Tag:Charity
ECC Red Shirt Fridays Return for 2014
Easterday Construction will be participating in Red Shirt Fridays again this year to show our support for our troops. All of our employees have been given red shirts like those to the right. Participation is voluntary, but on random Fridays all ECC employees wearing their red shirts get a $5 bonus. At the end of the summer, an equal amount will be contributed to Bugles Across America, a not-for-profit organization started by Tom Day of Berwyn Illinois to provide live bugle players for the funerals of service men and women.
Red Shirt Friday is a national not-for-profit organization that promotes recognition of those that serve in our armed forces and what they sacrifice for us. All of us at ECC are proud to show our support.
ECC Volunteers
Julie Heise and Bob Cooper at Culver’s Relay for LIfe event
I put a lot on the blog about the volunteer work I do… mainly because that’s at the forefront of my mind. But there’s no doubt that I’m not the only community minded employee at Easterday Construction Co., Inc. Pictured at the right are two other ECC employees, Julie Heise and Bob Cooper, at the Culver Relay for Life event. According to the website they were part of 432 participants raising nearly $42,000 in donations.
Julie is very involved in volunteer projects at the school with sports and cheerleading. Bob is a volunteer with Culver EMS and serves on their board of directors. We proud of all our employees that give back to the community. While they’re not doing this as representatives of Easterday Construction, they no doubt enhance our image with their efforts. Great Job!
Donated Roofing
Culver LIttle League Dugout with “Easterday Green” Metal Roof
If you haven’t noticed, the Culver Little League has new dugouts. Last week we donated some Butler Manufacturing Company VSR roof panels for the project. This is a commercial standing seam roof panel, though the volunteers basically installed it as a simple screw down. It still looks pretty good and it’s Easterday Green! Ha! The panels have a 70% Kynar finish so they should give them years of service. We were pleased to be able to donate this material to the little league. We have been supporters for decades.
Culver Beerfest
I was disappointed to hear that the Culver Beerfest died. It’s always sad when people with enthusiasm for promoting Culver get shut down. Unfortunately the Culver CAVE society wins out.
I think we’re fortunate that the Peseks have been innovative in reinventing the former Marmont Grille as the Evil Czech Brewery. There have no doubt seen some growing pains, but this is the kind of entrepreneurial spirit we need, i.e. if the first effort fails, try again!
There was an article in January/February 2013 issue of Building Indiana titled “Locally Made Brews Brings Dollars to the Community”. It talks about the Shoreline Brewery in Michigan City, Indiana. From the number of employees hired to reuse of abandoned buildings to increased visitors to Michigan City, the brewery has been a boon to the community. The brewery sponsors concerts and events that bring people from across the border in the Chicagoland area. That in turn stimulates the local economy. (I’m going to put Shoreline on the list for Becky and I to visit!) Micro Breweries are on IEDC‘s radar. Recently MCEDC was notified of a seminar that was being put on by IEDC for entrepreneurs interested in starting craft brewing operations.
We’ve attended events in the past at the Round Barn Winery near Baroda, Michigan. While it was started as a winery, it has expanded to include Vodka (from grapes) and a micro brewery. A couple of years ago they attracted us with a one time event with Duke Tumatoe performing. Apparently the success of that and other one time events led them to have outdoor concerts every weekend throughout the summer and fall of 2012. It was apparently successful as Jammin’ in the Vineyard is on their events calendar for late May through October. Becky and I have attended several of these events and thoroughly enjoyed them. They were not drunken free-for-alls. In fact, I don’t recall seeing anyone over indulging, let alone being asked to leave. Did we do anything but visit the vineyard the first time we went there? No. Did we explore Baroda on our last visit? Yes. In fact we actually made a trip up there specifically to buy a Christmas present based on something we’d seen on a previous trip.
I was unable to attend the Park Board meeting where the Park Board voted it down, but I did hear some of the congratulatory comments expressed by the audience at the Town Council meeting on February 19th:
Comment: The Park is for our children and people that can’t otherwise have access to the lake. (Uh, remember Lakefest, Tour de Max and the Corn Roast? Don’t those fundraising events take up parking and limit access to the Park? Doesn’t the park rent the Pavilions on a regular basis?)
Image borrowed from originalhooters.com
Comment: They wanted to use the event for breast cancer fundraising and call it Beer for Boobs! (Really? And that slang is more crass than the nationally recognized Susan G. Komen for the Cure‘s breast cancer events called MargariTa-Ta’s? Beer for Boobs is actually the brewing version that works with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Some would like to go back to the past, but in a world where there are restaurants named Big’uns, Hooters and Chi-Chi’s… that ship has sailed…)
Comment: We really didn’t want the kind of people this would draw. (Again, Really? We’ve become alcohol snobs now? A winefest (Chamber event) is okay, but a beerfest is beneath us?)
Comment: Someone volunteered a vacant corn field for the event and it wasn’t considered. (Yes, I want to trek through a furrowed, dusty field rather than have a nice view of the Lake under shade trees. That promotes Culver…)
I’m paraphrasing the above comments. Those are just some that I remember.
At the end of the day, I don’t know whether I would have attended the beerfest. If I didn’t, it wouldn’t have been because I was offended. I had conflicts last year and didn’t attend the winefest, though I heard it was well attended and should grow this year. For that vocal crowd that thinks Culver should concentrate on being a tourist town, we just missed an opportunity.
Read Jeff Kenney’s article in the Culver Citizen reporting on the Park Board meeting where the festival was killed here. His opinion piece on this issue in the Citizen and repeated in the Pilot is spot on as well, but I couldn’t find a link to that. He makes my point better than I do! I guess that’s why he’s a professional writer…
New Home for VTAC
Pilot Photo/Daniel Riordan The Veterans Theraputic Art Center will now be located in the upstairs of the Old Firehouse building.
I wrote about my meeting with the guys from VTAC (Veterans Therapeutic Art Center) a few months back. You can read that post here or you can bring up several related posts by typing VTAC in the search box to the right. There was an article in today’s Pilot News talking about their new home on the second floor of the Old Firehouse in downtown Plymouth, Indiana. You can read that article here.
I’m pleased to see them doing well and continuing their good work. Congratulations on the new digs guys!
