Now, Santa’s Battle Wagon and a team of 12 robot reindeer occupy a patch of lawn near the pool, while a 50-foot-tall, 54-ton robot made partly of junked electronics diverts attention from the tasteful desert landscaping.

And forget about playing a few sets on the tennis court.

“Now it’s elf village, with post-apocalyptic extraterrestrial nuclear elves,” Kenny Jr. said, leading a visitor on a walk through a landscape resembling the set of a Tim Burton film. Wearing a beige shalwar kameez and a long, untrimmed beard (he became a Muslim a decade ago), Kenny Jr., 39, had the gleeful smile of a child given a very large sandbox to play in.

Georgia Eisner, his older sister, recalled how, years before he took over the backyard, he would appropriate her possessions as material for his art while she was away at boarding school. “It was clear my typewriter ended up in one of his structures,” she said. “My shell collection disappeared. He glued it to the wall.”

Remembering her exasperation, she added: “I would think, can’t I have a normal brother who plays sports? He was the weirdo that was always off playing by himself and talking about outer space.”

Kenny Jr.’s ideas come in a geyserlike rush, he explained, inspired by vivid dreams of aliens and distant planets. His main challenge is keeping up with them. “The amount of energy that goes through me is absolutely, utterly relentless,” he said. “Think of it as the floodgates are unleashed and the flood doesn’t ever stop. It’s been that way my whole life.”

For several years, his creative energy has been channeled into Robo Lights, the ever-expanding holiday display he began in 1986, at age 12. Last year, 20,000 people visited the sprawling installation, which features Santa’s Pink Robot Store and a manger scene with baby Jesus wearing a Sumo-style topknot and wise men bearing gifts of toy microwaves.

Twin Palms, the estate Frank Sinatra owned one block over, grows paler as a neighborhood attraction every year.

In October, an indoor version of Robo Lights will be on display at the American Visionary Art Museum, or AVAM, in Baltimore, said Rebecca Alban Hoffberger, the museum’s director and founder. Kenny Jr.’s work will be part of an exhibit on technology called “Human, Soul and Machine: The Coming Singularity.”

“Kenny is one of a handful of people who continue to fascinate me,” Ms. Hoffberger said. “There’s a lot of sci-fi work out there, and it tends to look alike. His work looks like no one else’s.”

LIKE A ONE-MAN RECYCLING CENTER, Kenny Jr. collects old phones, cassette tapes, wood, the innards of slot machines, garbage can lids, pool filters, a neighbor’s wrecked glider, an air compressor from a commercial building — anything he can get his hands on, basically — and using multiple cans of Touch ’n Foam sealant, gives form to his visions.

His sculptures have a Seurat-like quality: a pink Clydesdale looks monumental from a distance; up close, its hooves are revealed as boxy computer monitors, its noble head a printer and fax machine glued together, its mane a tangle of power cords.

Aliens, robots and monsters appear in Kenny Jr.’s work with obsessive frequency. But he maintains that his inspiration doesn’t come from comic books or B-movies. His robot sculptures are “instantaneously generated creations that go through my mind,” he said. “I know exactly what they look like, and I make them.” (An interest in the far-out is perhaps hereditary: Kenny Jr.’s paternal grandmother was a singer and bandleader whose 1969 album, “Into Outer Space with Lucia Pamela,” a jazzy account of her “trip” to the moon, is a cult classic for its wacky naïveté. Tony Kushner wrote a play about her called “Flip Flop Fly.”)

Kenny Jr. beamed into the larger culture briefly in 2010, when Conan O’Brien asked him to design the holiday set for his talk show. The host appeared delighted with the results (Godzilla wielding a candy cane; a Christmas U.F.O.), though it was hard to tell if the creator was in on the joke. In a backstage interview, Kenny Jr. answered Mr. O’Brien’s sardonic questions about “Mr. and Mrs. Sanmagnetron Claus” with deadpan sincerity, seemingly oblivious to the incongruity of a man in full Islamic dress designing Christmas decorations.

 

His truck is a think tank. The time spent stalled at a red light is sometimes used to scrawl down a note or two. Great designs happen on the move. Joe Pavlovicz, owner of JTS Landscaping in Seville, Ohio, says, “I’m thinking of ideas all day long – and I feel like 90 percent of my ideas come when I’m driving around in my truck.”

