Fun Enterprises News and Newsletters

My father owned a mechanical contracting company, so he employed mostly men, but the families were invited too. Even though spouses and children were welcome, not many came besides my mom, my siblings, and me.

The fishing trip was always a blast.

There was amazing homemade food cooked by my mom and, of course, plenty to drink. We spent the whole day out on the ocean. I may be remembering it through childhood eyes, but I honestly do not remember a single rainy outing. We had the whole boat, followed the fish, ate, laughed, and everyone simply hung out and had FUN.

Those memories are now over 40 years old, and even today, when I run into former employees and even their children, they still talk about those outings. They remember them as some of the best times and say those events made them feel like the company truly cared about them.

My father strongly believed in his employees. He understood they were the backbone of his business. He believed that if you treated employees right, they would treat both the company and its customers right.

The summer outing was not the only employee event he hosted. He also held two holiday parties each year — one at the shop just for employees and another at a restaurant for employees and their guests.

I have now worked at FUN Enterprises, Inc. for over 30 years, and our own company holiday parties and summer get-togethers have given me that same sense of community and appreciation.

Every year, we help our clients produce hundreds of employee events. Through those experiences, we see firsthand how much these events matter. They make employees feel proud of where they work and help build relationships that can last a lifetime.

I always tell clients that showing appreciation does not have to mean producing a huge event. Sometimes it can be as simple as bringing in a caricature artist during a lunchtime social or surprising employees with an ice cream truck for an afternoon break.

I wanted to share these personal memories because when we talk about the importance of employee events, it is not just about statistics or trends. I know from experience how meaningful these moments can be and the lasting impact they can have on people’s lives.

Today, companies are putting even more focus on creating experiences that help employees feel connected, appreciated, and part of a team — especially in hybrid and work-from-home environments where face-to-face interaction matters more than ever.

And now I would love to hear from you.

What was your favorite company summer outing or employee event? Was there one experience that made you feel especially connected to your workplace or coworkers?

Feel free to email me your favorite summer outing memories or creative employee event ideas. I would love to share some of them in a future newsletter!

New Programs Alert!

Let us introduce our newest Hands-On Programs:

FUN Charms, DIY Pressed Flower: Floating Glass Frames and DIY Press Flower: Wooden Frames

Learn More

Sam's Picks for Summer

Nothing says summer like comfort food and taking it easy. These simple, family favorite recipes are great for a BBQ with friends or just a quiet night at home.

Jalapeño Poppers

Individual Berry Parfaits

Mom's GF Mac and Cheese

The Student Experience: Connection, Care, and Belonging

by Dave Zamansky

As higher education professionals, we have an enormous responsibility ahead of us: helping students feel connected, supported, and like they truly belong. When students feel seen and valued, they are far more likely to engage, persist, and ultimately succeed.

Many of today’s students are arriving on our campuses less socially and emotionally prepared for college life than in previous years. In many cases, that lack of connection and confidence also impacts their academic readiness. More than ever, our role is not just about offering services or planning programs. It is about intentionally creating opportunities for students to build meaningful relationships and develop the tools they need to thrive.

I truly love the work we get to do in higher education, and I believe it has never been more important. We have the opportunity to create communities where students feel connected, valued, and empowered to succeed. The work we do every day matters, and the relationships we help foster can genuinely change a student’s college experience and future.

I recently read an article by Mark Milliron and Dustin Manocha in RealClearEducation (February 2026) discussing research on the importance of connection in college completion. One line especially stood out to me: “A student’s ability to begin, persist, and ultimately thrive often depends on the strength of their bonds to classmates, faculty, mentors, coaches, and advisors.”

The article referenced a large randomized study at California State University, Northridge, where students who engaged with a belonging focused, peer connection platform called Nearpeer, were more likely to start college and remain enrolled through their first year. Research continues to reinforce something many of us in student affairs have known for years: connection matters.

It is time for us to intentionally create cultures of care on our campuses. Cultures that show students we have their back. Cultures that encourage deeper conversations instead of surface level interactions. Cultures that help students move from simply living on campus, to truly belonging there.

In addition to being a leadership speaker and facilitator with Fun Enterprises, I also serve as a director overseeing Area Coordinators and Resident Assistants (RAs). Over the next year, one of my biggest goals is equipping our RA staff with the tools necessary to foster this culture of care in our residence halls.

This starts with training. We are focusing on helping RA's feel more comfortable engaging in deeper dialogue with residents, creating programs that are intentionally connection focused, and consistently thinking about ways to support students academically, socially, and emotionally.

