Ramsey Flooring is a growing presence in Detroit Lakes, where its owners have history going back to the 1950s.
Steve Ramsey is currently the sole owner, though he said he is working towards joint ownership with brothers Dan and Brian, who work with him in sales and installation.
From its 8,000-square-foot showroom and warehouse in the original Detroit Lakes industrial park, Ramsey Flooring handles sales and installation of “anything to do with floor covering,” Steve said. “Carpet, ceramic tile, laminate, hardwood floors…”
Ramsey Flooring has its own installers and also works with independent contractors.
“Jacobson Tile and Stone does virtually all our tile work,” Steve said. “Keith Pierson does hardwood floors — anything from finished to unfinished product — he’s one of the best I’ve met. We’re just trying to incorporate people that do quality work.”
Steve Ramsey has owned a floor covering business in Anchorage for more than 15 years and bought the building in Detroit Lakes last October, after renting space for about a year in a building near the Canadian Pacific tracks.
Since Floors & More left its Detroit Lakes presence to consolidate in Fargo, Ramsey Flooring has been helping to fill the void.
About 70 percent of its workload is residential:
“Whether you want to carpet one room, add the look and feel of laminate flooring to your kitchen, or upgrade every floor in your house with the beauty and elegance of hardwood, we can meet all of your flooring needs,” the store says on its website.
But it tackles commercial projects of all sizes. Some of its clients include Country Inn and Suites, the Edgewater condominiums, the Holiday Inn, Detroit Lakes Public Schools, the State Lottery offices in Detroit Lakes, the MMCDC (State of Minnesota Housing), BJ’s BBQ Grill, BTD in Detroit Lakes, Nereson Chevrolet, and the new Webber Family Ford Dealership.
“Our overhead is real minimal, so that helps us keep our prices down,” Steve said. “And the quality of our installation is the best in the area, as far as I’m concerned.”
It’s a family business. Steve started working with his dad, Don, when he was about 16 years old.
Don and his brother Darrell are both helping out at Ramsey Flooring.
“Those two have been in the business for years,” Steve said. With another brother, Dave, who died a few years ago, “they used to be Ramsey Brothers Carpet” in Detroit Lakes.
A cousin, Jim Ramsey, is an installer, and Steve’s sister Tanya is an artist who designed his business logo.
Other employees include Shane Seaberg, who works in sales, Richard Haldorson, an installer who often works with Darrell Ramsey, and Katie Pierson, who handles accounting and sales.
Steve Ramsey grew up in Audubon and moved to the Twin Cities for a few years before moving to Alaska in 1990.
Steve said his grandfather had always wanted to see Alaska, but never got the chance — so Steve made the move in his honor.
Steve has a business there as well, Ramsey Carpet, which handles a wide range of residential and commercial work — including housing in the Alaskan oil fields and ongoing work at two military bases near Anchorage that requires meeting tight military deadlines.
Lately he has been spending about half his time in Alaska and about half in Detroit Lakes. He has family working in Alaska as well, a daughter, Kara, and her husband help run the business there.
His oldest daughter, Brittany, lives in England with her husband, who is a lawyer near London.
His son, Jacob, just graduated from college and is a youth pastor at the First Assembly of God Church in Brigham City, Utah.
Up until now, Ramsey Flooring hasn’t done much work in the North Dakota oil patch, but that may be beginning to change — it has jobs coming up in Dickinson and Williston.
“We’ll go anywhere,” Steve said, noting that the business is licensed in both Minnesota and North Dakota.
More travels may be in store, as the business is the only installer in western Minnesota of Protect-All, a hard-wearing, easy-cleaning thick vinyl flooring that is easy on the feet, looks like black rubber matting and is used in commercial kitchens and veterinary clinics.
Ramsey Flooring has the training and the special tools — routers and saws — needed to weld the stuff together into a seamless floor covering.
Steve handles commercial sales while Dan and Shane handle mostly residential sales, and Steve said there is a lot of construction to keep them busy.
2012年10月31日星期三
2012年10月29日星期一
Waterfront ‘Le Sabot’ built a century ago
The exclusive 1.6-hectare Morgan Estate, located along the shores of Lake of Two Mountains in the West Island community of Senneville, is being offered for sale for $8.5 million. Built in 1912 and referred to as “Le Sabot” (the boot), this waterfront property is considered to be one of Canada’s finest examples of the Arts and Craft residential style of architecture.
It was built for cultural philanthropist and department store owner F. Cleveland Morgan, who was the great-nephew of the founder of the Henry Morgan and Co. department stores, locally referred to as Morgan’s.
David Shennan, a well-respected Scottish architect of the time, designed the Morgan estate and was also responsible for putting to paper the design for Manoir Richelieu, the Hotel Tadoussac and the Thousand Islands Club. He also had a hand in the design of the castle-like Chateau Laurier in Ottawa.
With 27 rooms, including 12 bedrooms and nine bathrooms, the romantic, stone-turreted manor is having its 100th anniversary this year. Four generations of Morgans have lived in the home and still do.
This gated property is set back from Senneville Rd. by sweeping lawns, mature hardwood trees and formal English gardens — complete with a huge, rectangular lily pool. Le Sabot harkens back to a period in our history when architectural form was trying to break free from the bounds of Victorian-era stuffiness and conformity. It was a new age of opulence, opportunity and fodder for dreamers. The year the estate was built was also the year that the world’s fastest passenger liner, HMS Titanic, went down off the coast of Newfoundland on its maiden voyage, claiming 1,517 lives.
These were the times that Cleveland Morgan lived in, and this is why this estate was such a pleasure to visit — a pearl among the numerous rocks of the modernly mundane.
The exterior of the building was designed in a Georgian-Normandy-style, with its steep slate roof and two fieldstone turrets that face visitors as they first glimpse the manor. There is a circular stone dovecote (a structure for housing pigeons) on the grand lawn facing the home, a throwback to a time when many well-off country gentlemen bred the birds for racing and show.
The property at 264 Senneville Rd. encompasses two bedroom wings with six bedrooms, four bathrooms and three marble fireplaces in the main home. There is also a separate servants’ quarters and a large four-bedroom guest annex with a towering two-storey stone fireplace and two-car garage.
There is a very large heated outdoor swimming pool overlooking the Lake of Two Mountains and Oka Village in the distance, a private tennis court, a large and impressive 14-metre-long solarium and continual waterfront views along the length of the property.
Other features include rich oak panelling, balcony views, fieldstone walls, clay floor tiles that were made in Oka of local red clay, Brazilian flooring, a library, hand-painted motifs and a lived-in ambience that wraps you in its warm shroud as soon as you enter the home.
The front entranceway has that typical Georgian-style flavour, with a wide wooden door flanked by long, rectangular glass windows, greystone steps and trim, and topped with ornamental forged iron on its mantle.
You enter the home through the grand entrance hall with rich oak furnishings and panelling, and a beautiful antique spiral staircase leading to the second storey of the three-storey domicile. The staircase was originally found in the former governor’s residence at the Chateau de Ramezay, but after the building was partially gutted by fire, the staircase was acquired and restored by Morgan for his home. The red clay tiling is the main type of flooring found on the ground floor.
Corniced cove ceilings with fleur-de-lis and poisson motifs are found throughout the main floor. The home is built in the Central Cross-Hall plan, with living and dining rooms on each side.
The living room is well lit by numerous windows and French doors, most looking out over the lake. A handsome and classic open-hearth limestone fireplace seems to be an invitation to brew a pot of tea over its blaze. Incorporated into the space where the turret is situated is an alcove that uses the recess to show off the 19th-century grandfather clock that resides there and to let in natural sunlight from the long, rectangular windows that flank the alcove.
The dining area is a large room with a formal fireplace, panelled walls, built-in china cabinets and fine trim borders along the ceiling, doorways and baseboards.
Both the dining and living rooms open up into the northwest-facing solarium, which has incredible views of the lake and surrounding country. The solarium leads to a large terrace, English gardens and the heated in-ground pool — complete with diving board.
The land slopes downward to the shoreline of the lake and its menagerie of wildlife that find this location as attractive as Morgan would have when he first began laying out his country retreat. His principal residence was on Peel St., in the heart of downtown.
Wide oak plank floors are found throughout the two bedroom wings, on the second storey. The bedrooms are very well kept, original, and attractive and comfy. Canopied beds featuring hand-carved posts and frames blend well with the matching furnishings.
The third floor is largely occupied by Morgan’s collection of artifacts, ranging from a mummified cranium to sea shells, plant pressings and numerous other curiosities that he collected during his decades of world travelling.