Or lying in bed. Or walking the properties while his installation crews are practicing their craft, laying intricate outdoor living spaces using interlocking paver systems or creating organic-feeling gardens the freestyle way, using natural stone.

For the love of design, Pavlovicz began this business as a high-school graduate living in his parents’ house, and he has grown it over 25 years into a firm with 15 employees, and a portfolio of work that speaks to this flair for creativity. JTS built the displays at Unilock headquarters in Rittman, Ohio.

Craftsmanship and client service separate JTS Landscaping from the pack. “A lot of people can put plants down,” says Pavlovicz, who was working in a garden center after school, long before he had a driver’s license. He has grown a team of experts who have helped cultivate JTS Landscaping into a strong and growing business.

“I’ve always looked at the business this way,” Pavlovicz says. “If our employees are happy and continue to do good work, our customers are happy, our guys get more work, we get different opportunities and everyone is happy – it keeps going ‘round and ‘round. So, as long as you can keep that going…”

Growing his own. “You’re not going to work for me the rest of your life – what are you going to do?”
That’s what the owner of the garden center where Pavlovicz had worked since grade school asked him one day. Pavlovicz replied, “Well, I don’t know.” His mentor planted the seed: Why don’t you do your own thing?
“He gave me a tip to start my own business,” says Pavlovicz, who was 18 when this conversation happened. “He bought a truck and said I could use it and just make the payments on it. Within three months, I bought the truck off of him.”

Pavlovicz started working for this owner when he was 8 years old, essentially working as a farm hand before the guy ever opened a garden center. The little outfit raised produce and perennials, so young Pavlovicz picked veggies and did whatever else was necessary to keep the plants growing.

When the owner opened a garden center, Pavlovicz carried potted plants out to customers’ cars, and eventually he worked in the nursery selling plant material. “I can remember having a Dirr’s book, and people would come to the garden center and ask what a plant does, and I’d read the book to them,” he says. “That is how I learned about plants – by selling them.”

Pavlovicz continued to work at the garden center through high school before starting his own company out of his parent’s house with three guys and two trucks. He took classes at the The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster, Ohio, during winters for the first couple of seasons he was in business.

But the housing boom in Medina, Ohio soon sucked up all Pavlovicz’s extra time – in a good way. It was the mid-1990s and Medina wasrapidly developing county. “There was more work around here to do than you could really perform,” Pavlovicz recalls.

JTS Landscaping embraced the boom.

And at the same time, Pavlovicz and the firm sought out opportunities to make a mark in the industry. One of those is at the Unilock plant that was built close to where JTS is based. “Our business was evolving at the same time that interlocking concrete pavers were coming out,” he says. JTS just last year completed Unilock’s corporate displays.
The company is known for its hardscape designs, Pavlovicz says. “There are two parts to a hardscape,” he says.

“There is the precision aspect where a patio might be 16 by 16 feet with (interlocking paver) design work.” And there is side of this type of work that involves using natural stone and designing as you go.

JTS is equipped with two craftsmen who are accomplished at each technique. “One is like a carpenter and the other is more of an artist – he doesn’t know what (the job) will look like until it’s done,” Pavlovicz says.

“A lot of times, a job begins with a pile of dirt and rocks – the (competitor) may have the same pile, but will he be able to do the same craftsmanship?” he continues. “It’s all about what you do with the materials and how you put it all together in a landscape.”

Cultivating a team. “The green industry is still green, in my opinion,” Pavlovicz says. He’s talking about business acumen and the constant need to learn new skills to keep up with product introductions and emerging trends.
“We have all seen landscaping evolve from a couple of shrubs to all of this hardscape and structures and pergolas and low-voltage lighting and artwork – the industry is growing,” Pavlovicz says.

Pavlovicz invests in training by sending employees to trade shows and taking advantage of vendor education opportunities. And, there is a big focus on recruiting talent. Three key managers at JTS have been with the firm for the last 10 years. “They are the backbone of the company,” Pavlovicz says.