One initiative I am especially excited about is asking our RA's to come into their one-on-one meetings with supervisors prepared to share three examples of engagement each week:

1 New: a new connection they made with a resident
1 Deep: a conversation or relationship that grew beyond the surface level
1 Reach: an intentional outreach to a student who may be struggling, isolated, disconnected, or in need of additional support

When I first presented these ideas to my RA staff, one of them said something that immediately stuck with me: “This is about changing a culture.” Hearing that genuinely excited me because that is exactly the goal. This is bigger than simply completing tasks or meeting programming requirements. It is about creating an environment where connection, care, and intentional engagement become part of the everyday student experience.

We are also encouraging staff members to practice what I call “I Thought of You Because…”

Examples might include:

“I thought of this club because you mentioned being interested in…”
“I saw this internship opportunity and thought of you…”
“This event made me think of you because…”

Those small moments can have an enormous impact. They tell students, “You matter here. Someone sees you. Someone remembers you.”

While programs are valuable, I believe meaningful connection is even more important. When staff truly know their residents, programming naturally becomes stronger, more relevant, and more engaging. Students are also more likely to attend campus wide events when they feel personally connected to the people inviting them.

At the end of the day, this work is about belonging. It is about helping students feel connected to something bigger than themselves. It is about retention, persistence, and ultimately helping students walk across the commencement stage feeling proud of the community they were part of.

Residence hall doors should be open more often (minus the rooms with emotional support animals). Students should be cheering on the athletes who live on their floor. Campus events should feel energetic, welcoming, and community centered. Students should know there are people around them who genuinely care.

None of this happens by accident. It happens through intentional engagement.

If you ever want to brainstorm ideas about fostering connection and belonging within your own department or campus community, I would love the conversation. Feel free to reach out to me at dave@davezamansky.com.

Summer Events Don’t Need to Be Large to Matter

by Debra Holland

As summer approaches, many organizations begin thinking about employee engagement in a different way. Calendars loosen slightly, vacation schedules begin filling up, and there’s often a noticeable shift in workplace energy. It’s also the time of year when companies start considering summer outings, appreciation events, and team gatherings. In today's economy budgets may need reworking or decreasing, which may make planning different than in previous years.

Some employers may believe that if an event can’t be large, elaborate, or highly produced, it may not be worth doing at all.

In reality, some of the most meaningful workplace moments are often the simplest.

Employees rarely judge an event solely by its budget or scale. What people tend to remember most is whether the experience felt genuine. Did they laugh? Did they connect with coworkers they normally don’t interact with? Did the event create a brief but meaningful break from routine? Those moments are often far more impactful than organizations realize.

Summer offers a unique opportunity for this kind of connection because it naturally lends itself to more relaxed interaction. Sometimes an informal outdoor lunch, a casual ice cream social, a trivia break, or a short team celebration can accomplish exactly what people need most: a chance to reconnect as humans, not just coworkers.

Here at FUN, the summertime comes after one of our busiest times of year and our owners have been known to cook up a BBQ lunch for the staff on the grill, just outside the shipping doors, on a nice day and it is always relaxing, fun, and impactful. Nothing fancy, just the staff being afforded the chance to exhale together, enjoy a yummy lunch and reconnect.

There’s something powerful about events that don’t feel overly orchestrated. Employees can usually tell the difference between an experience designed to genuinely bring people together and one that feels forced or performative. Smaller gatherings often succeed because they remove pressure. Conversations happen more naturally. People participate more comfortably. The atmosphere feels authentic.

That authenticity matters, especially during a time of year when workplace focus can become fragmented. Summer often brings competing priorities, burnout from a busy first half of the year, and teams operating on different schedules. Even brief moments of shared experience can help reset morale and strengthen relationships in subtle but important ways.

Another misconception is that workplace culture is built through a couple of major events each year. More often, culture is shaped through consistency — small moments repeated over time. Organizations that regularly create opportunities for connection, even modest ones, tend to build stronger engagement than those relying entirely on one large annual event.

In many ways, the value of summer events isn’t about entertainment alone. It’s about signaling that people matter. It’s about creating moments where employees feel appreciated, included, and connected to something beyond their daily responsibilities.

And while employees may not remember every detail of an event months later, they will remember how it made them feel.

Sometimes, that’s more than enough to make it meaningful.

Get Away — You Can’t Afford Not To

by Ken Abrahams

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial—and official—start of summer. Pools and water parks open, campgrounds fill up, and baseball stadiums buzz with the excited squeals of fans young and old. Schools let out, camps begin, and long, sun-filled days eventually give way to beautiful starry nights with just enough breeze to break the heat. It is also vacation season, when some families pile into the car for a National Lampoon-style Griswold adventure, while others board planes to explore far-reaching corners of the world.

