News

Business at a glance

The Journal Gazette — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:50:31 EDT

Published: November 8, 2009 3:00 a.m.

Brooks Construction in Allen County and Cline Transfer, Huntington Heating & Cooling, Lehman Floor Covering and South Side Marathon in Huntington County were honored by Gov. Mitch Daniels with the Governor’s Century and Half Century Award.

Parkview Health was named one of the top 100 places to work in health care by “Modern Healthcare Magazine.”

Felderman Design-Build has completed the interior build-out for Three Rivers Dermatology and was awarded the contract to construct an addition to the Fogwell Manufacturing facility.

Strebig Construction Inc. was awarded the contract to renovate portions of Ginsberg Hall at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

The Hager Corp., parent company of Specialized Printed Products, acquired client assets of Printmasters of Auburn Inc.

East State Coney has opened in the Beacon-State Plaza.

Dr. Martin White and St. Joe Vision Center have launched a new Web site, www.stjoevision.com.

DeBrand Fine Chocolates was one of five Indiana companies to donate candy to Gov. Mitch Daniels and first lady Cheri Daniels to hand out on Halloween.

Northeast Indiana Bancorp Inc. announced a dividend of 17 cents per common share payable on Nov. 24 to shareholders of record on Tuesday.

Ad Lab Advertising and Marketing Services LLC has relocated to 421 E. Cook Road, Suite 100.

Artworks Holiday Art Gallery will be open through Dec. 23 in Jefferson Pointe next to Barnes & Noble.

Impex International, a Fort Wayne based supplier of aerospace hardware and related components, was awarded International Quality Management Systems and International Aerospace Standard for Quality Management Systems certification by Det Norske Veritas.

William C. Weber & Associates Inc. was awarded the contract to provide Employee Assistance Program services for “Our Sunday Visitor.”

http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091108/BIZ11/311089946

2009 Acquistions

News Sentinel — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:50:31 EDT

Posted on Sat January 31, 2009

Truck rolls on I-69

A rolled-over semi caused northbound Interstate 69 to be closed for a few hours this morning near the 107 mile marker, according to an e-mail from the Indiana State Police's Fort Wayne post. The Allen County Sheriff's Department was responding to the accident, which occurred before 3:30 a.m. One lane was open to northbound traffic before 5:30 a.m. Officials expected to get all traffic moving within hours.

IRS open Saturdays

The IRS will be open two Saturdays locally to prepare income tax returns for taxpayers eligible for Earned Income Tax Credit and who can't get assistance during the workweek. Taxpayers with incomes of $41,646 or less may be eligible to claim this credit. The office will be open until 2 p.m. today and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 7 at Rudisill Plaza, 201 E. Rudisill Blvd. For more information, see story on this page.

State of the City

Mayor Tom Henry will give his second annual State of the City speech at noon Feb. 12 at the Public Safety Academy of Northeast Indiana, 7602 Patriot Crossing, by Southtown Centre. Demonstrations and building tours will be at 11:30 a.m. A lunch follows the speech.

There is no cost to attend, but reservations are required. To RSVP, call the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce at 424-1435, Ext. 228.

Events focus on Orwell novel

George Orwell's “Nineteen Eighty-Four” - about a totalitarian state ruled by Big Brother - is part of the Remnant Trust at IPFW exhibit, and several events are centered on the novel in collaboration with the Allen County Public Library.

The Community Book Read events include:

♦Essay contest: Sunday-March 27. The public is asked to revisit the fictional world of Winston Smith in Oceania and respond to the question: How is the society in which we live moving toward or away from the society depicted in “Nineteen Eighty-Four”?

For information, contact Mary Arnold Schwartz, Writing Center coordinator, 481-6893 or RTEssayContest@ipfw.edu.

♦Movie: “1984,” 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Allen County Public Library, 900 Library Plaza.

♦Lecture: “Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Cold War,” 7 p.m. Feb. 11, IPFW Helmke Library, second floor.

♦Lecture: “Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Post 9/11 Context,” 7 p.m. Feb. 25, IPFW Helmke Library, second floor.

For information, go to http://remnanttrust.ipfw.edu.

Public meeting

The Metropolitan Human Relations Commission will meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday in the County Commissioners Courtroom, Room 200 on the 2nd floor of the City-County Building. The public is invited.