Danny Rutherford came to Pavlovicz after graduating from high school. He told Pavlovicz, “I’m graduating in June, can I come work for you?” Pavlovicz said, “Sure.” Sixteen years later, Rutherford is landscape foreman, but he also assists with design and sales. “Danny’s there with a pile of flagstone and brick and boulders, and there is this pile of rocks that he makes into a patio or a fire ring, a natural walkway or a seating area.”

Pavlovicz’s first employee, Tommy Baltic, was working for a roofer who passed away. Baltic needed a job, so he came to work for Pavlovicz. He started planting and eventually moved into hardscaping and is now the firm’s lead designer for those projects.

Matt Glyn, project manager, also began working at JTS while in high school. It was a summer job. He attended college, earned a landscape degree and came back to the firm to work.

“We all click,” Pavlovicz says. “Everyone has the same priority of getting the job done and getting it done right.”
Pavlovicz’s role is to pair each job with the right person in the firm. “Projects don’t come in the door and we say, ‘You’re next in line to go do it,” Pavlovicz says. “It’s about putting the pieces of the puzzle together and putting people on the jobs where they will perform the best.”

For Pavlovicz, that means being “on” the job, but not working in it. And this is an adjustment for a hands-on guy. “I have to rely on the guys to take (the business) to the next level,” he says.

He does that by giving them the freedom to make choices. “Everyone is going to stumble at first, but if you don’t let them make their own decisions they will never learn,” he says, with great confidence in his team. “They focus on the positives, and we all keep moving forward.”
 

Brainerd residents gave lawmakers an earful during an open meeting about raising the minimum wage. The meeting was part of a multi-city listening tour to gather ideas about the minimum wage, writes Mike O’Rourke of the Associated Press and published in the Brainerd Dispatch. The Minnesota House Select Committee on Living Wage Jobs met Monday in Brainerd and heard from 20 business people, labor supporters and others about legislative attempts to raise the minimum wage. Mark Ronnei, general manager of Grand View Lodge, said many in service jobs receive tips and that should be taken into account in any minimum-wage increase. Mike Brusseau, co-owner of Rafferty’s Pizza Restaurant, said an increase could cost him $35,000 a year. On the flip side, the East Central Labor Council is in favor of the increase, said Wayne Fleischhacker. Mark Innes, general manager of Rapid River Lodge and Water Park, noted that Brainerd’s paper plant is gone. “Good jobs aren’t coming into Minnesota,” he said. “They’re leaving Minnesota.”

I commend to you the first of a two-part series on child sex trafficking by Julie Buntjer of the Worthington Daily Globe. The problem is more prevalent than most people know and is more rural than most people realize. Men using Internet sites such as Backpages and Craigslist are routinely arrested for specifically soliciting minors as young as 10 years old for sex. An FBI report shows the Twin Cities rank 13^th in the nation for children involved in prostitution. Buntjer talked to Thi Synavone, program director at the Southwest Crisis Center, who said she recently worked with two teen girls who were sold for sex to provide the family with extra money. “The mom was actually selling her own children for that,” Synavone said, adding that the girls saw themselves as doing a job to help support their family. Sara Wahl, executive director of the Southwest Crisis Center in Worthington, said, “What we’re dealing with is not buying and selling women from other countries, it’s girls who are here who are having trouble in school or who are homeless. Homelessness and truancy are the two biggest factors for girls who get into sex trafficking. They’re forced or coerced to give sex for money.”

Sun means days in the field, but it also means a lack of moisture, says the weekly USDA crop report as published in the Fargo Forum.  An average of 0.10 inch of rain fell in Minnesota last week, and topsoil moisture fell to 52 percent adequate to surplus for this time of year. Subsoil moisture was rated 61 percent adequate to surplus. State Climatologist Mark Seeley says Minnesota is suffering from “abnormal dryness,” but officials are not putting any counties on drought status yet.

OK, OK, it was just a joke. In an effort to drum up a little excitement, the New Ulm Convention-Visitors Bureau teamed up with marketing firm Haberman’s Modern Storytellers to say that a four-foot imprint of Hermann the German’s foot was found in the Chamber of Commerce’s basement, with a handwritten note that said “all who touched the footprint would have more fun for a day,” writes New Ulm Journal editor Kevin Sweeney. Local artist Jason Jaspersen was commissioned to design the footprint. The Journal whipped up an article on the “find” and CVB director Terry Sveine followed his talking points about the footprint when anyone asked about it. But then the Mankato Free Press wrote about the artifact, and the story was picked up by the Associated Press and a version of the story went onto its wires. It was at this point that Sveine and the marketing firm realized the story was getting too big, so they contacted the AP and admitted the hoax. The AP moved a story headlined “New Ulm tourism chief admits faking story.” “I felt bad all along. You know, I was an altar boy for six years. I feel very un-altar-boyish,” Sveine told the AP. Newspapers as far away as Miami have picked up the story, Sweeney reports.

