State of the Union – Two Empty Seats
I wrote about my distaste for the State of the Union address last year at this time in a post here. This year is shaping up to be no less the embarrassing spectacle. Listening to the Sunday morning news shows yesterday, I heard that President Obama is planning to leave two seats empty, to which I say, “Good Start!” Maybe if they were all empty this sham would be recognized for what it is and it would be the last one we had to endure.
The quote to the right is from an article by Kevin D. Williamson, written for the National Review, titled Great Caesar’s Ghost. If you’re interested in reading it, I’ve linked it here. It’s a couple of years old, but still worthwhile.
Regional Cities Initiative on WNIT’s Economic Outlook
From the right: Regina Emberton – President and CEO of The Michiana Partnership, Jeff Rea – President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County, Diana Lawson – Executive Director of the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Jerry Chavez – President & CEO of the Marshall County Economic Development Corp.
MCEDC‘s President, Jerry Chavez, was on Economic Outlook last month discussion the Regional Cities Initiative and Marshall County’s role in it. As previously discussed here, Marshall County, St. Joseph County and Elkhart County form one of three regions in Indiana that were awarded $42 Million in State grant money. Check out the video link here.
Kathy Pearson
The Easterday Construction family lost another member last week. Kathy Pearson succumbed to her cancer after a three year, protracted battle. She kept her spirits up until the end. She came to the visitation for my grandfather on December 7th, only a couple of weeks ago, and promised we would get together for lunch again soon. Sadly that didn’t happen.
Kathy Pearson Obituary
Kathy was a fixture at Easterday Construction Co., Inc. for 38 years. KP to those of us in the office. When she retired at the end of 2014, she left a void that was impossible to fill. I gave some of her history with the company here in a previous post. That barely scratched the surface of the contributions she made.
History is a huge part of what was lost with her passing. Kathy remembered past projects nearly as well as I did in my tenure, but she also could tell me the history of projects before my time. She remembered past employees, subcontractors and suppliers, filling in gaps in things I had forgotten or never knew. She remembered phone numbers almost unerringly and served as a virtual rolodex when I would ask for a number or name that wouldn’t come to me. Long before it was “Ask Google” it was “Ask Kathy”.
Charley Creek Inn Ground Breaking
From Left to Right: Brent Martin – SRKM Architecture, Jeff Kumfer – SRKM Architecture, Steve Downs – Executive Director, Wabash Marketplace, Inc., Shelby McLaughlin – Project Manager, Wabash Marketplace, Inc., Mayor Bob Vanlandingham, Kevin Berger – Easterday Construction Co., Inc., Dan Ford – Charley Creek Foundation, Howard Kaler – General Manager, Charley Creek Inn, Christine Flohr – Executive Director, Visit Wabash County (CVB), Mark Noble – Charley Creek Inn
We broke out the gold shovels and held a ground breaking ceremony for the Charley Creek Inn expansion project on December 16th. Those shovels have successfully started many projects for us and we have no doubt that they will bring us good luck again. Thanks to all that came out to celebrate the event.
Demolition of the existing building is complete and preliminary site work is complete. We are planning to start concrete work the first week in January.