For 46 years, F. Cleveland Morgan was the curator of decorative arts at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, a voluntary position he loved and dedicated his life to. He acquired thousands of specimens from around the world for the museum to demonstrate the history of art.
His Senneville home is full of many examples of art and artifacts, some dating back thousands of years. Some of the art work he collected was sold at Morgan’s.
There are also the hundreds of window panes that bear the names of visitors to the house — etched with a diamond-tipped pen, each made by the visitor. Some of the names include humorist Stephen Leacock, artist Clarence Gagnon and Sir John Abbott. It must have seen some great parties in its past.
In the 1960s, the Morgan family donated land to McGill University for the creation of the 240-hectare Morgan Arboretum.
With the sale of this estate, another window into the history of Montreal will be closed, but not locked to those who wish to seek it.
Cleveland Morgan’s legacy is still alive and well with every dog walker or bird watcher that visits the Arboretum, or every visitor to the fine arts museum, the McCord Museum or the Redpath, among others. His was a life well lived, and his beloved “Le Sabot” heralds this life.
It was built for cultural philanthropist and department store owner F. Cleveland Morgan, who was the great-nephew of the founder of the Henry Morgan and Co. department stores, locally referred to as Morgan’s.
David Shennan, a well-respected Scottish architect of the time, designed the Morgan estate and was also responsible for putting to paper the design for Manoir Richelieu, the Hotel Tadoussac and the Thousand Islands Club. He also had a hand in the design of the castle-like Chateau Laurier in Ottawa.
With 27 rooms, including 12 bedrooms and nine bathrooms, the romantic, stone-turreted manor is having its 100th anniversary this year. Four generations of Morgans have lived in the home and still do.
This gated property is set back from Senneville Rd. by sweeping lawns, mature hardwood trees and formal English gardens — complete with a huge, rectangular lily pool. Le Sabot harkens back to a period in our history when architectural form was trying to break free from the bounds of Victorian-era stuffiness and conformity. It was a new age of opulence, opportunity and fodder for dreamers. The year the estate was built was also the year that the world’s fastest passenger liner, HMS Titanic, went down off the coast of Newfoundland on its maiden voyage, claiming 1,517 lives.
These were the times that Cleveland Morgan lived in, and this is why this estate was such a pleasure to visit — a pearl among the numerous rocks of the modernly mundane.
The exterior of the building was designed in a Georgian-Normandy-style, with its steep slate roof and two fieldstone turrets that face visitors as they first glimpse the manor. There is a circular stone dovecote (a structure for housing pigeons) on the grand lawn facing the home, a throwback to a time when many well-off country gentlemen bred the birds for racing and show.
The property at 264 Senneville Rd. encompasses two bedroom wings with six bedrooms, four bathrooms and three marble fireplaces in the main home. There is also a separate servants’ quarters and a large four-bedroom guest annex with a towering two-storey stone fireplace and two-car garage.
There is a very large heated outdoor swimming pool overlooking the Lake of Two Mountains and Oka Village in the distance, a private tennis court, a large and impressive 14-metre-long solarium and continual waterfront views along the length of the property.
Other features include rich oak panelling, balcony views, fieldstone walls, clay floor tiles that were made in Oka of local red clay, Brazilian flooring, a library, hand-painted motifs and a lived-in ambience that wraps you in its warm shroud as soon as you enter the home.
The front entranceway has that typical Georgian-style flavour, with a wide wooden door flanked by long, rectangular glass windows, greystone steps and trim, and topped with ornamental forged iron on its mantle.
You enter the home through the grand entrance hall with rich oak furnishings and panelling, and a beautiful antique spiral staircase leading to the second storey of the three-storey domicile. The staircase was originally found in the former governor’s residence at the Chateau de Ramezay, but after the building was partially gutted by fire, the staircase was acquired and restored by Morgan for his home. The red clay tiling is the main type of flooring found on the ground floor.
Corniced cove ceilings with fleur-de-lis and poisson motifs are found throughout the main floor. The home is built in the Central Cross-Hall plan, with living and dining rooms on each side.
The living room is well lit by numerous windows and French doors, most looking out over the lake. A handsome and classic open-hearth limestone fireplace seems to be an invitation to brew a pot of tea over its blaze. Incorporated into the space where the turret is situated is an alcove that uses the recess to show off the 19th-century grandfather clock that resides there and to let in natural sunlight from the long, rectangular windows that flank the alcove.
The dining area is a large room with a formal fireplace, panelled walls, built-in china cabinets and fine trim borders along the ceiling, doorways and baseboards.
Both the dining and living rooms open up into the northwest-facing solarium, which has incredible views of the lake and surrounding country. The solarium leads to a large terrace, English gardens and the heated in-ground pool — complete with diving board.
The land slopes downward to the shoreline of the lake and its menagerie of wildlife that find this location as attractive as Morgan would have when he first began laying out his country retreat. His principal residence was on Peel St., in the heart of downtown.
Wide oak plank floors are found throughout the two bedroom wings, on the second storey. The bedrooms are very well kept, original, and attractive and comfy. Canopied beds featuring hand-carved posts and frames blend well with the matching furnishings.
The third floor is largely occupied by Morgan’s collection of artifacts, ranging from a mummified cranium to sea shells, plant pressings and numerous other curiosities that he collected during his decades of world travelling.
For 46 years, F. Cleveland Morgan was the curator of decorative arts at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, a voluntary position he loved and dedicated his life to. He acquired thousands of specimens from around the world for the museum to demonstrate the history of art.
His Senneville home is full of many examples of art and artifacts, some dating back thousands of years. Some of the art work he collected was sold at Morgan’s.
There are also the hundreds of window panes that bear the names of visitors to the house — etched with a diamond-tipped pen, each made by the visitor. Some of the names include humorist Stephen Leacock, artist Clarence Gagnon and Sir John Abbott. It must have seen some great parties in its past.
In the 1960s, the Morgan family donated land to McGill University for the creation of the 240-hectare Morgan Arboretum.
With the sale of this estate, another window into the history of Montreal will be closed, but not locked to those who wish to seek it.
Cleveland Morgan’s legacy is still alive and well with every dog walker or bird watcher that visits the Arboretum, or every visitor to the fine arts museum, the McCord Museum or the Redpath, among others. His was a life well lived, and his beloved “Le Sabot” heralds this life.
2012年10月25日星期四
A new dawn for Microsoft?
As Apple was announcing its new, smaller iPad in San Jose, Microsoft was preparing for its biggest
announcement in a generation on the other side of America. Only a hardened cynic would suggest that the
first announcement was timed to spoil the second. And only a realist would believe that Apple is right to
– for once – be worried by Microsoft.
That’s because the multi-layered news from the Windows maker, to be announced on Thursday in New York,
includes the formal unveiling of a tablet that is, by common consensus, the most extraordinary piece of
hardware to be released since, well, the iPad.
Microsoft’s Surface computer is the first PC the company has ever made itself, and it is designed to
provide the best platform available for the controversial new Windows 8 operating system. It features an
extraordinary, slim keyboard that also makes it the first device to genuinely, completely blur the line
between a tablet and a laptop. And because it runs Windows, it ought to offer all the capabilities that
users are accustomed to on fully fledged computers.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, there are two reasons why it doesn’t. The first is that Windows 8 itself is
a huge gamble for the company that runs 90 per cent of the world’s PCs, but it’s also one that it has
been forced to take by Apple. By some measures, while Windows still accounts for those nine out of ten
working computers, it accounts for just three in ten new sales, thanks mainly to devices such as Apple’s
iPad and other tablets running Google’s Android operating system. Where previously it would have been
unfair to compare a computer to a tablet, now users are able to do similar things with a range of
different devices. The changing nature of computing is a nettle that Microsoft has been slow to grasp and
now, as Chief executive Steve Ballmer has put it, they’re betting the company on getting it right.
The resulting software is designed, therefore, to work on both conventional desktop computers, tablets,
laptops and mobile phones too. While there is much to like about it, the current compromise combines a
version of the familiar Windows with a new interface that, while elegant, will provide a huge shock to
many users. It offers a patchwork of ‘live tiles’ which when tapped open up programmes and on their own
act as a sort of dashboard. So as on a mobile phone, say, your newest emails appear immediately on screen.
As a new strategy, the idea is really impressive. But in reviews it has often seemed rough around the
edges, and even as it is polished it is way behind the library of apps that are offered by rival systems
from Google and Apple.
Secondly, although the Surface tablet is a lovely piece of design, it runs a cut-down version of Windows
called RT. Although a full version is coming on a fractionally larger tablet in January, the overall
effect is the feeling that Microsoft has made a beautiful thing and yet been forced to rush it out in
order to stay competitive. It would be mean to point out that the last company that rushed out a tablet is
BlackBerry, whose fortunes have declined precipitously since.