Growing up, every summer my family headed out to see a new part of America. We traveled to Maine, the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and many other places. Like the Griswold's, we often traveled in a station wagon with luggage tied to the roof. Back then, seat belts were optional, so my siblings and I stretched out in the back on a giant piece of yellow foam. We pulled off on the side of the road for picnics and searched for places to swim. My dad was not a big spender, so the accommodations were not exactly first-rate. I will never forget the Buffalo Bend Motel—or the place where the “pool” was basically a dirt hole filled with water. Still, those trips remain some of my favorite childhood memories.

When we had kids of our own, we did not take those same kinds of trips. Sports and camps filled the calendar. As they got older, Harry worked at the camp he once attended, and Sam became immersed in AAU baseball. Most of our travel revolved around tournaments in Georgia or the Carolinas. Family vacations became cruises or the occasional island getaway. Whenever the
topic of vacations comes up, many people say the same thing: no time or no money. It is an excuse I used often myself. Looking back, I wish I had said yes far more often.

Vacations—and simply taking time away from work—matter for so many reasons. Our minds and bodies need a break from the daily grind. We need opportunities to recharge and reset. There are incredible things to see both in this country and beyond, and sometimes people forget just how vast and varied America really is. The Grand Canyon is breathtaking in its sheer size. New Orleans offers some of the best food I have ever eaten and some of the most interesting people I have ever met. Zoos in San Diego, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, and Chicago introduce visitors to some of the most beautiful creatures on the planet.

Travel can also be educational. You can learn how the West was settled, how the gold rush shaped population centers, and how history still echoes through cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Williamsburg, and Washington, D.C. Their museums and historic sites are well worth the trip.

Most importantly, time with family and friends is invaluable. If you are a parent, there comes a point when your kids no longer want to hang out with you—or they are simply too busy building lives of their own. Don’t squander another summer. Even if it is just a staycation with a few day trips, invest the time. You won’t regret it.

Book Review by Erica Lombardi

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My favorite season of the year is upon us! Time to bask in the sunshine, enjoy a cold beverage (a margarita if you’re like me) and open up a juicy novel. If you're searching for your first book to bring to the beach this summer, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt may just be it!

The novel follows Tova, a recently widowed woman in her seventies who takes a night-shift cleaning job at a local aquarium. She forms an unlikely bond with Marcellus, the aquarium's resident giant Pacific octopus, who also happens to narrate a significant portion of the book. I know what you’re thinking, ‘that sounds ridiculous!’ It is an extremely quirky premise, but the depth of the characters is so robust that I never found myself questioning the absurdity of the plot.

One of the book's real strengths is its dual-narrator structure. Tova's voice is measured and quietly moving. Marcellus is sharp, observant, and often surprisingly funny. Reading between the two never feels gimmicky. If anything, the contrast deepens the emotional lives of both characters, giving the reader two very different but equally compelling windows into loss, longing, and how unlikely connections can form in the midst of it all.

Van Pelt isn't trying to be realistic, and that seems like a conscious decision. Marcellus operates with an awareness and agency that goes well beyond what any actual octopus is capable of. But the fantastical elements serve the story rather than distract from it. They create space for the novel to explore its larger themes with warmth and a touch of whimsy.

In addition to the connective relationship between Tova & Marcellus, Van Pelt weaves in a captivating mystery through line, music to the ears of mystery genre lovers! For decades, Tova has lived with a grief that remains unresolved, and as the narrative unfolds, Marcellus—with his sharp, uncanny observations—becomes the most unlikely key to unlocking the truth.

At its core, this is a story about grief and connection. Tova is carrying real loss, and the novel handles that with care and honesty. What makes it special is how it balances that emotional weight with genuine humor and hope. While many books that center around grief feel heavy, Remarkably Bright Creatures somehow feels light and digestible. You can get lost in the characters, the mystery and the emotion, without ever feeling exhausted by it.

This one has easily earned a spot among my favorite reads of the year, and I genuinely think there's something in it for everyone. I can’t think of an archetype of a reader that wouldn’t enjoy it. Grab your beach chair and crack Remarkably Bright Creatures open!

Looking for a great program? Our Stuff-A-Squishie never disappoints!

Below is the newest lineup.

