Housing custodian maintains green thumb off the job

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Although it’s the middle of winter, Dave Camp has flower baskets on his mind.

Camp, a custodian in Mary Markley Residence Hall, helps on weekends to run Tulip Tree Gardens in Gregory with the owners — his wife, Rachel, and her sister, Laura Morehouse.

When spring comes, their greenhouses will be full of hanging flower baskets. Camp’s sister-in-law designs the baskets, and he says that during their opening weekend — usually Mother’s Day — they’ll sell several hundred.

Tulip Tree Gardens has long been a family endeavor. When Camp’s father-in-law retired from Ford Motor Co., his mother-in-law went back to school at Michigan State University to finish the horticulture degree she had put aside in order to marry and have children.

Mary Markley Residence Hall custodian Dave Camp spends his weekend preparing items at a greenhouse that his wife co-owns. (Photo by Scott C. Soderberg, Michigan Photography)

They built their first greenhouse together, which has since expanded into three more. Their nine children, including Camp’s wife, now reunite every year for opening weekend.

Camp spends weekends all year round preparing for selling season. For the next few months, he’ll be repairing and clearing out the greenhouses to make space for the plants that will start growing in early spring.

Tulip Tree Gardens sells annuals, vegetable plants and shrubs. Camp says impatiens are his favorite annual. “They’re so pretty, so delicate looking.” As far as perennials? “I love rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm,’” says Camp, referencing the golden daises also known as black-eyed Susans.

While Camp’s work as a custodian in Markley isn’t plant-related, it’s still green. He helped bring a new eco-friendly disinfectant to University Housing’s cleaning protocol. Camp was part of the team that won the President’s Innovation Award in October 2013 for South Quad’s effort in piloting the use of the new cleaner.

Camp uses that disinfectant, as well as other products, to keep student bathrooms and public areas clean.

Before working for Housing, Camp had worked in factories for 20 years. After his second hernia operation, he was looking for something different and found work as a temporary custodian in South Quad.

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He became full-time and stayed there for 10 years as the custodian for the floors with Shipman Scholars, who receive scholarships that include room and board, allowing many of them to live in the same hall for their four years on campus. Camp had gotten to know them well, and was originally nervous when he was switched from South Quad to the freshmen-dense Markley.

“I was concerned, but the students have been great. It’s a stimulating community that’s very diverse. I’ve met students from all over, who give me a different perspective on what’s going on in their countries than I see on the news or in social media,” he says.

Camp appreciates the Housing community, which, with its mix of students and staff, is much different from the experiences he had working in factories.

“It’s been a life-saver for me, coming to work every day and being a part of such a vibrant community.”

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