For all that, however, Microsoft has accurately identified its own weaknesses, and it has belatedly seen
that it must reinvent itself for a new era. On Monday, it will launch the mobile phones that will
integrate seamlessly with the new Windows that runs computers and tablets. Like Apple, it will finally
offer an ‘ecosystem’ that users and software makers can really sign up to.
Making that work will be a huge challenge for a company that lost what cool it had some time ago – but
Apple is now itself vast and Microsoft the underdog. With the new hardware going on sale at midnight, and
shops opening early to sell it, Microsoft’s chances of recovery are better than ever.
announcement in a generation on the other side of America. Only a hardened cynic would suggest that the
first announcement was timed to spoil the second. And only a realist would believe that Apple is right to
– for once – be worried by Microsoft.
That’s because the multi-layered news from the Windows maker, to be announced on Thursday in New York,
includes the formal unveiling of a tablet that is, by common consensus, the most extraordinary piece of
hardware to be released since, well, the iPad.
Microsoft’s Surface computer is the first PC the company has ever made itself, and it is designed to
provide the best platform available for the controversial new Windows 8 operating system. It features an
extraordinary, slim keyboard that also makes it the first device to genuinely, completely blur the line
between a tablet and a laptop. And because it runs Windows, it ought to offer all the capabilities that
users are accustomed to on fully fledged computers.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, there are two reasons why it doesn’t. The first is that Windows 8 itself is
a huge gamble for the company that runs 90 per cent of the world’s PCs, but it’s also one that it has
been forced to take by Apple. By some measures, while Windows still accounts for those nine out of ten
working computers, it accounts for just three in ten new sales, thanks mainly to devices such as Apple’s
iPad and other tablets running Google’s Android operating system. Where previously it would have been
unfair to compare a computer to a tablet, now users are able to do similar things with a range of
different devices. The changing nature of computing is a nettle that Microsoft has been slow to grasp and
now, as Chief executive Steve Ballmer has put it, they’re betting the company on getting it right.
The resulting software is designed, therefore, to work on both conventional desktop computers, tablets,
laptops and mobile phones too. While there is much to like about it, the current compromise combines a
version of the familiar Windows with a new interface that, while elegant, will provide a huge shock to
many users. It offers a patchwork of ‘live tiles’ which when tapped open up programmes and on their own
act as a sort of dashboard. So as on a mobile phone, say, your newest emails appear immediately on screen.
As a new strategy, the idea is really impressive. But in reviews it has often seemed rough around the
edges, and even as it is polished it is way behind the library of apps that are offered by rival systems
from Google and Apple.
Secondly, although the Surface tablet is a lovely piece of design, it runs a cut-down version of Windows
called RT. Although a full version is coming on a fractionally larger tablet in January, the overall
effect is the feeling that Microsoft has made a beautiful thing and yet been forced to rush it out in
order to stay competitive. It would be mean to point out that the last company that rushed out a tablet is
BlackBerry, whose fortunes have declined precipitously since.
For all that, however, Microsoft has accurately identified its own weaknesses, and it has belatedly seen
that it must reinvent itself for a new era. On Monday, it will launch the mobile phones that will
integrate seamlessly with the new Windows that runs computers and tablets. Like Apple, it will finally
offer an ‘ecosystem’ that users and software makers can really sign up to.
Making that work will be a huge challenge for a company that lost what cool it had some time ago – but
Apple is now itself vast and Microsoft the underdog. With the new hardware going on sale at midnight, and
shops opening early to sell it, Microsoft’s chances of recovery are better than ever.
2012年10月23日星期二
Kennett Square Country and Golf Club
Kennett Square Golf and Country Club has made several improvements to improve dining experience following a mediocre grading by the Chester County Health Department.
The Country Club, which has 560 members, scored a 79 in the inspection conducted earlier this year. Rick Johnson, environmental bureau director at the Health Department, said a score in the 70s means there are critical violations that must be corrected.
In a follow-up inspection two weeks later, the Kennett Square Golf and Country Club fixed everything the inspectors found earlier to score a perfect 100, said Herb Redman, clubhouse manager. The facility has four separate eating places – the clubhouse, the pool snack bar, the halfway house and the 19th hole. All were graded as one unit.
“Our food and beverage operation now is at the highest it’s been in a long time,” Redman said. “We rarely get complaints from members. Our type of business is different than a public restaurant, because we deal with the same people every day. We know the people here and we can anticipate their needs and they have certain expectations.”
“Inventory is our biggest asset, it must be managed efficiently. Since we import our products from all corners of the globe, we have dock-to-stock times of six to eight weeks; we need to have the right product at the right time in the right quantities,” shares Rose Baldo, Principle, Julian Tile. “We are always analyzing our inventory to maintain the right balance between supply and demand. SYSPRO’s inventory module gives us the information we need to identify products, buying rules, preferred supplier, lead times and tracking. This gives Purchasing a clear picture so that they know exactly what to buy and how much.”
The vast improvement to Julian Tile’s inventory system thanks to the SYSPRO ERP software has given the importer an array of business management and operational advantages. Thanks to access to real time information, staff can retrieve crucial data, such as order quantities and due dates, that helps them work more efficiently and accurately. With the SYSPRO ERP, Julian Tile has also enjoyed a marked shift in the efficiency of the cost apportioning process, previously a cumbersome and time-consuming task requiring manual input to an Excel? spreadsheet. The cost apportionment functionality in SYSPRO allows the Julian Tile sales team to remain as competitive and profitable as possible with exact knowledge of margins in real time. The SYSRPO ERP has also made the quoting process easier for Julian Tile, allowing for customization and the creation of rules to automatically generate accurate sales order prices. This has helped to bolster the whole customer side of the business.
“With SYSPRO, the work is done for us, and changes to any of the cost variables are instantly reflected in the system,” says Baldo. “Quoting on a job can be very complicated, as there are many variables to consider. However, SYSPRO has made it easy by relating all the information to produce a comprehensive picture of our bottom line, and as a result we can make proactive financial and operational management decisions with assurance. Over the years, SYSPRO has easily adapted to our changing business needs. It has driven efficiency throughout our organization which has allowed us to remain competitive in the market.”
The Country Club, which has 560 members, scored a 79 in the inspection conducted earlier this year. Rick Johnson, environmental bureau director at the Health Department, said a score in the 70s means there are critical violations that must be corrected.
In a follow-up inspection two weeks later, the Kennett Square Golf and Country Club fixed everything the inspectors found earlier to score a perfect 100, said Herb Redman, clubhouse manager. The facility has four separate eating places – the clubhouse, the pool snack bar, the halfway house and the 19th hole. All were graded as one unit.
“Our food and beverage operation now is at the highest it’s been in a long time,” Redman said. “We rarely get complaints from members. Our type of business is different than a public restaurant, because we deal with the same people every day. We know the people here and we can anticipate their needs and they have certain expectations.”
“Inventory is our biggest asset, it must be managed efficiently. Since we import our products from all corners of the globe, we have dock-to-stock times of six to eight weeks; we need to have the right product at the right time in the right quantities,” shares Rose Baldo, Principle, Julian Tile. “We are always analyzing our inventory to maintain the right balance between supply and demand. SYSPRO’s inventory module gives us the information we need to identify products, buying rules, preferred supplier, lead times and tracking. This gives Purchasing a clear picture so that they know exactly what to buy and how much.”
The vast improvement to Julian Tile’s inventory system thanks to the SYSPRO ERP software has given the importer an array of business management and operational advantages. Thanks to access to real time information, staff can retrieve crucial data, such as order quantities and due dates, that helps them work more efficiently and accurately. With the SYSPRO ERP, Julian Tile has also enjoyed a marked shift in the efficiency of the cost apportioning process, previously a cumbersome and time-consuming task requiring manual input to an Excel? spreadsheet. The cost apportionment functionality in SYSPRO allows the Julian Tile sales team to remain as competitive and profitable as possible with exact knowledge of margins in real time. The SYSRPO ERP has also made the quoting process easier for Julian Tile, allowing for customization and the creation of rules to automatically generate accurate sales order prices. This has helped to bolster the whole customer side of the business.
“With SYSPRO, the work is done for us, and changes to any of the cost variables are instantly reflected in the system,” says Baldo. “Quoting on a job can be very complicated, as there are many variables to consider. However, SYSPRO has made it easy by relating all the information to produce a comprehensive picture of our bottom line, and as a result we can make proactive financial and operational management decisions with assurance. Over the years, SYSPRO has easily adapted to our changing business needs. It has driven efficiency throughout our organization which has allowed us to remain competitive in the market.”
