Festival of Lights (FOLEPI) -- November 18, 2010

On our last trip of the Fall season (and one week before the world-famous East Peoria Festival of Lights parade), OLLI had a rare opportunity to visit the "Folepi Construction Company" and its "employees:" a merry band of volunteers who design and build the parade's 40+ floats. During our tour of the building, constructed in 1994 to house activities for the already-burgeoning festival, we met a group of dedicated volunteers and employees who work year-round designing, welding, and maintaining the floats (and their 500,000 lights).

For more information about the Festival of Lights, please visit the City of East Peoria webpage.

Midland Davis Corporation -- November 17, 2010

Midland Davis Corporation can trace its roots back to 1892, when a 20-year-old immigrant named Louis Livingston began collecting pieces of discarded iron and steel to sell to local foundries and mills. During our tour of the Pekin business, we learned how the fifth-generation company has evolved into a full-service recycling provider that processes more than 168,000 pounds of cardboard, 42,000 pounds of newsprint, and 21,000 pounds each of paper and co-mingled plastics each week. We also had the opportunity to watch the entire scrap metal recycling process, from hopper sorting to semi-loading!

For more information about the services provided by Midland Davis, please visit the corporation's website.

Getz Fire Equipment Company -- November 16, 2010

The Getz family has been in the fire protection business for more than 52 years, and in November they opened the doors of their Adams Street facility to show OLLI how the business has grown and diversified into a multi-million dollar company. During our tour, we learned how the company's 100 specialists provide commerical, industrial, and residential fire alarm services, training, surveillance systems, and equipment development. Our visit to the 30,000 square-feet building also included a look at pressure test rooms, a wheeled unit room, and a fleet of service vehicles.

For more information about Getz Fire Equipment Company, please visit its website.

Advanced Technology Services -- November 11, 2011

On this trip, we learned how ATS, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, provides managed services for factory maintenance, industrial parts services, calibration, and innovative technology solutions. The local, privately owned company, formed in 1985 as a Caterpillar Inc. spinoff, has become the recognized leader in outsourced production equipment maintenance. During the tour of the company's headquarters, we discovered how top manufacturing companies use ATS to improve equipment reliability, increase uptime, and facilitate lean manufacturing.

For more information about ATS, visit the company's website.

New Orleans Ethnic Dinner -- November 10, 2010

The ethnic dinner has become another OLLI tradition. This fall, we “laissez le bons temps rouler” (let the good times roll) during our after-hours dinner at the Michel Student Center.

OLLI members celebrated the culture and cuisine of “The Big Easy” with a private evening of traditional New Orleans jazz music, a presentation by Carl Anderson, affiliate instructor of music business at Bradley University, and, of course, authentic New Orleans-style food.