A recent lightning bolt has caused more than its share of troubles for the Truman school building, writes Kylie Saari of the Fairmont Sentinel. First, the lightning knocked out two sump pumps and the elevator shaft flooded with 5 feet of water, causing $9,000 in damage. While insurance most likely will cover that damage, Superintendent Tom Ames said floor and ceiling damage, along with the roofing problem that caused the leak, likely won’t be covered. The storm also took out the school’s phone lines. While under repair, the lines were hacked. Principal Tate Jerome said 146 international calls were made in one day, followed by another 40. Ames said the district has taken international calling capabilities off the district’s plan to prevent more problems, since the school doesn’t typically make such calls.

The Fargo-Moorhead diversion plan, long considered the best option for Red River flood-prevention by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will face a lawsuit to stop it, reports Kyle Potter of the Fargo Forum. The lawsuit accuses diversion leaders of unnecessarily expanding the scope of the flood protection project, which will damage farm lands where water would collect during a severe flood. That expansion, according to the suit, will protect land closer to Fargo for future development – at the cost of communities upstream. Nathan Berseth, a spokesman for the Joint Powers Authority, which is filing the lawsuit, said it is an effort to protect the 20 cities and townships in Richland and Wilkin counties, plus other communities in rural Cass and Clay counties that fall in the staging area, from irreparable damages to their tax bases and property values.  Diversion Authority Chairman Darrel Vanyo said he isn’t surprised by the lawsuit. He said the Corps’ plan is the only approach that will protect the Red River Valley from a 100-year flood and give officials the ability to fight a 500-year flood. 

The Iron Range will become the backdrop for a movie about a female Eastern European sniper, writes LaReesa Sandretsky of the Duluth News Tribune. “Sdanka’s War” is the story of a woman who is the only survivor of an attack on her family and then becomes a highly skilled sniper. Ryan Kern, who produces the Duluth Airshow and other local events, is the producer of “Sdanka’s War.” He describes the film as a mix of “LaFemme Nikita,” “Predator” and “The A-Team.” Tino Struckmann will direct and Kern said they’ve already signed some “recognizable names” to star in it. Funding was secured from the Snowbate program, which offers incentives from the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund for filmmakers who spend at least $1 million or film outside of the Twin Cities. They also will receive dollars from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. Kern said after the movie is produced, they hope to pitch the concept as a TV series. “As Duluthians and people in northern Minnesota, we need to demonstrate that we can do this sort of thing,” Kern said.

The National Association of Agricultural Educators has given Fairmont ag teacher Amber Seibert a national award, writes Kylie Saari of the Fairmont Sentinel. The “Teachers Turn the Key Award” award recognizes teachers in their first through fifth year of teaching to encourage them to continue their professional growth. Seibert said the award gives her a free trip to the group’s annual convention. Seibert is beginning her second year teaching the new ag program, which is funded through private donations and corporate sponsors. Besides a basic ag class, students can take classes in agriculture leadership, agriculture business and economics, the principles of animal science, the principles of plant science, small animal care and management, wildlife management, and landscaping.

In a strange twist, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said yesterday that Amer Ahmad, the former city comptroller, should have come clean and told him about the FBI investigation into his alleged activities in Ohio stemming from his time as Deputy Treasurer for the State of Ohio.

“You have an obligation, when something like that happens, to – when you start to get questions – to inform the people you work with who have entrusted you with the public trust. And that is where he violated the trust,” said the mayor at a press conference at William Jones College Preparatory High School after a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Mayor Emanuel also emphasized he knew nothing about the investigation into Amer Ahmad either.