2012年10月21日星期日
Ficarra Design Associates contemporary interior
With its distinctive Dutch Caribbean architectural style and Gulf Shore Boulevard North address, Naples Casamore is for those captivated by a luxurious, fully amenitized European village lifestyle.
Twelve, three-story, single-family residences designed by Stofft Cooney Architects and built by BCB Homes stand as a unique achievement that offers open, free-flowing floor plans with high ceilings and tall windows that capture Southwest Florida's natural light.
Naples-based Ficarra Design Associates is creating and executing a contemporary interior design for one of the four-bedroom Casamore residences that is as unique as the building itself. Bold design features and interior details, lighting treatments that accentuate the visual impact of an assortment of extraordinary finishes, and a color palette that includes gray, taupe and eggplant tones all contribute to a style with a level of clean-lined sophistication.
"The uniqueness of the Casamore residence's architectural style offers an ideal venue for the execution of a bold, contemporary interior design," said Ficarra Design Associates Founder and President Lisa Ficarra. "The owners of the residence recognized the possibilities early on, articulated their vision and then provided us the freedom to create this type of style. It is an exciting project that will ultimately contribute to the overall one-of-a-kind ambiance that has already established Casamore as Naples' newest landmark location."
Ficarra's emphasis on unique, high visual impact finishes is apparent upon arrival at the home's ground level entry. The flooring is predominantly a textured white ceramic tile with elements that sparkle.
Ficarra has taken the flooring a step further with the creation of a rectangular Calcutta marble tile accent that has a circular stainless steel inlay. The inlay plays against a stairway that features steel posts with cable railings. Each step is accented by a geometric stainless steel inlaid border. Cove lighting at the uppermost reaches of the three-story stairwell casts a soft glow.
Driftwood toned hardwood flooring throughout the second level introduces Ficarra's color palette. A powder room near the top of the staircase features the same ceramic flooring found in the entry. The white wall tile is done in a wave pattern that is accented by soffit lighting mounted directly overhead. A floating vanity cabinet with an onyx countertop lit from underneath and a mirror suspended on wires extending from the ceiling provide additional memory points. The vanity is separated from the toilet area by a frosted glass half-wall with a stone top.
In addition to its tall windows that offer a view of Casamore's environs, the residence's living room features a fireplace in a combination of shell stone and wood veneer. A series of wood-stained beams with cross pieces are used to create a ceiling treatment with a contemporary feeling that plays against furnishings with espresso wood accents. The espresso tone is continued in the adjacent club room's contemporary built-in wall unit. The club room space also features a deep coffered ceiling with beams and Lutron window shades that vanish into an indiscernible soffit when raised.
An additional space on the second level serves as both a guest bedroom and his-and-her office. The room has a full bath and a zoom bed that can be stored in the wall.
Ficarra's contemporary design is on full display in the kitchen. The upper perimeter cabinetry is a polished chrome with glass fronts while the lower cabinets have horizontal grained, gray-washed wooden door fronts, a look that is continued on the front of an island base that is framed with espresso toned trim. A metallic shadow Pompeii quartz counter top and backsplash on the perimeter play against the island's green, gray and eggplant toned top. The designer's penchant for making visual statements with lighting is evident again in the island's step-up counter that is done in espresso finished wood with three Cristallo white glass inserts that are lit from underneath. A tiered, multilevel Plexiglas table in the breakfast nook was designed by Ficarra Design Associates' Alexandra Hutchinson.
The driftwood toned hardwood flooring continues in the third level vestibule and hallways. The entry to the master suite includes a walk-in morning kitchen that features a stepped-coffer ceiling and cabinetry with a dramatic curvilinear molding design in espresso brown over a white background. The cabinetry plays against a Calcutta stone counter and backsplash and a gray, silver, bronze and dark brown stainless steel horizontal inlay in the hardwood floor.
In the master bedroom, a vaulted ceiling contributes to the volume of the space. A chunky frame detail on the headboard wall and suspended lighting fixtures over matching night stands continue Ficarra's contemporary twists and visual surprises. The master suite includes his-and-her baths. Her bath has a fantasy white marble floor with diamond shaped taupe bubble glass insets. The bubbles run up the shower wall and are also used as the flooring under a free-standing tub that is centered on a window. His bath reprises the stainless steel accents in the morning kitchen's floor, this time in the bath's cream-toned marble floor and shower. A free-standing dark espresso vanity provides a perfect contrast to the lighter toned marble.
Ficarra continues her attention to ceiling treatments in the guest bedrooms on the third level. One of the bedrooms has a unique beamed ceiling design while the other has a stepped coffer.
Twelve, three-story, single-family residences designed by Stofft Cooney Architects and built by BCB Homes stand as a unique achievement that offers open, free-flowing floor plans with high ceilings and tall windows that capture Southwest Florida's natural light.
Naples-based Ficarra Design Associates is creating and executing a contemporary interior design for one of the four-bedroom Casamore residences that is as unique as the building itself. Bold design features and interior details, lighting treatments that accentuate the visual impact of an assortment of extraordinary finishes, and a color palette that includes gray, taupe and eggplant tones all contribute to a style with a level of clean-lined sophistication.
"The uniqueness of the Casamore residence's architectural style offers an ideal venue for the execution of a bold, contemporary interior design," said Ficarra Design Associates Founder and President Lisa Ficarra. "The owners of the residence recognized the possibilities early on, articulated their vision and then provided us the freedom to create this type of style. It is an exciting project that will ultimately contribute to the overall one-of-a-kind ambiance that has already established Casamore as Naples' newest landmark location."
Ficarra's emphasis on unique, high visual impact finishes is apparent upon arrival at the home's ground level entry. The flooring is predominantly a textured white ceramic tile with elements that sparkle.
Ficarra has taken the flooring a step further with the creation of a rectangular Calcutta marble tile accent that has a circular stainless steel inlay. The inlay plays against a stairway that features steel posts with cable railings. Each step is accented by a geometric stainless steel inlaid border. Cove lighting at the uppermost reaches of the three-story stairwell casts a soft glow.
Driftwood toned hardwood flooring throughout the second level introduces Ficarra's color palette. A powder room near the top of the staircase features the same ceramic flooring found in the entry. The white wall tile is done in a wave pattern that is accented by soffit lighting mounted directly overhead. A floating vanity cabinet with an onyx countertop lit from underneath and a mirror suspended on wires extending from the ceiling provide additional memory points. The vanity is separated from the toilet area by a frosted glass half-wall with a stone top.
In addition to its tall windows that offer a view of Casamore's environs, the residence's living room features a fireplace in a combination of shell stone and wood veneer. A series of wood-stained beams with cross pieces are used to create a ceiling treatment with a contemporary feeling that plays against furnishings with espresso wood accents. The espresso tone is continued in the adjacent club room's contemporary built-in wall unit. The club room space also features a deep coffered ceiling with beams and Lutron window shades that vanish into an indiscernible soffit when raised.
An additional space on the second level serves as both a guest bedroom and his-and-her office. The room has a full bath and a zoom bed that can be stored in the wall.
Ficarra's contemporary design is on full display in the kitchen. The upper perimeter cabinetry is a polished chrome with glass fronts while the lower cabinets have horizontal grained, gray-washed wooden door fronts, a look that is continued on the front of an island base that is framed with espresso toned trim. A metallic shadow Pompeii quartz counter top and backsplash on the perimeter play against the island's green, gray and eggplant toned top. The designer's penchant for making visual statements with lighting is evident again in the island's step-up counter that is done in espresso finished wood with three Cristallo white glass inserts that are lit from underneath. A tiered, multilevel Plexiglas table in the breakfast nook was designed by Ficarra Design Associates' Alexandra Hutchinson.
The driftwood toned hardwood flooring continues in the third level vestibule and hallways. The entry to the master suite includes a walk-in morning kitchen that features a stepped-coffer ceiling and cabinetry with a dramatic curvilinear molding design in espresso brown over a white background. The cabinetry plays against a Calcutta stone counter and backsplash and a gray, silver, bronze and dark brown stainless steel horizontal inlay in the hardwood floor.
In the master bedroom, a vaulted ceiling contributes to the volume of the space. A chunky frame detail on the headboard wall and suspended lighting fixtures over matching night stands continue Ficarra's contemporary twists and visual surprises. The master suite includes his-and-her baths. Her bath has a fantasy white marble floor with diamond shaped taupe bubble glass insets. The bubbles run up the shower wall and are also used as the flooring under a free-standing tub that is centered on a window. His bath reprises the stainless steel accents in the morning kitchen's floor, this time in the bath's cream-toned marble floor and shower. A free-standing dark espresso vanity provides a perfect contrast to the lighter toned marble.
