A door-to-door salesman selling children’s books in rural Shawano County has been making residents nervous.
However, the salesman says he is just trying to earn some money for college.
Shawano School District Superintendent Todd Carlson said he has received multiple calls in the last few days from parents about a man coming to the door and wanting to talk to them and their children about school. Most of the calls have been on the western side of the school district boundaries, especially along Range Line Road near Pella.
He contacted the Shawano Police Department and Shawano County Sheriff’s Department, and sent a message about the visits to all parents of currently enrolled students.
“A couple of the calls were kind of interesting because they said someone was walking around the house and then came to the house and wanted to know if they had children,” Carlson said.
Chief Deputy John Gutho of the Sheriff’s Department identified the man as Patrick Narron, a student from North Carolina State University. Narron has a transient merchant license obtained by a book company, Southwestern Advantage, that allows him to sell door-to-door in the county. The company has operated in the area for several years, according to Gutho.
The Sheriff’s Department runs a criminal records check on applicants for the merchant license, which Gutho says costs $500, and no red flags came up on Narron.
“We’ve been getting (phone) complaints in the county, too, that he’s been making people nervous,” Gutho said. “We’re getting a couple of calls a day on him.”
Gutho was finally able to reach Narron on Tuesday afternoon after several attempts, and Narron spoke with the Leader by phone shortly after that. Narron said the Southwestern Advantage program, which runs the door-to-door book sales, has been in existence for 155 years and has hired college students as summer interns.
“I’m not trying to scare people, which it seems like a lot of people are,” Narron said. “I’m honestly trying to fulfill the educational needs of each family.”
Narron said he never represented himself as a school district employee. He said he goes directly to the front door and only goes around a house if there is no response and he hears people in the backyard.
“In all my presentations, when I sit down with families, my second line is that I’m Patrick Narron, a student from North Carolina State University,” Narron said. “On my order forms, it says that it’s not endorsed by any school district.”
Narron added he wears a lanyard with photo identification representing where he is from.
Carlson said he has been urging anyone who has received a visit from someone claiming to be with the district to contact law enforcement as soon as possible.
The school district never has anyone go door-to-door, Carlson said. If there is a need for an employee to make a home visit, the family would be contacted in advance.
Categories