Wal-Mart gives $25K to Super Shot

Fort Wayne's Super Shot received $25,000 as part of the Wal-Mart Foundation's state giving program. The program gave $10,000 to $100,000 in grants to 14 nonprofits. Some of the money comes from Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs stores.

Super Shot offers free vaccines for children of families who face hardships such as lack of insurance.

For information, go to www.walmartfoundation.org.

Hagar acquires printing assets

The Hagar Corp, parent company of Specialized Printed Products, has acquired certain assets of Instant Copy, The Print and Copy Center and Preferred Printing, all Fort Wayne-based printing companies that closed in 2008.

In a statement, company President Mark Hagar said “the closing of these 3 competitors is a reflection of the difficulties we all face in this economy. We wish the previous owners and employees of these companies the best of luck and welcome the customers of these establishments to Specialized Printed Products.”

The acquisitions occurred in December as part of the overall liquidation of the businesses. Specialized Printed Products is at 1514 St. Joseph Blvd. and can be reached at 483-7075.

Whimet to add 15 jobs in Warsaw

WARSAW - Metal components finisher Whimet announced Friday it will expand its Warsaw operations, adding up to 15 jobs and offering new training opportunities.

The family-owned company, which provides metal finishing services to orthopedic and surgical equipment manufacturers, will invest more than $1.2 million to continue adding automated lines to its 93,000-square-foot facility.

http://www.fortwayne.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/SE/20090131/NEWS/901310341

Zoo is �merry, not scary'

By Deb Todd, News Sentinel — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:50:31 EDT

http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091015/ENT/910150310

Zoo is ‘merry, not scary'

Its Halloween event is for families and very young children, says education director

Pumpkins galore

What: Fort Wayne Children's Zoo Great Zoo Halloween

When: Opens Friday. Hours 6-8 p.m. weekdays and 5-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, through Oct.31

Where: 3411 Sherman Blvd.

Cost: $7 children; $5 adults; Additional fees for Eerie Express Train ride($2/person) and carnival-style games ($1 each)

Information: 427-6800 or www.kidszoo.org

Notes: Costumes are encouraged, but not required. Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact the Volunteer Office at 427-6828.

Did you know?

♦Attendance at the Great Zoo Halloween from its opening in 1979 through 2008 totaled 877,333 visitors.

♦Squirrels, chipmunks and peacocks snack on the pumpkin displays during the Great Zoo Halloween.

♦After Halloween, the pumpkins, gourds and cornstalks are added to the zoo's compost pile.

♦There are nine stations for children — one with a toy, the rest with treats.

Source: Fort Wayne Children's Zoo

By Deb Todd

nsfeatures@news-sentinel.com

The floor and tables were covered with paint-spattered plastic, while cans of paint dripping in hues of pink, purple, blue, red and yellow were clustered along the wall. Cups of paint and piles of well-used paintbrushes were scattered around the tables.

Pumpkins were heaped in every corner, awaiting the fusion of imagination and wet paint that would transform them into a green-faced goblin, cheerful sunflower, hairy-legged spider or a cross-eyed witch.

It was the annual pumpkin-painting event held recently in preparation for the Great Zoo Halloween at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. The zoo opens Friday for the 30th-anniversary season of this popular event.

Education Director Cheryl Piropato helps coordinate an army of staff and community volunteers who transform the zoo into a pumpkin paradise.

“We try to get all of these pumpkins done in one day,” she said. “We have 300 people coming today to paint pumpkins, and we'll have 700 done by the end of the day.”

The painters

Lisa Lee, Dawn Hutchens and five other employees of Specialized Printed Products volunteer each October. Lee has painted for 11 years — her contribution to the community, she said.

Hutchens brings her grandchildren to the event.

“We try to spot some of (my) pumpkins. They're easy to find because they look like my grandkids,” she said, laughing.

Before the SPP volunteers could finish, a gaggle of excited fifth-graders from Lincoln Elementary School burst through the door.

Annette Freiburger had prepared her class for the experience.

“We talk about being good citizens and how it's our duty to volunteer,” she said. “When we go back (to the classroom), we'll write about it and talk about it.”

Liliana Guzman methodically painted a design using red and purple — her favorite colors — while Brianna Cumberland quickly drew a familiar caricature.

“I made a kitty,” she said. “I wrote about it in my journal. I had to figure out whether to do triangle eyes, square eyes or round eyes.” (Triangle eyes won.)