Ficarra continues her attention to ceiling treatments in the guest bedrooms on the third level. One of the bedrooms has a unique beamed ceiling design while the other has a stepped coffer.
2012年10月18日星期四
Italian firms fight to hold head above political water
It’s not long into a chat with an Italian businessmen before talk turns to how a costly state is sucking the air out of Europe’s third-largest economy, endangering the euro along the way.
“In the end we’re asking for only one thing: a normal government for a normal country,” said Maurizio Marchesini, the president of Confindustria, Italy’s main employers’ association, in the wealthy north-central region of Emilia-Romagna.
Emilia-Romagna, of which Bologna is the capital, is doing better than much of Italy. It is one of the top 10 industrial regions of Europe, home to companies such as Ferrari SpA and pasta giant Barilla, and seems to be largely free of organised crime.
Clusters of mainly medium-sized firms in engineering, packaging, food processing and ceramics are a reminder that, despite a government debt burden hovering at 120 per cent of annual output, Italy is Europe’s second-largest manufacturer.
Yet all is not well. Italy is in recession and few expect growth to resume before 2014. Exporters are coping, sometimes flourishing, but many firms that depend on the domestic market are floundering, even in defensive sectors such as food, said Giampiero Bergami, a banker for Unicredit.
Sales and profitability are under assault. “Gloomy would be putting it mildly. We are witnessing a constant contraction of both top lines and margins,” Mr. Bergami said.
Household consumption is at a post-war low, depressed by tax rises and spending cuts that Prime Minister Mario Monti, a technocrat, has forced through to rein in Rome’s budget deficit.
Entrepreneurs respect Mr. Monti, who has said he would be willing to stay on if elections next spring produced a deadlock. But if businessmen are doing well, they say this is in spite of the state, not thanks to it.
Mr. Marchesini, who runs a successful packaging firm, lists his complaints. The inflexible labour market is “quite impossible for a foreigner to understand,” red tape is so bad it takes at least a year to open a factory, and then there are punishing taxes, poor infrastructure and the high cost of credit.
Companies have long said they are reluctant to recruit staff even in good times because labour laws make it hard to shed workers if their business turns down.
Confindustria estimates the political malaise is responsible for 2 percentage points of the risk premium of more than 3.2 points over German debt that investors demand to hold 10-year Italian bonds, which now yield about 4.8 per cent.
Because government bond yields set the benchmark for corporate borrowing costs, Mr. Marchesini is paying interest of 4-5 per cent despite rising turnover and a good credit rating. That puts him at a big disadvantage to his German competitors.
“So you can imagine it’s hard to make big investments. Of course I haven’t stopped investing in development and new machinery. But, for example, to buy a new building is a real problem,” he said. “It’s very difficult to obtain a mortgage.”
Government borrowing costs have also become an indicator of the wider euro zone crisis. At the moment, attention is focused on Spain and Greece, but if Italy does not show soon that it is getting to grips with its problems, the country could be next in line to shake the 17-nation currency union.
For Eraldo Poletto, the outgoing managing director of Furla, a family-owned maker of luxury leather goods based in Bologna, ever-changing laws, bureaucracy and high taxes are undermining what he says is an old entrepreneurial spirit in Italy.
Speaking during a business trip to India, Mr. Poletto contrasted what he called Asia’s amazing desire to succeed to Italy’s constant concern to preserve past gains. “Here they want to win; we in Italy are afraid to lose the privileges we have. We need a wake-up call,” he said from Mumbai.
Domestic car maker Fiat SpA has frozen a multibillion-euro investment plan in Italy because of poor market conditions and competition from low-cost production outside Europe, while Alcoa Inc. is shutting its Italian aluminum smelter in Sardinia largely due to high energy costs.
Energy is also one of the problems facing the ceramic tiles sector, which has struggled to recover from a slump in 2008. It costs 50 per cent more than the European average, especially for industrial users, because of limited competition, according to the International Monetary Fund.
“We’re at one of the lowest points in our history,” said Franco Manfredini, head of the ceramics employers’ association in the town of Sassuolo, where 80 per cent of Italy’s tiles are produced. “We have to become a serious country.”
To make up for a slide in domestic sales, which were down 16 per cent in the first half of the year, local tile makers are opening factories abroad, emphasising innovation and exporting more. Tiles from Sassuolo, an hour’s drive from Bologna, clad Brisbane airport and Riyadh’s biggest shopping mall.
Mauro Sacchetto, the chief executive of Datalogic, a leading producer of bar code readers, says a succession of governments has neglected the sort of cooperation in research between industry and universities that his company enjoys in Vietnam, where it opened a plant in 2009 that now employs 600.
“Italy’s reputation is due to a lack of credible, reliable politicians. We have enough of an industrial culture to prove that we are much better than our political and banking reputation,” Mr. Sacchetto said.
“In the end we’re asking for only one thing: a normal government for a normal country,” said Maurizio Marchesini, the president of Confindustria, Italy’s main employers’ association, in the wealthy north-central region of Emilia-Romagna.
Emilia-Romagna, of which Bologna is the capital, is doing better than much of Italy. It is one of the top 10 industrial regions of Europe, home to companies such as Ferrari SpA and pasta giant Barilla, and seems to be largely free of organised crime.
Clusters of mainly medium-sized firms in engineering, packaging, food processing and ceramics are a reminder that, despite a government debt burden hovering at 120 per cent of annual output, Italy is Europe’s second-largest manufacturer.
Yet all is not well. Italy is in recession and few expect growth to resume before 2014. Exporters are coping, sometimes flourishing, but many firms that depend on the domestic market are floundering, even in defensive sectors such as food, said Giampiero Bergami, a banker for Unicredit.
Sales and profitability are under assault. “Gloomy would be putting it mildly. We are witnessing a constant contraction of both top lines and margins,” Mr. Bergami said.
Household consumption is at a post-war low, depressed by tax rises and spending cuts that Prime Minister Mario Monti, a technocrat, has forced through to rein in Rome’s budget deficit.
Entrepreneurs respect Mr. Monti, who has said he would be willing to stay on if elections next spring produced a deadlock. But if businessmen are doing well, they say this is in spite of the state, not thanks to it.
Mr. Marchesini, who runs a successful packaging firm, lists his complaints. The inflexible labour market is “quite impossible for a foreigner to understand,” red tape is so bad it takes at least a year to open a factory, and then there are punishing taxes, poor infrastructure and the high cost of credit.
Companies have long said they are reluctant to recruit staff even in good times because labour laws make it hard to shed workers if their business turns down.
Confindustria estimates the political malaise is responsible for 2 percentage points of the risk premium of more than 3.2 points over German debt that investors demand to hold 10-year Italian bonds, which now yield about 4.8 per cent.
Because government bond yields set the benchmark for corporate borrowing costs, Mr. Marchesini is paying interest of 4-5 per cent despite rising turnover and a good credit rating. That puts him at a big disadvantage to his German competitors.
“So you can imagine it’s hard to make big investments. Of course I haven’t stopped investing in development and new machinery. But, for example, to buy a new building is a real problem,” he said. “It’s very difficult to obtain a mortgage.”
Government borrowing costs have also become an indicator of the wider euro zone crisis. At the moment, attention is focused on Spain and Greece, but if Italy does not show soon that it is getting to grips with its problems, the country could be next in line to shake the 17-nation currency union.
For Eraldo Poletto, the outgoing managing director of Furla, a family-owned maker of luxury leather goods based in Bologna, ever-changing laws, bureaucracy and high taxes are undermining what he says is an old entrepreneurial spirit in Italy.
Speaking during a business trip to India, Mr. Poletto contrasted what he called Asia’s amazing desire to succeed to Italy’s constant concern to preserve past gains. “Here they want to win; we in Italy are afraid to lose the privileges we have. We need a wake-up call,” he said from Mumbai.
Domestic car maker Fiat SpA has frozen a multibillion-euro investment plan in Italy because of poor market conditions and competition from low-cost production outside Europe, while Alcoa Inc. is shutting its Italian aluminum smelter in Sardinia largely due to high energy costs.
Energy is also one of the problems facing the ceramic tiles sector, which has struggled to recover from a slump in 2008. It costs 50 per cent more than the European average, especially for industrial users, because of limited competition, according to the International Monetary Fund.
