Ganzhorn makes trash day a pleasant experience

   He greets his customers with a smile and hot cup of coffee. No, it’s not your favorite server at the local diner. It’s Barry Ganzhorn, worker at the Town of Caledonia transfer station on Middle Road, where customers will find this friendly service. Ganzhorn has a way of turning a dreaded Saturday job into a pleasant experience. He even has the Ganzhorn version of the Farmer’s Almanac posted on the building with predictions for the first snow!

   The Town of Caledonia provides the transfer station collection services for town and village residents every Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to noon. Town Highway Superintendent Mark Schroeder says, "Barry does a great job. He’s friendly and has a passion for the environment so he likes to see the trash properly disposed of and in many cases, reused."

   Ganzhorn, calling himself the "trash guy," works every Saturday morning. No matter what the weather is doing outside, he’s at the gate to the transfer station, putting on the hot coffee, selling tickets to customers and directing vehicles in the direction they should drive depending on what their load is. Dogs get a biscuit and children receive a lollipop!

   "I love the job. I enjoy seeing people bring in a load of brush and going out with a load of ground mulch. Everything that comes in gets turned around in some way, saving the town money," Ganzhorn says.

   It really is recycling in its basic form. The transfer station takes in a number of items free of charge and recycles them. For example, are you a person that likes to change his or her own motor oil? If so, bring your used motor oil to the transfer station where it will, in turn, be used in the furnace that heats the town highway building, saving the town hundreds of dollars on fuel costs during the heating season. Brush and storm debris can be dropped off and will be double ground into a high quality mulch available to customers. There are 10 large wood crates set up to collect newspapers and glossy inserts. You might think they are ground and made into recycled paper but they are not. Ganzhorn says when the crates get full he contacts a local farmer who comes to the Transfer Station, shreds the paper and uses it for bedding in his cow barns.

   Ganzhorn wants customers to know that he also takes in old books, including textbooks and encyclopedias, which are free to town residents. He says the collection turns around regularly by people dropping off and taking home books all the time. Looking for an old title? Stop at the Transfer Station and see Barry, you just might find it there. Other items that can be dropped off free of charge include cardboard and recyclable cans, glass and plastic containers.

   For a small fee, customers can drop off bagged trash, furniture, bedding, tires, items with Freon and appliances. Computers and monitors are not taken in at the transfer station, although Ganzhorn says he would like to arrange for a household hazardous waste collection through GLOW solid waste sometime in the future.

   After you’ve been waited on by one of the friendliest faces in town, are warmed with a hot cup of coffee and are crossing off "go to the transfer station" from your Saturday list, look to the east and notice all of the evergreen trees planted on the property.

   "They are all of the potted trees that decorated the town hall at Christmas time over the years. We plant one out here each year. Even the Christmas trees are repurposed," Ganzhorn commented.