Few people have as much fun at their job as I do because my job is also my hobby. Thirty-one years ago, I came home from Seattle, on a college semester break, looking for a summer job. Guess what? I'm still working at it!

Born on March 8, 1947, at Grant Hospital, in Chicago, to Harry and Millicent, I'm the oldest of seven children. Dad was an avid golfer who won the Illinois Amateur Golf Tournament one year in the early 1940s. Mom was a great golfer, too. She and the late Betty Mies (a long-time and much-beloved member of the wine staff at Schaefer's) helped established the Wilmette-Kenilworth Golf Club ("W-K"), and played at the Wilmette Golf Course. Mom was a W-K match play winner in 1968.

I enjoyed free golf lessons most of my life and was in my first tournament at age 8. My handicap was down to a 10 at one time, but since a torn rotator cuff a few years ago, it's an ugly 24. Anyway, you can see where my interest in golf came from.

My family moved to Los Angeles when I was 2 years old. My two sisters, Allison and Beverly, were born in Hollywood. We lived near the Arboretum, where the old "Tarzan" movies were filmed. My friends and I would sometimes sneak under the fence and play on the sets. One day, we met a very young Johnny Weissmueller.

After seven years in California, we moved back to the Chicago area, and settled in Wilmette. Four brothers ? Bill, Bob, Chuck and John ? were added to the family. I went to Faith, Hope and Charity grade school in Winnetka and to Loyola Academy.

I confess to being a sports nut. Baseball is my best and favorite sport. The Dodgers were the love of my life until I met Wendy, who became my wife. By good fortune, we were blessed with a lovely daughter, Lauren Ashley, born in 1990. The three of us love to fish and hike outdoors with Chips, our chocolate Labrador Retriever.

My career at Schaefer's has been the archetypal "work your way up through the ranks" story. I started out as the warehouse "grunt," putting away inventory and stocking the shelves. Soon after, I helped out in the delivery department, filling orders and driving. Then, it was back to the warehouse, where I ordered merchandise and clerked at the front of the store. Then, one day, the boss threw me the keys to the store and said, "Be sure to lock up when you're through." In May 2004, I visited some of the most famous wine-producing areas in Europe, including Jerez, in Spain (to see how Sherry is made), and the Rhone Valley and the Alsace region in France. I came back with a greater appreciation of the wines of these areas and some recommendations for customers who are interested in trying them.

I've made many, many friends at work and feel like part of the Schaefer's family. We all work together as a team, take pride in the store and in boasting of Schaefer's outstanding reputation. We don't put pressure on our customers. We're all paid by salary, not commission. We sell what we enjoy ourselves and if customers like our choices, they let us know when they come back and ask us for another recommendation. That's a big part of why this has been a great job for more than 30 years.