A Tribute to Dad

Lincoln, NH - the heart of the White Mountains:  It all started 46 years ago this July, when Burgeon Outdoor founder Rudy Glocker hiked Mt. Washington with his father for the first time.
 
Rudy’s father, Karl Glocker, led the family up Washington from the Ammonoosuc Ravine trailhead. The elder Glocker had hiked New England’s tallest peak many times before, and he was eager to give his children their own formative experience in the White Mountains.
 
He was so eager, in fact, that he led the hike despite a torn meniscus that he planned on having surgery to repair later that summer.
 
“We took that hike and unfortunately coming down from the top, before Lake of the Clouds the darn thing went out on me,” Karl said with a laugh. “Eventually I got that knee back in and we finished the hike.”
 
Originally from Royersford, Pennsylvania, a small town of under 5,000 people along the Schuykill River 32 miles northwest of Philadelphia, the Glocker family had long been drawn to the serene beauty of northern New England, and to the White Mountains in particular.
 
As a young boy, Karl Glocker was first introduced to the region when he attended camp on Little Lake Sunapee. He first climbed Mt. Washington in 1947 shortly after his own father had returned from World War 2, and he kept returning to the region as he got older.  He even completed a Presidential Traverse before it was a 'thing'!

Once he started his own family, the Glockers regularly vacationed in the area. Every winter they came to ski, and every summer they stayed on Lake Morey just over the border in Vermont. Like their father, Rudy and his sisters also attended camp along a lakeside, and through those experiences the family passion for the outdoors was passed down another generation.
 
“From the time I was 9 years old I was camping out in the White Mountains,” Rudy said. “So my father's love of the outdoors helped put me in position to build my own love of the outdoors, and especially the White Mountains of New Hampshire."

 That passion remained even as life took Rudy all over the world. After graduating high school, Rudy went on to play college football at Penn State, one of the nation’s premier programs. He later earned his MBA from the Harvard Business School and served as a Vice President at Goldman Sachs before going off on his own to pursue a career as an entrepreneur.
 
Karl, who owned his own real estate and insurance company for decades, was an inspiration every step of the way.
 
“I learned a lot of lessons from him, I learned about how to start a business and how to treat people,” Rudy said. “Many of the lessons he taught you can see in action today at Burgeon.  Those seeds were planted through my father over the past 50 years of my life.”
 
In 2019, Rudy had the opportunity to bring all of his passions together, founding Burgeon Outdoor in the hopes of building a successful business that could benefit the surrounding communities through the the manufacturing of outdoor apparel.
 
After everything the outdoors had given him and his father, this was one way Rudy could give back.
 
“My dad loves nature and being outside, and over the years that infused into me, and that gave me a great appreciation of New Hampshire,” Rudy said. “I love this place, I love these mountains and I love these lakes. So when I founded Burgeon, I wanted to help preserve and sustain these places.”

It brings a great deal of satisfaction to me to see the impact we are making at Burgeon every day.  The pride our employees take in their craft, the impact we have on the trails and this community.  I know deep down inside we are building something great -- and we are all going to work hard to bring it to fruition."

 ~ Mac Cerullo

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Burgeon Outdoor was founded in 2019.  Burgeon’s mission is to help mountain communities flourish.  Burgeon proudly manufactures premium outdoor apparel in Lincoln, NH.  By manufacturing locally, Burgeon creates year round jobs in the White Mountains.  5% of Burgeon’s sales support its community and environmental efforts. To learn more, please visit our studio at the Village Shops in Lincoln, our website burgeonoutdoor.com or call us at 603-745-7123.