The federal probe charges that Amer Ahmad was steering lucrative state contracts to a former high school classmate who went on to work as a securities broker. Douglas E. Hampton, the high school classmate, allegedly funneled more than $500,000 back to Amer Ahmad through his alleged co-conspirators and through phony loans to a landscaping company that Amer Ahmad partially controlled.

Amer Ahmad was indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Ohio on eight counts: three counts of money laundering and one each of conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy to launder money and making false statements.

Amer Ahmad had resigned abruptly in late July from his job as city comptroller, in what was then described by the Emanuel Administration as “expected midterm departures.” At the time of his resignation Mayor Emanuel said, “Amer has played an integral role in my efforts to reform government, strengthen the city’s finances, and professionalize our approach to fiscal management.”

The stunning news has put the Emanuel Administration on the defensive.

Former federal prosecutor Vincent J. Connelly and Zaldwaynaka “Z” Scott, Illinois’ former executive inspector general, had conducted a review in March 2011 review as attorneys working pro bono for then-Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel’s transition team. The two had vetted Amer Ahmad and reported they had not found any reason not to hire Amer Ahmad.

Mayor Emanuel was asked by Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun Times if he felt “let down” by Connelly and Scott and the mayor said “no.” The mayor said Connelly and Scott “did their job as best as they could do, given what he [Ahmad] provided and what other people said about him.”

He once again blamed Amer Ahmad. “Where do we think we were let down? . . . He let the mayor’s office and the mayor down. Having worked for two Presidents, he had an obligation when he started to get asked to say he was under questioning.”

This matter is a serious blow to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his administration, who had made financial reform and fiscal responsibility a centerpiece of the administration. While there is no evidence as yet that Amer Ahmad had done anything similar to Chicago finances, the mayor has asked the Chicago’s Inspector General and the City of Chicago’s Corporation Counsel to investigate together. The mayor’s office also announced that two outside attorneys will also be investigating the matter of whether Amer Ahmad violated any laws while city comptroller. Those attorneys are Gordon Nash and Dan Collins of Drinker Biddle.

Amer Ahmad was brought in as the City Comptroller and touted in late April of 2011 as part of a “high-powered economic team” that also included Chief Financial Officer Lois Scott, Budget Director Alexandra Holt, City and Chief Technology Officer John Tolva.

The indictment alleges that Ahmad, 38, used his authority in the Ohio treasurer’s office to direct state business to Douglas E. Hampton, 39, a securities broker from Canton, Ohio, in return for payments from Hampton.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that the indictment was contained some of the following:

• The purpose of the conspiracy was for Ahmad, Alo, Chiavaroli and Hampton “to personally enrich themselves, their friends and associates and their businesses, by using Ahmad’s position … to secure lucrative state business for Hampton in exchange for payments to Ahmad, Alo, Chiavaroli and companies under their control and to conceal the conspiracy.”

• Ahmad authorized Hampton, 39, to conduct security trades for the state. Hampton conducted more business for the treasurer’s office than any other approved broker, pulling in $3.2 million in revenue for his firm with 360 trades.

• Hampton then gave Ahmad kickbacks of $123,623 in the form of “legal fees” to Ahmad’s Five Rivers Partners LLC, and $400,000 in the form of “loans” to Going Green Landscapes and Lawn Care, a company that Chiavaroli founded and Ahmad partially owned.

According to Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun Times, Amer Ahmad played a pivotal role in disbanding the Department of Revenue and folding it into the Department of Finance. He also helped to dramatically reduce the amount of outstanding fines owed to the city by going after scofflaws, which generated $70 million in 2012 alone.

Earlier this year, Ahmad served as the point man in Emanuel’s controversial decision to phase out Chicago’s 55 percent subsidy for retiree health care by 2017 while continuing that coverage for the oldest retirees.

This is the first hint of scandal around the Emanuel Administration and comes at a bad time as the city’s bond rating is taking a hit and as the mayor is dealing with large budget deficits in the city and sister agencies.

Send John Presta an email and your story ideas or suggestions, johnpresta@att.net.

John is the author of an award-winning book, the 2010 Winner of the USA National Best Book award for African American studies, published by The Elevator Group, Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots. Also available an eBook on Amazon. John is also a member of the Society of Midland Authors and is a book reviewer of political books for the New York Journal of Books. John has volunteered for many political campaigns. John is an unpaid volunteer and social media advisor at Robin Kelly for Congress.

