Happy New Year, 2009!
Happy New Year to everyone! We all have high hopes for what the new year will bring, despite the somewhat depressing news brought to us by the national media. Personally I want to take a positive attitude and look at last year’s slow down as producing some pent up demand for some growth! I can’t say that my crystal ball is any better than yours, but keeping a positive attitude can’t hurt.
2009 is a bit of a milestone for Easterday Construction Co., Inc. too. The early history of our company is bit sketchy, but our earliest record of completed work is the dedication stone on the south side of the Culver Elementary School Gym which says the gym was built in 1929 by Russell L. Easterday Construction and Supply Company. That would have to be one of the earliest incarnations of our company which puts us at 80 years old this year!
Proposed Culver Elementary School Gym Addition
At the time of construction, the gym was the High School Gym. Through changes over the years, it has served as a Jr. High School Gym and now the Elementary School Gym. The Adminstration is currently considering renovations including roof work, changing the interior floor plan, installing new bleachers and building an addition on the west side to correct problems with the existing locker room. The gym is located across the street from our office in Culver. We look forward to the opportunity to participate in this project if it moves forward.
I met Judge Wendall C. Tombaugh late last year to discuss a project at his home. It was interesting talking to him as he is a former Culver resident (moving away in 1929) and knew of our company from those days until today. It’s always interesting to hear history of our Company from the perspective of those on the outside. It’s also interesting that his recollections back date our beginnings even further. First hand accounts are getting harder and harder to come by.
I’ve kind of rambled here, but here’s wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year!
Kevin
Key West
Key West, Florida Map
As mentioned in a previous post, Becky and I took some time off after Thanksgiving to travel south. We didn’t find the best weather, but we still had a good time. We spent the weekend after Thankgiving in Atlanta and then drove down to Key West, FL on Monday. We basically had three days at Key West (Tues, Wed, Thurs) before driving back to Atlanta on Friday.
Key West East Martello Museum
This is our second trip to Key West in two years. We went there last year at this time and enjoyed it as well. This year we had somewhat of a heads up on what we had seen and liked and knew a little more about where to go. Last year we visited the Key West Garden Club in the West Martello, Hemingway’s Home, Truman’s Little White House and Fort Zachery Taylor. This year we visited East Martello Fort Museum, the Butterfly Conservatory as well as returning to Fort Zachary Taylor and doing some additional neighborhood exploration. We enjoyed the live blues music at the Sunset Pier and enjoyed the <warning!> raunchy songs and humor by Pete & Wayne at Sloppy Joes.
Former ECC employee Leroy Bean honored by Culver Chamber of Commerce
From the Pilot News:
Awarded Volunteer of the Year was Leroy Bean, whom Stallings (Culver Chamber President) said “epitomizes what a volunteer is.”
Born in Chicago in 1941, Bean was in Culver by 1942 and has lived here 66 years since, marrying Margaret Poor in 1961 and having two daughters, Kimberly and Cheryl, besides three grandchildren, three step grandchildren, and five great grandsons. Bean retired from Easterday Construction after 42 years in Nov., 2004 joining the Lions Club along the way in July, 2001. Bean became “Station Master” in 2002 at the Club’s headquarters, the former Culver train station-depot in the town park. “If Leroy asks you to take that job over,” quipped Stallings with a smile, “you have to say ‘no.’ He basically runs that place. Everything that happens there, Leroy’s involved in it.”
Bean has been in charge of rental of the station since 2003, and over recent years has volunteered at the Kiwanis Club’s Twin Lakes camp, helped with Christmas in April several times, worked with Culver’s food pantry, removed snow from sidewalks of neighbors and residents; put up Christmas decorations on Main St. and Lakeshore Drive, and held seats on the park board and Lakefest Committee.
Bean, expressing his appreciation and surprise at the award, said simply he’d “rather be out volunteering somewhere!”
