Meet Carl Johnson!
Carl has been volunteering for the Yountville Chamber of Commerce since 2014 and also works next door at Wine Country Connection.
Scroll down to learn more about Carl.
What brought you to Napa County? What brought you to Yountville?
Like many wine lovers, this was a great place to visit for us. When hotel rates got too high, we decided to get a weekend home here. After a few months, we changed the plan and decided to move here.
Describe your volunteer path and how it lead you to the Yountville Chamber of Commerce?
I have been active in volunteer activities since I was a child. After moving here, I became active in FOCUS and Bocce, where I met many others who volunteered at the Welcome Center. Once I retired, it was a no-brainer to volunteer at the Chamber, where I could combine my love of the Valley with my love of helping people.
What is your favorite part about volunteering for the Yountville Chamber?
No doubt about it – my favorite part is when you see that sparkle in a visitor’s eye because you just gave them the information that they needed to make their visit great! Besides, I love telling people where to go!
What does your volunteering entail?
On a regular basis, I spend 3 hours a week working with visitors. Many are new to the Valley and looking for some help in deciding what to do and where to go. Others are familiar with the Valley, but looking for some new experiences. Beyond that, there is the many opportunities to visit and learn about businesses in the area and enjoy the comradery of the volunteers.
What is the most surprising thing about volunteering?
I am always amazed at the visitors that arrive with the unrealistic expectation that they can see the whole Valley, have lunch, and go to three or four wineries in the next 4 hours.
What is the hardest part of your job?
I am fairly chatty when talking to a visitor, so it is extra hard for me to cut an explanation short in order to allow time for another visitor to be helped.
What was the last experience that made you a stronger person?
While I believe that everything in life can make you a stronger person, the most recent significant experience has been learning how to deal with the wildly unpredictable world of Covid-19.
What is the best career lesson you’ve learned so far?
If you listen twice as much as you speak, you will learn more, and appear less ignorant.
What would you do you weren’t doing this?
Visit more restaurants and wineries!
What’s a fun fact about you many people may not know?
I refer to myself as a dinosaur techie. I started programming computers in 1966 with punched cards and Basic Assembler Language.
Where’s your favorite place in the world?
Although I have lived in several different locales and visited many others, there is one place where the weather is almost always pleasant, the neighbors are friendly, happy and smile a lot, and the neighborhood is beautiful. Of course, I am referring to Yountville.
What is one food that you cannot resist?
I have been a foodie all my life, and I have had many, many wonderful dishes. But the most irresistible food for me is Danish Kringle from Bendtsen’s Bakery in Racine, Wisconsin!
What is the one thing, you can’t live without?
Other people to interact with!
What is your motto or personal mantra?
Chose the path that has heart!
Three words to best describe you:
Happy, hearty and healthy!
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