The 3-year-old’s obsession with trash started nearly six months ago and a fan club by Rumpke celebrating all things trash is feeding his fascination.
“About six months ago Wyatt’s obsession with trash started,” his grandmother Debbie Senger said. “He has a stool he stands on and puts everything in the right can,” she said, adding that the young boy is careful to separate his recyclables.
But the highlight of Wyatt’s week, his grandmother said, is waiting for the Rumpke truck to rumble into his Hamilton subdivision.
Wyatt’s parents, Brandon Senger and Ashley Gurr, along with his grandmother, have watched with amazement as he has formed a bond with Tyler Gideon, a driver for Rumpke who works their subdivision.
Throughout his average 400 stops each Thursday, Gideon said he has not experienced anything like Wyatt and his family.
“Wyatt is my No. 1 fan,” Gideon said. “He gives me water and he always is giving me something for a snack and it always includes a hug.”
“A kid like Wyatt makes my day,” he said. “I’ve told other drivers and my boss about him and they think it’s cool.”
The feeling is mutual, and Gideon solidified the bond with the boy when he gave him a toy Rumpke truck.
“I told Tyler we are stalking him,” Debbie Senger said with a laugh. “Tyler would have to pull out of the subdivision before Wyatt would stop looking at him and the truck.”
When Molly Yeager, a corporate communications supervisor at Rumpke heard about the special bond, she invited Wyatt to the company’s facility to take a behind the scenes tour.
It was all part of a fan club the company has started.
Children — and even adults — are able to join the Rumpke Fan Club, which gives members an opportunity to learn more about the equipment used to collect trash and recycling, the waste and recycling industry and Rumpke.
Colerain Twp.-based Rumpke Consolidated Companies Inc. operates in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio and services parts of West Virginia. Annual 2012 revenues of $488 million made it the 26th largest privately-held company in the Tristate, according to the Deloitte Cincinnati USA 100 list. The whole company employs nearly 3,000 people.
Rumpke Fan Club members receive access to special events, including behind-the-scenes tours, which is where Wyatt found himself Wednesday.
From the customer service center to the truck he was allowed to sit in, Wyatt took advantage of his day as honored guest. Clutching two toy trucks, he bounded around the real thing with pure excitement.
“When we pulled up he was just freaking out when he saw the trucks and the landfill,” Debbie Senger said.
But before hitting the exit, the 3-year-old grabbed an empty bag of Doritos and water bottle and made sure they made it into the trash.
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