Jack Fenstermaker, son of bog designer Jeremy Fenstermaker and grandson of Pine Island CEO Bill Haines, starts high school in September but is spending his summer learning some of the basics of cranberry growing!

Jack started with us about two weeks ago and has been keeping busy ever since! “I’ve helped my dad with the layout of some dams and I’ve been doing a lot of cleaning up around the gates and stuff,” Jack says. “I’ve been on the planter, too! That took a long time. It was pretty cool to watch though!” His favorite part was being able to walk behind the planter to make sure that the rooted cuttings were placed correctly. “Today I’m carrying a bucket around in the bogs so that I can pick up any of the trash left over from planting. It’s pretty easy! It just takes a long time.”

“Jack’s getting a lot of stuff done that might not get done if he wasn’t here,” his dad says. “The energy he’s got is pretty good, he doesn’t stop once he gets started. He’s doing really well; I’m impressed at his work ethic at only 13.” Jack goes out with his dad at 5:00 A.M. and goes until about 2:30 in the afternoon along with the rest of the planting crew in order for the team to avoid the worst of the heat. “It’s an early day but you get out early so it’s better,” Jack says. “I can go home for lunch, and I get a snack break too. It’s fifteen minutes but my dad tries to say it’s only ten!”

“He seems to be very into it,” says bog renovations manager Steve Manning. “He had fun with the other kids, especially on the planter. They all did a great job.” And apparently Jack is already looking forward to increased responsibility: “He told me he can’t wait to drive a bigger truck, and even tried to get his dad to let him drive the little excavator.” His dad said no, incidentally, but keep an eye out for future developments!

“It’s great to have Jack here this summer,” says his grandfather Bill. “He’s fun to have around, he’s doing a good job, and I like his energy and his enthusiasm. It’s great to have another generation on board.”