“We’re at one of the lowest points in our history,” said Franco Manfredini, head of the ceramics employers’ association in the town of Sassuolo, where 80 per cent of Italy’s tiles are produced. “We have to become a serious country.”
To make up for a slide in domestic sales, which were down 16 per cent in the first half of the year, local tile makers are opening factories abroad, emphasising innovation and exporting more. Tiles from Sassuolo, an hour’s drive from Bologna, clad Brisbane airport and Riyadh’s biggest shopping mall.
Mauro Sacchetto, the chief executive of Datalogic, a leading producer of bar code readers, says a succession of governments has neglected the sort of cooperation in research between industry and universities that his company enjoys in Vietnam, where it opened a plant in 2009 that now employs 600.
“Italy’s reputation is due to a lack of credible, reliable politicians. We have enough of an industrial culture to prove that we are much better than our political and banking reputation,” Mr. Sacchetto said.
2012年10月16日星期二
“Embarrassing” city property sits ignored
Ugly and an embarrassment — even in the opinion of its managers — the municipally owned Park & Pelissier parking garage boasts a largely vacant ground floor that stretches nearly half a downtown block.
After sharing in the multimillion-dollar cost of the recently completed Pelissier Street restoration, a growing number of commercial neighbours along the street are wondering why the city won’t do the same as what it expects of private landlords.
“How can you expect merchants to upgrade their storefronts and then you have this?” said Larry Horwitz, chairman of the Downtown Windsor BIA. He said the ground floor commercial space has been allowed to remain unoccupied at least five years.
“Look across the street and it’s an empty, dirty building … it’s a shame,” said Judy Morrison, pointing at a long wall of blank, dirt-stained windows and locked doors.
“They should be making an effort — we’d love to see some people in there,” said Morrison, assistant to the owner of Sterling Mutuals Inc., a financial planning and insurance business at 445 Pelissier St. The business recently invested about $300,000 to have its building redone, including an exterior makeover that complements the investment made to upgrade the streetscaping.
For anyone parking at the city-owned garage for a visit to the downtown, it’s a bad first impression, with dim lighting, graffiti-covered walls with peeling paint and rust stains, the stench of urine and broken floor tiles in the stairway.
“It is pretty embarrassing, driving by,” said Tony Sabelli, the city’s asset/lease administrator. That’s a harsh assessment coming from the city employee tasked with marketing the building and finding tenants.
To critics like Horwitz who wonder why there aren’t even signs on the windows advertising leasing contact information, Sabelli said it’s because the building is not being marketed due to the many “issues” confronting the owner, including the presence of mould inside the walls.
A staff report is now being prepared, but there appears to be a battle brewing within city departments over which preferred option to recommend to city council.
City planning staff, citing long-standing official plans for the downtown, want to see retail or other commercial presence fronting the streetscape, something the local business community favours. But the traffic department, which runs the parking garage and whose budget covers its operating costs, appears to favour ripping out the ground-floor walls and windows and converting that space into parking stalls, which is how the garage was built in the mid-1970s.
It would require “a major overhaul” to fix it up to allow for commercial tenants, said Mike Palanacki, the city’s executive director of operations. Sabelli said a preliminary estimate pegs that restoration at about $1.5 million.
“The city needs to make a decision,” said Sabelli.
Ward 3 Coun. Fulvio Valentinis, who represents the downtown, said he sees both sides of the issue.
“The downtown business community wants street-level activity, but that comes at a cost,” he said, while the city’s traffic engineering department has indicated “there’s not the money there to spend.”
But what’s there now sends out a negative message to visitors, and it’s “not acceptable,” said Valentinis. He wants council to tackle the issue “head-on” in the next round of capital budget talks by agreeing to set aside the necessary funds to foster a street-level commercial presence.
“They haven’t made any effort – it doesn’t look good on our business,” said Youssef Gereige, owner of Youssef’s Hair Boutique at 436 Pelissier St. His business has been leasing space in the parking garage building for about 12 years, but his neighbors are vacant storefronts.
Sabelli estimates about half the 14,400 square feet of available commercial space is currently unused.
After sharing in the multimillion-dollar cost of the recently completed Pelissier Street restoration, a growing number of commercial neighbours along the street are wondering why the city won’t do the same as what it expects of private landlords.
“How can you expect merchants to upgrade their storefronts and then you have this?” said Larry Horwitz, chairman of the Downtown Windsor BIA. He said the ground floor commercial space has been allowed to remain unoccupied at least five years.
“Look across the street and it’s an empty, dirty building … it’s a shame,” said Judy Morrison, pointing at a long wall of blank, dirt-stained windows and locked doors.
“They should be making an effort — we’d love to see some people in there,” said Morrison, assistant to the owner of Sterling Mutuals Inc., a financial planning and insurance business at 445 Pelissier St. The business recently invested about $300,000 to have its building redone, including an exterior makeover that complements the investment made to upgrade the streetscaping.
For anyone parking at the city-owned garage for a visit to the downtown, it’s a bad first impression, with dim lighting, graffiti-covered walls with peeling paint and rust stains, the stench of urine and broken floor tiles in the stairway.
“It is pretty embarrassing, driving by,” said Tony Sabelli, the city’s asset/lease administrator. That’s a harsh assessment coming from the city employee tasked with marketing the building and finding tenants.
To critics like Horwitz who wonder why there aren’t even signs on the windows advertising leasing contact information, Sabelli said it’s because the building is not being marketed due to the many “issues” confronting the owner, including the presence of mould inside the walls.
A staff report is now being prepared, but there appears to be a battle brewing within city departments over which preferred option to recommend to city council.
City planning staff, citing long-standing official plans for the downtown, want to see retail or other commercial presence fronting the streetscape, something the local business community favours. But the traffic department, which runs the parking garage and whose budget covers its operating costs, appears to favour ripping out the ground-floor walls and windows and converting that space into parking stalls, which is how the garage was built in the mid-1970s.
It would require “a major overhaul” to fix it up to allow for commercial tenants, said Mike Palanacki, the city’s executive director of operations. Sabelli said a preliminary estimate pegs that restoration at about $1.5 million.
“The city needs to make a decision,” said Sabelli.
Ward 3 Coun. Fulvio Valentinis, who represents the downtown, said he sees both sides of the issue.
“The downtown business community wants street-level activity, but that comes at a cost,” he said, while the city’s traffic engineering department has indicated “there’s not the money there to spend.”
But what’s there now sends out a negative message to visitors, and it’s “not acceptable,” said Valentinis. He wants council to tackle the issue “head-on” in the next round of capital budget talks by agreeing to set aside the necessary funds to foster a street-level commercial presence.
“They haven’t made any effort – it doesn’t look good on our business,” said Youssef Gereige, owner of Youssef’s Hair Boutique at 436 Pelissier St. His business has been leasing space in the parking garage building for about 12 years, but his neighbors are vacant storefronts.
Sabelli estimates about half the 14,400 square feet of available commercial space is currently unused.
2012年10月14日星期日
Driving home road safety
That was the message delivered to Fowlerville High School students Saturday at a local automotive test track in the hopes that it might save their lives.
For the first time, cell phone use was incorporated into the annual specialized training day for teen drivers at Aisin Seiki Co.'s FT Techno of America Fowlerville Proving Ground near Layton and Smith roads in Handy Township.
"We want (teens) to see the difference between that one extra second or two seconds it takes that you look down, and see how much distance (the vehicle) has traveled," said Mike Benjamin, operations manager. "Texting's very innocent, but when you see the real difference it makes in a situation, we think that will send a message home."
About 20 high school juniors and seniors took their brief classroom training to the test track with a professional driver, learning skid control in their own vehicles on the proving ground's ceramic tile tracks simulating ice and snow.
The students executed breaking exercises and quick lane-change maneuvers, among other safety procedures.
Vice President Terry Takano said the driver's training course is an extension of the company's philosophy of promoting safety and giving back.
"It's also important to encourage the future of the automotive industry," he said. "The kids get to see what we do on a daily basis on an automotive testing pad, which makes them more excited in physics."
The free training has been hosted for four consecutive years at the proving ground in partnership with Tire Rack Street Survival School, a national initiative that teaches teens how to drive better, safer and smarter.
"Students at this age are often unprepared for dangerous driving conditions, and this program allows them to learn how to handle the conditions in a controlled atmosphere with excellent instructors," said Brad Lusk, Fowlerville High School principal.
Scott died last Monday at the Petaluma home she and her husband, Basil Leon Scott, built 58 years ago. She was 77. The cause was cancer, which she was diagnosed with in August, family members said.
