Meet the Craftsmen: Marty and Buddy
With 44 years of combined craftsmanship and experience in production, Marty has been with us 24 years and Buddy has been with us 20 years.
Prior to Stoll, Buddy worked in maintenance at a local plant for 33 years. One year, Marty, who had been at Stoll for a few years, suggested he come to talk to the Stolls as they were getting ready to hire temporary help for the busy winter months. Buddy was hired as a seasonal winter employee helping Marty in the door manufacturing department. Twenty years later, he’s still here. Buddy and Marty work as a team, fabricating fireplace doors, constructing thousands and thousands of doors each year. Their job requires precision, attention to detail, and creativity. Based on the dimensions of the order, Buddy sets up the door to be made, and Marty welds them together. As technology has increased, their job has gotten simpler, but occasionally, they still run into custom orders that make them scratch their heads. They always figure it out, though and their precision and quality craftsmanship are the backbones of our beautiful products. When Buddy first came, he would help set up the doors while Marty hand-cut parts such as decorative designs, now they rely on the laser to do the part cutting. This allows them to build more doors each day while still maintaining precision.
Marty has enjoyed teaching others the craft and secrets of the trade throughout the years. He says he’s learned patience and the value of treating others how he wants to be treated by working here but has truly loved sharing his knowledge with teammates.
They find satisfaction in the challenge of even the most difficult doors, saying the pride in a job well done at the end of the day is worth it. Marty’s favorite product is the decorative c-pane design that he designed himself about twenty years ago. Buddy marveled at the many different products that have come through the plant, from the extreme to the simple…he loves knowing that he plays a vital part in crafting a beautiful product that warms homes all across the country.
When they’re not hard at work, you’ll find them enjoying classic southern hobbies. Marty can be found target shooting or working on guns and cars. Buddy enjoys the guns and cars, but his favorite hobby is camping, which he’s been enjoying ever since he can remember. Speaking of cars, they’ve got some strong opinions when it comes to motors. Marty owns multiple Mustangs and Buddy owns a Corvette, so they will be sure to tell you why theirs is superior. The laughter in their conversation hinted that they secretly love the rivalry. Marty is moving into retirement this year, bringing him even more time for hobbies. While we will miss him here at Stoll, we wish him lots of happiness and many happy drives in that Mustang!
Marty appreciates the culture of Stoll where his teammates have his back in hard times and are actually his friends.
Buddy says that coming to Stoll and seeing the community and morale meant a lot to him and made him feel at home working here.