*Subject to Availability

Call 781-436-3187 or email

Ken Abrahams (Ken@funent.com) for College/University Events

AC Anders (AC@funent.com) for Corporate

Samantha Drake (Sam@funent.com) for private events

Brainteasers

1. Throw away the outside and cook the inside, then eat the outside and throw away the inside. What is it?

2. What starts with a T, ends with a T, and has T in it?

3. If you write this five-letter word in all caps, it reads the same right side up and upside down.

See Answers

Math Riddles

1. I am a number, but when you add ‘G’ to me, I go away. What number am I?

2. Using only addition, how can you get to 1000 by only using 8s?

3. Which 3 numbers have the same answer whether they’re added or multiplied together?

See answers

Kim's Corner

Click the links below for some great ideas, recipes, and FUN!

Father's Day Activities

Summer Recipes

Summer Fun

July 4th Recipes

Pride Festivals

Random Trivia

1. What occasion corresponds with the longest day of the year?

2. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person in history to do what?

3. What was America’s first national park?

See Answers

Gardening

10 Summer Flowers That Thrive with Little Water

Keeping that Summer Garden Looking Great

Secrets of Summer Planting in June and July

Summer Gardening Ideas & Tips

Have you viewed Ken's Tuesday@10 Video Blogs?

Go to Blogs

Sign Up to get Ken's Video Blogs sent directly to your inbox every Tuesday@10!

Puzzle Answers:

Hidden Object Puzzle:

Trivia:

1. The summer solstice

2. Walk on the moon

3. Yellowstone National Park

Brainteasers

1. Corn on the cob

2. A teapot

3. SWIMS

Math Puzzle

1. One (gOne).

2. 888+88+8+8+8=1000

3. 1, 2 and 3

Newsletter compiled and edited by

Lexi Grabowski

June 2026

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. I hope you have a wonderful summer filled with FUN!

Bear Friends Forever

02/24/2026

Below are the most recent listing of Animals - 16 inch and 8 inch and Holiday choices.

Stuff-A-Squishie

02/24/2026

Sam's Gluten Free Recipes

10/01/2024

Jalapeño Poppers

Ingredients:
12 jalapeños

6 oz cream cheese softened

¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend

1 lb. bacon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using gloves, wash and slice jalapeños lengthwise and carefully remove and discard seeds.

In a small bowl, mix cream cheese and shredded cheese.

Using a spoon, fill each half of the sliced jalapeños with cheese mixture and put back together. Wrap with one slice of bacon and place on the baking sheet.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until bacon is crisp and the cheese mixture is bubbly.

Drain on paper towels and serve warm.

Mom's GF Mac and cheese

(Adapted from Betty Crocker)

Ingredients:
1 box gluten free rotini (12oz) (I prefer Ronzoni or Barilla)

6 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch

5 ¼ cups milk

18 oz of American cheese slices

5-6 oz gluten free crackers, crushed (I use Lance or Schar)

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees and cook and drain pasta as directed on package using minimum cook time.

Meanwhile, in a 4-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion, salt, and pepper in butter, stirring occasionally, until onion is crisp-tender.

In a small bowl, make a slurry with milk and cornstarch, stirring until smooth. Stir into onion mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for one minute, remove from heat.

Stir in cheese, one slice at a time until fully melted. Stir in pasta. Spoon mixture into ungreased 3 quart casserole dish.

Sprinkle with crushed cracker crumbs and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and light brown.

Individual Berry Trifles

Ingredients:
12 baked, unfrosted gluten free cupcakes. I use Pilsbury Gluten Free Funfetti mix.

1 3.9 oz box each vanilla and banana cream instant pudding

4 cups of cold milk (if you are going to substitute with a dairy free milk, check the pudding box to make sure it will still set)

1 8oz. container of Cool Whip, thawed

1 half pint each, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries

Directions:
Rinse and dry berries, quarter strawberries, and set aside.

Slice each cupcake in half horizontally, separating the top and bottom.

In twelve clear plastic cups, place one half of the cupcake, followed by a quarter cup of pudding, followed by 2-3 tablespoons of cool whip. Sprinkle berries on top. Repeat this process with the second half of the cupcake. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate or serve immediately.

Help Wanted

09/16/2021

Fun Enterprises, Inc. needs Artists and Event Staff

We are looking for full and part time artists and event staff in our Stoughton, Massachusetts location. Candidates should be personable, enthusiastic individuals with a strong work ethic and a commitment to customer service.

High School Diploma or GED Certificate is preferred.
Must be personable, hardworking and able to work independently.
Strong customer service orientation.
Strong attention to detail and follow through.
Proven proficiency in the use of computer equipment/applications.
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely in written and verbal formats.
Punctual for all jobs and assignments.
Be able to lift 40 lbs. and stand up for prolonged periods of time.
Must have a valid driver’s license, reliable vehicle and a clean driving record.

Please send inquiries to: Donna@funent.com