Scott was born Joan Elaine Hinrichsen on March 6, 1935, at Petaluma General Hospital. Her parents were egg ranchers Clifford and Rose Hinrichsen.
She arrived in the world weighing just four pounds.
“Her father built her a small incubator box using a chick-warming light to keep her warm at night,” said Scott's daughter Judy Fornaciari, of Sebastopol.
A graduate of Petaluma High School, she met Basil Scott, who was stationed at was then Two Rock Army base, in January 1953 at a dance at Hermann Sons Hall in Petaluma. “It was love at first sight,” said Fornaciari.
The couple married in 1954 and built their home on a corner of her grandfather's Eastman Lane farm.
For nearly five decades, Joan Scott worked as a partner with her husband in his business, Scott's Plumbing, as bookkeeper, secretary and, Fornaciari said, “all-around moral support for my dad.”
For the first time, cell phone use was incorporated into the annual specialized training day for teen drivers at Aisin Seiki Co.'s FT Techno of America Fowlerville Proving Ground near Layton and Smith roads in Handy Township.
"We want (teens) to see the difference between that one extra second or two seconds it takes that you look down, and see how much distance (the vehicle) has traveled," said Mike Benjamin, operations manager. "Texting's very innocent, but when you see the real difference it makes in a situation, we think that will send a message home."
About 20 high school juniors and seniors took their brief classroom training to the test track with a professional driver, learning skid control in their own vehicles on the proving ground's ceramic tile tracks simulating ice and snow.
The students executed breaking exercises and quick lane-change maneuvers, among other safety procedures.
Vice President Terry Takano said the driver's training course is an extension of the company's philosophy of promoting safety and giving back.
"It's also important to encourage the future of the automotive industry," he said. "The kids get to see what we do on a daily basis on an automotive testing pad, which makes them more excited in physics."
The free training has been hosted for four consecutive years at the proving ground in partnership with Tire Rack Street Survival School, a national initiative that teaches teens how to drive better, safer and smarter.
"Students at this age are often unprepared for dangerous driving conditions, and this program allows them to learn how to handle the conditions in a controlled atmosphere with excellent instructors," said Brad Lusk, Fowlerville High School principal.
Scott died last Monday at the Petaluma home she and her husband, Basil Leon Scott, built 58 years ago. She was 77. The cause was cancer, which she was diagnosed with in August, family members said.
Scott was born Joan Elaine Hinrichsen on March 6, 1935, at Petaluma General Hospital. Her parents were egg ranchers Clifford and Rose Hinrichsen.
She arrived in the world weighing just four pounds.
“Her father built her a small incubator box using a chick-warming light to keep her warm at night,” said Scott's daughter Judy Fornaciari, of Sebastopol.
A graduate of Petaluma High School, she met Basil Scott, who was stationed at was then Two Rock Army base, in January 1953 at a dance at Hermann Sons Hall in Petaluma. “It was love at first sight,” said Fornaciari.
The couple married in 1954 and built their home on a corner of her grandfather's Eastman Lane farm.
For nearly five decades, Joan Scott worked as a partner with her husband in his business, Scott's Plumbing, as bookkeeper, secretary and, Fornaciari said, “all-around moral support for my dad.”
2012年10月10日星期三
The latest in decorative fashion at Woven Treasures
And so does Parviz Yathrebi, the owner of Woven Treasures, 2221 South Street. Open since 1986, Woven Treasures has provided its clientele with a wide-variety of Turkish and Persian rugs. In recent years, Woven Treasures, has expanded its operation to include a Turkish and Persian tile gallery on its ground floor as well as museum quality repairs, appraisals, cleaning and hand-washing services for its rugs.
In many respects, a visit to Woven Treasures, approximates a visit to a museum showcasing artifacts from Middle Eastern and European cultures. But just because the beautiful tiles, artifacts, gift items, jewelry and rugs found at Woven Treasures honors cultural traditions of the past, does not mean that Parviz isn’t interested in finding the latest fashions of the present. And, Woven Treasures recently won "Best in Philly"! So with that in mind, Parviz travels to the European Continent at least one or twice each year. Last summer, Parviz journeyed from France to Turkey. There, he found the Kilm patchwork rug in Paris and in Turkey both the Arabian Rugs, made by Iraqi Marsh people as well as the Suzani needlework made in Uzbekistan.
Some of what Parviz found, like the Kilm patchwork rugs, represent entirely new designs. Whereas other finds, like the Suzani, represent an updated version of an ancient custom.
Take for instance the recent rage in Paris: the Kilm patchwork rugs. It’s the latest in floor covering," Parviz said. "Its designers," Parviz explained, "take old rugs, sheer them down, dye and recycle them, sewing the old rugs together in a patchwork design." According to Parviz, "they’re multi-colored and much less expansive than the traditional rug." For example, at Woven Treasures, patchwork rugs cost $25 per square foot. Thus far, patchwork rugs have proved so popular throughout Europe that one of Parviz’s colleagues sold all 8,000 of his at a recent show in Paris.
Like the patchwork rugs, the Arabian rugs Parviz found in a Turkish village, are also multi-colored but extremely bright. Parviz refers to the design and coloring of the Arabian rugs as reminiscent of a "childhood painting." Notably, while Parviz discovered the rugs in Turkey, they originate from the Marsh people in Iraq. Known as fishing people, who uphold ancient customs, Saddam Hussein, tried but didn’t succeed in draining water from the Marsh people’s lands in an attempt to modernize and control its populations, explained Parviz.
Traveling then to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Parviz discovered the latest renderings of the Suzani pieces. Suzani, which means "needlepoint" in Turkish are designed in a variety of fashions including pillowcases, bedspreads, table clothes, table dividers, wall hangings as well as handbags. Suzanis, hand-stitched on either velvet or silk materials, "are very creative," Parviz remarked. Also more affordable than traditional rugs, Suzani handbags, cost $60 each at Woven Treasures. And like Arabian rugs that come from Iraq but purchased from Turkey, the Suzani’s originate in Uzbekistan.
"We’re very stocked up on every item we need," Parviz said of his store’s collection, also pointing to his trivets. Styled after ceramic tiles, the trivets found at Woven Treasures cost only $12 a piece. "They’re great for plates or wall hangings," Parviz explained.
In many respects, a visit to Woven Treasures, approximates a visit to a museum showcasing artifacts from Middle Eastern and European cultures. But just because the beautiful tiles, artifacts, gift items, jewelry and rugs found at Woven Treasures honors cultural traditions of the past, does not mean that Parviz isn’t interested in finding the latest fashions of the present. And, Woven Treasures recently won "Best in Philly"! So with that in mind, Parviz travels to the European Continent at least one or twice each year. Last summer, Parviz journeyed from France to Turkey. There, he found the Kilm patchwork rug in Paris and in Turkey both the Arabian Rugs, made by Iraqi Marsh people as well as the Suzani needlework made in Uzbekistan.
Some of what Parviz found, like the Kilm patchwork rugs, represent entirely new designs. Whereas other finds, like the Suzani, represent an updated version of an ancient custom.
Take for instance the recent rage in Paris: the Kilm patchwork rugs. It’s the latest in floor covering," Parviz said. "Its designers," Parviz explained, "take old rugs, sheer them down, dye and recycle them, sewing the old rugs together in a patchwork design." According to Parviz, "they’re multi-colored and much less expansive than the traditional rug." For example, at Woven Treasures, patchwork rugs cost $25 per square foot. Thus far, patchwork rugs have proved so popular throughout Europe that one of Parviz’s colleagues sold all 8,000 of his at a recent show in Paris.
Like the patchwork rugs, the Arabian rugs Parviz found in a Turkish village, are also multi-colored but extremely bright. Parviz refers to the design and coloring of the Arabian rugs as reminiscent of a "childhood painting." Notably, while Parviz discovered the rugs in Turkey, they originate from the Marsh people in Iraq. Known as fishing people, who uphold ancient customs, Saddam Hussein, tried but didn’t succeed in draining water from the Marsh people’s lands in an attempt to modernize and control its populations, explained Parviz.
Traveling then to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Parviz discovered the latest renderings of the Suzani pieces. Suzani, which means "needlepoint" in Turkish are designed in a variety of fashions including pillowcases, bedspreads, table clothes, table dividers, wall hangings as well as handbags. Suzanis, hand-stitched on either velvet or silk materials, "are very creative," Parviz remarked. Also more affordable than traditional rugs, Suzani handbags, cost $60 each at Woven Treasures. And like Arabian rugs that come from Iraq but purchased from Turkey, the Suzani’s originate in Uzbekistan.
