Faces Around Town: Kelly Reineking

Name: Kelly Reineking

Position: Owner/artist at Mermaid’s Touch Ltd. We make jewellery from invasive lionfish and green iguanas.

Where are you from? Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA. I’ve lived here for 30 years.

How long have you participated in the CB Farmers & Artisans market? Since 2017.

How would you describe what you do at your job? Well, it hardly feels like a job. I spear invasive lionfish, cut off their fins and spines and make jewellery from them. I also tan green iguana skins for my iguana line. Then I sell my jewellery in my market stall at the Wednesday Camana Bay Farmers & Artisans Market as well as occasional other markets.

What do you enjoy about your job? Everything! I love diving and hunting for lionfish. Then I like being creative in the making of unique jewellery pieces. And lastly, I love educating people about invasive species while selling my jewellery. Oh, I guess I should mention that I have the best boss ever. If I want to stop what I’m doing and go for a dive or go for a swim or whatever, she says, 'No problem. Go.'

Favourite Camana Bay memory? In 2017, I attended an annual meeting for the Farmers & Artisans Market, which just happened to fall on my birthday. At that meeting I was told I was being offered a permanent spot at the market. I told them that was the best birthday present ever.

What's something we don't know about you that we should? I got certified to dive in Lake Michigan in April. The water temperature was 37 degrees Fahrenheit, and I wrote in my dive logbook, 'Diving is a cold, wet, miserable experience. I’ll never do it again.' I went on to become a dive instructor, an underwater photographer and now a lionfish hunter.

This article was first published in the April/May 2025 print edition of Camana Bay Times.