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 20, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — UltraOutdoors.com has launched their comprehensive site to bring everything in outdoor living under one roof. The site features over 100,000 pages and over 150,000 listings, making it the largest “outdoor living” site worldwide. Created to highlight the growing outdoor-living market, it offers ideas, inspiration, and quality sources for contracting work. Currently, the site covers 65 major metro areas within the U.S. and in Canada, with more being added.

“Increasingly people want to find ideas and quality contractors to transform their landscape or yard into a great outdoor living space,” explains Bob Dallas, the chief executive officer at UltraOutdoors.com. “That’s the idea behind the site. It helps people do exactly that. They can find everything they need in one place.”

Dubbed as “The World’s Source for Everything in Outdoor Living,” the site features thousands of backyard and landscaping ideas with full-color photos. Consumers can also find information and referrals to high-quality, experienced professionals and contractors to consider for their next outdoor living project.

The outdoor living industry has become increasingly popular. In fact, according to MarketLine, and other independent market research sources, the global outdoor living market has grown to $277 billion annually. Millions of people are opting to invest in creating great outdoor spaces that their family can use for multiple purposes, including playing, entertaining, and relaxing. Some estimates find that for every dollar a homeowner puts into their landscape and outdoor living space, they get $2 back when selling the home.

“We all want a great outdoor living space, but we don’t all know how to go about getting it, or what we want, until we see some pictures,” added Dallas. “UltraOutdoors.com takes care of all that. We have thousands of photos to give you ideas of what you want. But we don’t stop there. We hook you up with great designers and contractors that can help make that dream a reality.”

Created to answer the demand of the meteoric rise of the outdoor living industry, UltraOutdoors.com serves a unique role as a catalyst to bring together the entire industry … every professional, every retailer, every manufacturer and every trade association, under a single domain. No other home-design website has this much scope, content, or comprehensiveness covering the U.S., Canada, Dubai, China, Saudi Arabia, and Central America. Beyond the directory, UltraOutdoors.com will be a web 2.0 site that enables users to sign up, make a comment, ask a question, save a photo, and participate in design related conversations with top designers and builders. For more information, visit the site at www.UltraOutdoors.com.

About UltraOutdoors.com

Headquartered in Warminster, Pa., UltraOutdoors.com was created by the owners of Manor House Publishing. With 15 years experience in outdoor living and design, Manor House has published full color, coffee table type consumer magazines like Luxury Pools, Luxury Landscapes, and Pool Spa Outdoor, selling thousands on national newsstands and in exclusive airline lounges, worldwide. It also publishes magazine-like books called The Outdoor Inspiration Series with titles like, Outdoor Kitchens, Water Features, Conservatories, Pool House Plans book, Award Winning Pools, Tropical Pools, Desert Pools, Infinity Pools, and Indoor Pools. UltraOutdoors.com is an interactive website that features the outdoor living industry all under one roof. For more information, visit the site at www.UltraOutdoors.com.

CONTACT: Cher Murphy
         CherMurphyPR@Gmail.com
         (571) 263-2128

22°C

Delco Sports Net

Allows community sports teams and leagues to share information about league news, game results, tryout and registration information, etc.

<!– –>
• 
  Tweet
  
• 
  –
  A
  A
  A
  +
  

<!–

–>

MINNEAPOLIS (KARE) – Another summer racing by; so many plans, so little time, but this summer is different for Janie Waldron.

“My neighbor he goes, ‘What did you win the lottery or something?'” she says. “I sort of did. I won the time lottery.”

While her neighbors toil at their jobs, Waldron has been home most of the summer transforming her simple Linden Hills yard into a showplace, complete with rock wall, stepping path and a rain garden.

Now the clincher: She did it while earning her full salary and benefits from her employer.

“Oh, it’s a total gift,” she says. “It’s a huge gift.”

The gift giver seems delighted with the reaction of his employees.

“I think people were stunned more than anything else,” says Stuart D’Rozario, president and executive creative director at Minneapolis advertising agency Barrie, D’Rozario, Murphy.

Last spring, as the agency headed toward a cyclical lull in business, the agency partners gathered their employees and gave them something quite remarkable — time.

D’Rozario’s message to his workers: “You have 500 hours of your life back, figure out what you’re passionate about and go and do it.”

