View Cart
630-232-4200

Meet Our Special Events Coordinator

January 20, 2022

We’re thrilled to announce a new role at The Little Traveler AND a wonderful new member of our team to fulfill that role. A BIG welcome to Betsy Koepnick! She’s our Special Events Coordinator and will oversee the many, many events that take place at our store. She’s already busy working on fun new events for 2022, our 100th anniversary year.

Betsy’s history with The Little Traveler goes way back—to before she’d even started kindergarten. Her mother and grandmother, who lived on Geneva’s 4th and 2nd Streets, respectively, often brought Betsy to the Traveler for lunch, back when the cafe was actually outside in a courtyard. When they browsed the store afterward, “No touching” and “Hold Mom’s hand” were the rules. And everyone always dressed up for a day at The Little Traveler.  

This isn't the first time Betsy worked for the family that owns The Little Traveler. At the age of 16, she began working for the Simons at The Meeting Place, one of Geneva's Merra-Lee Shops, and continued working at those shops throughout high school and college. Back then, she was Betsy Ramsey. She graduated with a degree in education and began her career as a grade-school teacher and then a reading specialist in Naperville, eventually becoming the district's English Program Coordinator. She retired in 2017. 

During all that time, she carried on her family's "Traveler tradition," frequently lunching at The Atrium Cafe with her son and his Papa Joe—our very own Joe Greenberg, who became like a grandfather to Betsy's son when he lost his grandparents at a young age.

"I can't go back inside my childhood home or my grandmother's home anymore," Betsy says, "But I can come back to The Little Traveler, and this place feels like coming home." 

It's that sentiment that inspired Betsy to officially join our team as a staff member during 2021's busy holiday shopping season. She'd seen for herself the struggles many retailers faced with being shorthanded and didn't want that to happen to The Little Traveler. So, she got in touch, and we were delighted to have her help out in our Housewares and Paper departments. She only intended to stay on through the first of the year, but we weren't going to let her go that easily...

[Please excuse us as we take a metaphor and float with it]

We're ready to move full steam ahead after navigating through a murky couple of years. Celebrating our first century in business and sailing into the next means bringing back a full roster of events—longtime favorites as well as brand new. This will involve the whole crew, so we thought it was time to appoint a captain to oversee it all. With her experience and lifelong love of The Little Traveler, we can't think of a better person to take the helm than Betsy. Welcome aboard! 

To be the first to know when new events are scheduled, sign up for our Weekly Email list

Little Traveler
Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter and Get $5 OFF Your Next Online Order

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter and Get $5 OFF Your Next Online Order

Be the first to know about upcoming events, discounts, and promotions. Get a coupon code for $5 off your next order at our Online Shop when you subscribe.

You have Successfully Subscribed!