"We’re very stocked up on every item we need," Parviz said of his store’s collection, also pointing to his trivets. Styled after ceramic tiles, the trivets found at Woven Treasures cost only $12 a piece. "They’re great for plates or wall hangings," Parviz explained.
2012年10月8日星期一
DreamMaker remodel makes kitchen more functional
Functionality is key in a kitchen that feeds four children; pretty is just a plus.
Shane and Christine Haggard’s kitchen, before their DreamMaker remodel, was neither functional nor pretty.
“Our house was built in the early ‘70s and the kitchen’s design wasn’t ideal for our family. With four kids, we have to feed a bunch of people,” Christine says.
“We came to a point where we realized that we needed to build a new house or upgrade the kitchen. We like our neighborhood and the rest of the house, so we decided to stay and upgrade.”
The couple already had DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen in mind, after reading about the company in an article like this one. They checked out DreamMaker’s website and liked what they saw in the “Before and After” photos.
When it was time to design the kitchen, Christine already had plenty of great ideas. She worked with DreamMaker owner Steve Betts, and he made sure the plan was exactly what Christine wanted.
“I would tell Steve what I had in mind and he would draw up a plan and show me, letting me say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ about each detail and making me feel confident about each choice. I was nervous about picking some things, but Steve offered great advice. He was very patient to make sure the design was exactly what we wanted.”
The Haggard’s kitchen remodel took just five weeks, although DreamMaker initially estimated six or seven. The new kitchen looks completely different, with pendant lighting, granite countertops, new cabinets, paint, fixtures, and flooring. There’s also a new island that discretely houses a second stove with downdraft ventilation.
When asked to choose her favorite feature of the remodel, Christine says, “I love the granite countertops... but, really, I love everything about our new kitchen. The floor is one of my favorites, too. We chose a really cool ceramic, wood-look tile that mimics the natural wood flooring in our living room. It’s beautiful and it can be mopped so I can clean up after the kids.”
The Haggards are very happy with the outcome of their DreamMaker remodel and the time frame in which it was completed.
“DreamMaker does great quality work,” Christine says. “And the crew was so very courteous and excellent at communicating with us. They kept a dry erase marker board in the kitchen, where we could write notes and questions or look at a precise schedule they printed that showed exactly which step was next in the remodel. We felt informed and included throughout the entire process. We’d recommend DreamMaker to anyone and we’d use them again ourselves.”
Shane and Christine Haggard’s kitchen, before their DreamMaker remodel, was neither functional nor pretty.
“Our house was built in the early ‘70s and the kitchen’s design wasn’t ideal for our family. With four kids, we have to feed a bunch of people,” Christine says.
“We came to a point where we realized that we needed to build a new house or upgrade the kitchen. We like our neighborhood and the rest of the house, so we decided to stay and upgrade.”
The couple already had DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen in mind, after reading about the company in an article like this one. They checked out DreamMaker’s website and liked what they saw in the “Before and After” photos.
When it was time to design the kitchen, Christine already had plenty of great ideas. She worked with DreamMaker owner Steve Betts, and he made sure the plan was exactly what Christine wanted.
“I would tell Steve what I had in mind and he would draw up a plan and show me, letting me say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ about each detail and making me feel confident about each choice. I was nervous about picking some things, but Steve offered great advice. He was very patient to make sure the design was exactly what we wanted.”
The Haggard’s kitchen remodel took just five weeks, although DreamMaker initially estimated six or seven. The new kitchen looks completely different, with pendant lighting, granite countertops, new cabinets, paint, fixtures, and flooring. There’s also a new island that discretely houses a second stove with downdraft ventilation.
When asked to choose her favorite feature of the remodel, Christine says, “I love the granite countertops... but, really, I love everything about our new kitchen. The floor is one of my favorites, too. We chose a really cool ceramic, wood-look tile that mimics the natural wood flooring in our living room. It’s beautiful and it can be mopped so I can clean up after the kids.”
The Haggards are very happy with the outcome of their DreamMaker remodel and the time frame in which it was completed.
“DreamMaker does great quality work,” Christine says. “And the crew was so very courteous and excellent at communicating with us. They kept a dry erase marker board in the kitchen, where we could write notes and questions or look at a precise schedule they printed that showed exactly which step was next in the remodel. We felt informed and included throughout the entire process. We’d recommend DreamMaker to anyone and we’d use them again ourselves.”
2012年10月7日星期日
Oneida Lake home has views from every room
Lakefront homes are usually built to maximize views. When Roger and Shirley Burdick sat down with their architect to talk about building on their 2.20-acre lot on Oneida Lake 20 years ago, they took it one step further.
They asked the architect to orient the four-bedroom, 4 1/2-bathroom home so that nearly every room would have not only a view of Big Bay, but also views of the rest of the nearly 21-mile long lake, stretching to the east.
The Burdicks had a lot of other ideas -- mostly clipped from Architectural Digest and other home design publications-- about what they wanted in the 5,327-square-foot home they built at 5871 Bartel Circle.
The living room's 20-foot-high coffered ceiling, with recessed lighting, helps to frame the multi-tier paned windows and French doors overlooking the lake -- the first thing visitors see when they walk through the main entrance.
A fir bead board ceiling in the first-floor home office complements the room's American cherry judges paneling and built-in cabinets, book shelves and entertainment center.
And on the second floor, two bedrooms have vaulted ceilings and skylights.
The home has a doorbell intercom and a central vacuum as well as a four-zone, whole-house audio system with speakers and volume control in every room. The four amplifiers will stay in the house.
Two units with humidifiers and electronic air cleaners provide two-zone, natural gas-fueled heating and air conditioning. An energy management system allows temperatures to be set independently for each room. The same system also manages lighting and security throughout the house.
Because the Burdicks have allergies, they installed oak floors -- some inlaid with borders of oak and walnut -- throughout the house, except for the marble in the foyer, ceramic tile in the bathrooms and Berber carpet in the finished lower-level recreation room.
All three fireplaces -- the wide, brick-fronted one in the family room, with a firewood box that can be loaded from the back; the marble-fronted one in the living room; and the tile and oak-trimmed one in the rec room -- were originally wood burning, but have been converted to gas.
The two Burdick children are grown, but Shirley remembers making school lunches while enjoying the sunrise with "the big breadth of red sky over the lake," visible from the bay windows above the kitchen sink.
The kitchen has a breakfast nook, with its own bay windows overlooking the lake, and a center island with seating for three. Granite countertops complement the American cherry cabinets and built-in high-end side-by-side refrigerator. There is a 48-inch, four-burner gas range with a grill and griddle, a built-in convection oven, microwave and warming drawer. All appliances will stay in the house.
They asked the architect to orient the four-bedroom, 4 1/2-bathroom home so that nearly every room would have not only a view of Big Bay, but also views of the rest of the nearly 21-mile long lake, stretching to the east.
The Burdicks had a lot of other ideas -- mostly clipped from Architectural Digest and other home design publications-- about what they wanted in the 5,327-square-foot home they built at 5871 Bartel Circle.
The living room's 20-foot-high coffered ceiling, with recessed lighting, helps to frame the multi-tier paned windows and French doors overlooking the lake -- the first thing visitors see when they walk through the main entrance.
A fir bead board ceiling in the first-floor home office complements the room's American cherry judges paneling and built-in cabinets, book shelves and entertainment center.
And on the second floor, two bedrooms have vaulted ceilings and skylights.
The home has a doorbell intercom and a central vacuum as well as a four-zone, whole-house audio system with speakers and volume control in every room. The four amplifiers will stay in the house.
Two units with humidifiers and electronic air cleaners provide two-zone, natural gas-fueled heating and air conditioning. An energy management system allows temperatures to be set independently for each room. The same system also manages lighting and security throughout the house.
Because the Burdicks have allergies, they installed oak floors -- some inlaid with borders of oak and walnut -- throughout the house, except for the marble in the foyer, ceramic tile in the bathrooms and Berber carpet in the finished lower-level recreation room.
All three fireplaces -- the wide, brick-fronted one in the family room, with a firewood box that can be loaded from the back; the marble-fronted one in the living room; and the tile and oak-trimmed one in the rec room -- were originally wood burning, but have been converted to gas.
The two Burdick children are grown, but Shirley remembers making school lunches while enjoying the sunrise with "the big breadth of red sky over the lake," visible from the bay windows above the kitchen sink.
The kitchen has a breakfast nook, with its own bay windows overlooking the lake, and a center island with seating for three. Granite countertops complement the American cherry cabinets and built-in high-end side-by-side refrigerator. There is a 48-inch, four-burner gas range with a grill and griddle, a built-in convection oven, microwave and warming drawer. All appliances will stay in the house.
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