BDM’s workers were told the 500 paid hours were theirs to use. The one option they weren’t afforded was to do nothing. Instead, they were told to seek out something they’d always wanted to do, but hadn’t had the time.

D’Rozario smiles, “That’s like four years of vacation in one Minneapolis summer.”

BDM partner and executive creative director Bob Barrie admits to skepticism when D’Rozario first approached him with the idea.

“My initial reaction was, ‘You’re crazy, right? Are you seriously suggesting this?'”

D’Rozario reasoned the agency had built up a comfortable cash reserve in its first seven years. BDM’s existing clients would still be serviced, but the agency would delay efforts to attract new business until the 500-hour project was complete.

Barrie says it wasn’t Stuart, but his wife, who finally brought him around.

“I said, ‘Why do you think we should do it?’ And she said, ‘Because you can.’ And at that moment I realized that was the best reason of all.”

With Barrie fully on board, BDM employees were off to pursue their projects. One of them was Kim Schmitt, the agency’s finance controller, who grew up in the city always wishing she could be around horses.

With her 500 paid hours Schmitt spent her summer volunteering at Sundown, a shelter in Hugo for horses neglected and abused.

“So why now?” she asks rhetorically. “It’s because I had the opportunity. The opportunity was pushed on me.”

The opportunity was “pushed” on all 18 of BDM’s employees, who spent the summer doing unexpected traveling, making music and putting paint to canvas.

Barrie, the initially skeptical partner, picked up a brush for the first time in years and renewed his passion for painting.

BDM account director Andrew Langdell designed a hands-free dog leash he hopes to market.

Mary Pastika, an agency project manager, made pottery and furniture.

Art and creative director Steve Rudasics — who commutes to the agency from Seattle — instead stayed home for the summer recording on video moments with his three children.

“My project is basically replacing ‘I wish I had, with I did,” he said in video chat from his deck in Washington with a son and daughter by his side.

Rudasics still did some agency work from home. D’Rozario says the expected ratio was 25 percent agency work and 75 percent personal project. In fact, the agency was buzzing only on days when employees gathered to present ideas for their projects and share their progress, which happened every few weeks through the late spring and summer.

A couple of times BDM actually turned down opportunities to make pitches for new business, which Barrie says was difficult, “but we had made the deep dive into this.”

Even BDM’s freelancers were included in the project. Freelancers like digital designer Natalia Berglund were “hired” for 100 hours, only to be given that time back for their projects.

Berglund used her 100 hours to create her first sculpture, using her two daughters as models. Her emotions showed as she spoke of the opportunity given to her by the agency.

“It’s just the generosity,” she said, “trusting the people to do something good with this time.”

D’Rozario spent his 500 hours working on three projects: a squid cookbook, a musical album and a book he’s calling “3 Bits of Advice,” in which he solicits random secrets of success from high achievers in various fields.

“If the only thing that comes out of it is that everyone got time to do great things and have an amazing four months which are the best times of their lives then that would be well worth it,” D’Rozario says.

The 500 hours came to an end the first week in August. The BDM office is again buzzing; the race of commerce back on.

But scattered about are subtle reminders of the rarest of summers — a bandaged blister on a keyboard from landscaping, callused hands on a calculator from wrangling horses and videos of laughing children pulled up on a work computer.

D’Rozario believes the 500 hours will make the agency better, but that was never the explicit purpose.

“Honestly, my big hope for this is now that they’re back, people realize, the things you wanted to do, you could always be doing and find a place for it in your lives,” he says.

Year after year we let the sun go down on dreams because we can’t take time. Maybe it’s time to start giving it.

Waterloo Region Record

Your home is likely one of your biggest investments and it needs to be maintained and updated to preserve or increase its value. All homeowners know that eventually the roof will have to be re-shingled, windows and doors have to be replaced, heating and AC systems wear out and flooring must be replaced. The consequences of not doing these things on time will be severe and reduce the value of your property. But what about your landscaping?

The value of your property is influenced by its “curb appeal” and nothing has a bigger influence here than landscaping. Do those shrubs, flower beds and trees you planted 15 years ago now look too big, overgrown or all stalks? Is the grass no longer lush and your walkway has several cracks making it uneven and dangerous? Landscaping in this stage does not look attractive and puts downward pressure on your home’s value.

