William Miller

  The Northwoods Gift Shop:  Where Work and Creativity Met                 Kathy Livesey & William Miller      The Northwoods Gift Shop in Gaines, Pennsylvania, was a little slice of magic. It started as Manhattan Station back in 1995 but eventually became what everyone knew as Northwoods Gift Shop, run by Kathy and Tom Livesey. This place was more than a store—it was warm, welcoming, and had that family vibe you don’t get in big box stores. It wasn’t just shopping either. They had an 18-hole mini-golf course and gem-mining stations, both indoors and outdoors. It was an experience, not just a business. In 2017, I got the chance to join the team part-time. My job was in the all-in-one IT Department, which is a fancy way of saying, “If it had a button, a wire, or a screen, I probably had to fix it.” Printer jams, social media, website updates—you name it, I did it. It was overwhelming at times but also deeply s...