shop.
Uh, you know, this kind of gotthat little bit of rundown feel
to it, but you know not yeah,it's nostalgic, we love that.
(16:40):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, and youknow, as I redo things I'm
trying to kind of keep it thatway.
Uh, I hope to maybe eventually,as I get paid off, put on a
little bit little addition, newroof stuff like that, um, so
some of those are the changesthat I I'd like to make, but
that's what time and money andall that stuff and uh, we'll see
(17:00):
how it goes.
But I kind of want to keep itthe way it is because it's just
nice and nostalgic, like yousaid, and yeah, I just it's a
good feel.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yeah Well, james, we are so fortunate to have you,
not only as just a residentwalker or a small business owner
, but for all that you do, togive back as a firefighter as
well.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah, no problem, I appreciate you having me.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Made
in Walker podcast.
If you have comments orquestions about this podcast, or
if you have suggestions forfuture episodes, we'd love to
hear from you.
Please drop us an email atpodcast at walkercity.
Made in Walker is the officialpodcast of the City of Walker,
Michigan.
You can find Made in Walkerwherever you get your podcasts.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.