Both girls agreed, “It's fun!”

The early years

The late Earl Wells, zoo director from its founding in 1965 until his retirement in 1994, established the Great Zoo Halloween in 1979.

“That was the era when people started to worry ... (they) were looking for a safe way to trick-or-treat,” Piropato said. “I believe (our zoo) was one of the first to host a Halloween event. Now almost every zoo in the country has some type of event.”

Community response was positive, and yearly attendance now runs 25,000-30,000.

“There was a time when we had more,” Piropato said, “but now there's a lot of competition. Our event is unique. We gear it toward very young children and families. The goal is not a scary, haunted event. We like to call it ‘merry, not scary.'”

The volunteers

“This whole event has been operated by volunteers from the very beginning,” said Piropato. “We're a little more sophisticated in the way we contact and process volunteers ... but it's always been about volunteers.”

She estimates nearly 1,500 people from local schools, Key Clubs, scouting groups, businesses and family groups will help in the preparation and execution of this year's event.

Each evening, a different scout group prowls the woods awaiting the arrival of the Eerie Express Train and relishing their roles as goblins, ghosties and things that “go bump in the night.”

Besides the painted pumpkins, an additional 500 pumpkins are carved as jack-o'-lanterns and placed along zoo pathways.

“The Brownies do the scooping (out) on Wednesday,” Piropato said. “On Thursday, we carve all the pumpkins, and on Friday we put them out.”

Final preparations

Education and maintenance staff do the heavy lifting, string miles of lights and install electricity where needed. The 10-12 tons of pumpkins and gourds are arranged in vignettes or as familiar characters from books or movies.

“We're doing ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,' ‘G-Force' guinea pigs, ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,' ‘Harry Potter,' Veggie Tales, African animals, mermaids, penguins — whatever we get inspired by,” Piropato said.

Beth Wood provides much of the creative vision, according to Piropato.

“She imagines the scene, and we build animals out of pumpkins, rebar and paint. Pumpkin animals are always very popular. They're unique — and we are a zoo.”

A tradition

The zoo is a self-supporting entity, Piropato said, noting it is supported by entry fees and donations from the community, not tax dollars.

“The proceeds from this event help fund our general operations,” she said. “The zoo wouldn't exist without the support of the community.”

It's also fun to see the Great Zoo Halloween tradition extending to a second generation of visitors.

“It's great to be part of something that the community values and embraces,” Piropato said. “People love it.”

Zoo

Wane TV — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:50:31 EDT

http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/local_wane_fort_wayne_great_zoo_halloween_20090830_rev1

Great Zoo Halloween starts Friday Zoo re-opens for limited time

Updated: Friday, 16 Oct 2009, 12:55 PM EDT

Published : Friday, 16 Oct 2009, 8:19 AM EDT *

Terra Brantley FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) -

The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo opens Friday night. Zoo education director Cheryl Piropato says it's an event that couldn't happen without volunteers. "We use about 1500 volunteers to make it happen. The volunteers do everything from paint pumpkins, to decorate to scoop the guts out of pumpkins." Newschannel 15's Terra Brantley caught up with pumpkin gutters of all ages lending their creative juices to decorate gourds for the cause. From workers at Specialized Printed Products to youngsters from Lincoln Elementary school. There are about 12 tons of pumpkins that make up a pumpkin paradise at the zoo, a 15 pumpkin included. You'll see orange everywhere when you stop by to trick or treat, including a whopping 600 pounder. You're encouraged to come in costume and visit places like the Australia After Dark exhibit where bats fly about in a bat cave. This year the zoo is actually having parts of the zoo open for visitors to animals such as the aquarium, the farmhouse and the nocturnal house. You can also talk with a friendly witch, walk through a mystery maze and interact with farm animals all while the kids enjoy nine different trick or treat stations loaded with candy and other treats.. in a merry not scary setting. It's a big way to wrap up a big season for the zoo which set a record breaking 586,404 people during the summer season. If you want to enjoy this brief Halloween season, you'll need to hurry the pumpkins and all pack up at the end of the month. Hours are 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weeknights and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Admission is five-dollars for adults, seven for children. Copyright AP Modified, Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Under the Hagar Corp.

Thu, 20 May 2010 13:50:31 EDT

www.SPPdirect.com: Specialized Printed Products, for all your printing needs