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As stated in the above article, Leroy was an employee of Easterday Construction Co., Inc. for over 40 years, much of that time serving as a Project Superintendent. He started as a truck driver and worked his way up, developing his skills as a carpenter and supervisor along the way. We still count him as a friend and are proud of his continuing accomplishments since leaving us. We wish him the best and hope to nominate him for this award again in the future. – Kevin
Sandhill Farm – Suwanee Town Center
Last week Becky and I took a week and went to Georgia and Florida. We drove down to Atlanta on Thanksgiving Day and spent that weekend with one of my best friends, Kim Whitten, who was also my secretary at my previous employer. We spent the weekend with her family before going on to Florida and Key West. We came back and stayed with them for the weekend on the return leg of our trip as well. Even when I lived there, I referred to the area as Atlanta, but in reality, Kim lives in Suwanee, Georgia. (Yeah, like the song.)
In touring around our old stomping grounds, we went to see Suwanee Town Center. Rather than trying to revive the old downtown, Suwanee chose to create a new town center. It is a P.U.D. in its truest sense, combining public service space, park space, commercial space and a range of residential types. Read more about it here and here.
The Suwanee Town Center states their vision as “live…work…play…shop.” This is something I would like to emulate in my proposed Sand Hill Farm development. There are differences. The Sand Hill Farm property is approximately 2/3rds the size and I have no vision for Sand Hill Farm to take the place of Downtown Culver. Also, in keeping with the vision presented by the Culver Redevelopment Commission, I would like to keep an option open for a light industrial aspect to the development.
SPAM in Moderation…
I didn’t have much experience with blogs when I started this. I tried to read up on some of the basics before starting and WordPress recommended that I use moderated comments. Wow! I have been amazed at how quickly this blog was found and assaulted by Spammers. This blog is hosted on our ECC website, so it’s not like we’re out in some public arena. Still, I get spam comments nearly every day. Occasionally one is creative or at least makes a minimal effort to look like a real comment – Something like, “I like your site. – Eric” before adding a link to something inane. Others are nothing more than a jumble of words or letters followed by multiple links to porn sites, cheap drug sites, hair growth sites, hot stocks and wild claims on how to increase your proportions, whether your male or female… In 2004, the Federal Goverment tried to curb spam with the CAN-SPAM law. (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing) While I’m impressed with the catchy acronym, I can’t see that the $11k fine and other requirements of the law have had any effect on my inbox. If you’re interested in more on this law try here: http://www.ftc.gov/spam/
An article I read recently cited a study by an internet security company that claimed that their research showed that Indiana was ranked #7 in unsolicited email with a whopping 88% of email messages being unsolicited junk. Our neighbors in Illinois must be even more gullible as they were ranked #1. A rather dubious honor…
The original SPAM created by Jay Hormel came to being in 1937. According to their website, “After more than seven decades in the marketplace, the SPAM® family of products is still the tasty, high-quality kitchen staple made of 100 percent pure pork and ham that the world has come to know and love.After more than seven decades in the marketplace, the SPAM® family of products is still the tasty, high-quality kitchen staple made of 100 percent pure pork and ham that the world has come to know and love.” Mmmmmm… Mmmmmmm…!!! Anybody familiar with email (and apparently blogging) hears “spam” and thinks first of the annoying avalanche of unsolicited junk that clogs our email inboxesevery time we open them. I’ve been using the spam-blocking options available from my email provider as well as after market add-ons as a secondary defense, but still end up with a phenominal amount of trash.
Internet Spam may have gotten it’s name from the Monty Python Troupe and their skit about a couple trying to order breakfast, but finding that everything offered on the menu has spam in it. The wife loudly proclaims, “I don’t like Spam!” while a chorus of vikings drown out all conversation with their chanting song, “spam, spam, spam, spam…” Still a hilarious bit thirty years later! And wholly appropriate! Unfortunately I don’t know how to embed the video here, but you can find it on You Tube by searching “Monty Python Spam” and for a while anyway, you can link to it here: Monty Python Spam Skit
If you find a miraculous way of dealing with spam, let me know. Until then, I hope you’re not offended that comments will be moderated and I will continue to have to deal with SPAM in moderation… <pun intended>
Kevin
UPDATE: I’ve added a plugin from Askimet that has made a world of difference in the amount of spam I’m having to handle. I only installed it this week, 1/5/09, but I’m impressed so far! It’s a free program and the installation into my WordPress blog program was painless.
