Father’s Day Reflections

Jessie Gendron paints a rock every Father’s Day for her dad, Mark Gendron, our Screenprint Manager. Mark’s son Tyler makes him a card (shown below). The Amherst Label family has watched Jessie and Tyler grow up—and appreciate their help with hand-work in Finishing. We completely understand why their dad says, “They’re the best kids ever.”
Amherst Label Founder
Nick Senior, AL founder



The origin story of Amherst Label is the story of a father’s love and respect for his son and a son’s love and respect for his dad.

The company was founded in 1978 by Nicholas Calvetti, a highly successful sales person and longtime service-oriented entrepreneur. After two years working out of his home with his wife Polly helping with the office work, business was booming and Nick Senior found himself not only needing help but seeing tremendous growth opportunity.

His son Nick had finished his formal education in the field of accounting at Bentley College and the University of Colorado and earned both a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree. He served in the army for two years before moving to Maine and starting a family. Nick was a promising CPA at Coopers and Lybrand and off to a great start in his career.

We can imagine Nick Senior with a lot on his plate laying awake at night wondering where he could find a partner to help him. And we can picture him thinking his son Nick was the best-qualified candidate. An interesting conversation must have transpired…. Nick had been supportive of his father’s career changes and was familiar with the work he was doing. But it would take serious consideration to turn away from a successful CPA career and come back to his home town to work with his father. A leap of faith that ripples through dozens and dozens of families this Father’s Day.

Don and Pat Condon

Nick has no regrets about his choice and 43 years later retired from a tremendously rewarding career, while retaining ownership of Amherst Label. He has always cherished the Amherst Label family, proud to state that, “Our people make the difference.” Watching families succeed and grow is certainly one of the most gratifying aspects of leading Amherst Label.

Longtime Customer Service/Sales Coordinator Don Condon shared his feelings about Father’s Day. “As our family has grown (and aged), Father’s Day has gone from a day where I looked forward to the kids/grandkids showing their appreciation towards me, to a day that when we gather and I see the families our children have raised and the caring, responsible, independent people they have all become. It fills me with pride and I can’t help but sit back and think, ‘Damn, I must have done something right.’ With a little help along the way from Patty of course. It’s truly their presence, not their presents that matter.”

It fills me with pride and I can’t help but sit back and think,
”Damn, I must have done something right.”

Don Condon
Mark’s 2021 card
Mark Gendron, Bills fan

Missy Hamel and Mark Gendron are shining stars at Amherst Label, advancing to leadership roles in their areas. They’ve raised two beautiful children, who pitch in at Amherst Label in Finishing when extra (skilled) hands are needed. Mark shared photos of his Father’s Day gifts from last year and said, “Every year Tyler makes me a card and Jessie paints a rock for me (pictured above). They’re the best kids ever.”

On top of watching employees’ families grow, Nick has had the special privilege of seeing his two children and his son-in-law join the AL team. Nick says, “I’m blessed with a situation where my daughter, my son and my son-in-law are all involved in the business. And the bonus is that they’re doing a fantastic job! I’m very proud of them all. It’s wonderful. I’m blessed by the whole thing. What more can you ask for?” The options for other careers were always out there but there’s something special about Amherst Label, and Angela Calvetti Hornor, her husband Nye Hornor and Nicholas Kepka Calvetti all recognize it. Whether it’s the excellent product line, the beauty of printing, the joy of helping people sell their products with our labels, the feeling of doing good in the world, or some indescribable special sauce—Amherst Label offers the same bright horizons today that it did in 1978.

Nick Calvetti Senior couldn’t have known that his baby granddaughter would grow up to marry a go-getter named Nye, committed to taking his young company to $14 million in sales in 2022. But he would be equally proud and amazed.

Nye and Angela have a family of three active kids and Nye says, “As a father, I’m proud to have children, proud to see them grow up and mature and become young adults. It was always great being that dad who was able to play with them and teach them things and just be with them and share all the joy that being a father is.”

But Nye turns his thoughts about the day to his fathers: “Father’s Day gives me a chance to reflect and respect all the things my father did for me. And my father-in-law Nick has given me the opportunity to work at Amherst Label, and now to be president of Amherst Label. I didn’t meet my real father [because he died when Nye was very young] but Father’s Day is a time to respect my father and father-in-law and what they’ve taught me and how I’ve grown.”

No matter how much times change, important things endure—like a father’s love and respect for his child and a child‘s love and respect for a father.

Wishing everyone a great day full of joyful reflection.

Thomas is missing from this otherwise complete family photo of Nick (center), son-in-law Nye (red pants), daughter Angela and son Nicholas. Plus Thomas’s sisters Carolyn (far right) and Hadley (front). This fourth generation are familiar faces at Amherst Label and pitch in on many occasions.

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