Water problems can form over time resulting in leaky foundations, sinking areas or pooling. The best solution to these sorts of problems is to control the flow of water on your property. Create a berm with raised flower beds, conceal a trench with tall grasses or break up hard non porous soil to allow for water absorption. Examine the flow from downspouts to make sure water is directed away from the house or into catchment barrels for use in watering plants.

Landscaping also plays a role in home security and utility costs. Trees and shrubs that block sun in the summer and cold winds in the winter can also provide cover for intruders or access to second story windows.

Take a critical review of your landscaping considering property value, aesthetics and functionality. If you decide it is time to invest and live In the Kitchener, Guelph or surrounding areas contact Dirt Cheap at www.dirtcheap.ca to have high quality gardening materials delivered right to your garden in easily managed 50 lb bags and they will even place the bags exactly where you need them.

<!– –>
• 
  Tweet
  
• 
  –
  A
  A
  A
  +
  

Boyd Huppert

<!–

–>

MINNEAPOLIS – Another summer racing by; so many plans, so little time, but this summer is different for Janie Waldron.

“My neighbor he goes, ‘What did you win the lottery or something?'” she says. “I sort of did. I won the time lottery.”

While her neighbors toil at their jobs, Waldron has been home most of the summer transforming her simple Linden Hills yard into a showplace, complete with rock wall, stepping path and a rain garden.

Now the clincher: She did it while earning her full salary and benefits from her employer.

“Oh, it’s a total gift,” she says. “It’s a huge gift.”

The gift giver seems delighted with the reaction of his employees.

“I think people were stunned more than anything else,” says Stuart D’Rozario, president and executive creative director at Minneapolis advertising agency Barrie, D’Rozario, Murphy.

Last spring, as the agency headed toward a cyclical lull in business, the agency partners gathered their employees and gave them something quite remarkable — time.

D’Rozario’s message to his workers: “You have 500 hours of your life back, figure out what you’re passionate about and go and do it.”

BDM’s workers were told the 500 paid hours were theirs to use. The one option they weren’t afforded was to do nothing. Instead, they were told to seek out something they’d always wanted to do, but hadn’t had the time.

D’Rozario smiles, “That’s like four years of vacation in one Minneapolis summer.”

BDM partner and executive creative director Bob Barrie admits to skepticism when D’Rozario first approached him with the idea.

“My initial reaction was, ‘You’re crazy, right? Are you seriously suggesting this?'”

D’Rozario reasoned the agency had built up a comfortable cash reserve in its first seven years. BDM’s existing clients would still be serviced, but the agency would delay efforts to attract new business until the 500-hour project was complete.

Barrie says it wasn’t Stuart, but his wife, who finally brought him around.

“I said, ‘Why do you think we should do it?’ And she said, ‘Because you can.’ And at that moment I realized that was the best reason of all.”

With Barrie fully on board, BDM employees were off to pursue their projects. One of them was Kim Schmitt, the agency’s finance controller, who grew up in the city always wishing she could be around horses.

With her 500 paid hours Schmitt spent her summer volunteering at Sundown, a shelter in Hugo for horses neglected and abused.

“So why now?” she asks rhetorically. “It’s because I had the opportunity. The opportunity was pushed on me.”

The opportunity was “pushed” on all 18 of BDM’s employees, who spent the summer doing unexpected traveling, making music and putting paint to canvas.

Barrie, the initially skeptical partner, picked up a brush for the first time in years and renewed his passion for painting.

BDM account director Andrew Langdell designed a hands-free dog leash he hopes to market.

Mary Pastika, an agency project manager, made pottery and furniture.

Art and creative director Steve Rudasics — who commutes to the agency from Seattle — instead stayed home for the summer recording on video moments with his three children.

“My project is basically replacing ‘I wish I had, with I did,” he said in video chat from his deck in Washington with a son and daughter by his side.

Rudasics still did some agency work from home. D’Rozario says the expected ratio was 25 percent agency work and 75 percent personal project. In fact, the agency was buzzing only on days when employees gathered to present ideas for their projects and share their progress, which happened every few weeks through the late spring and summer.

A couple of times BDM actually turned down opportunities to make pitches for new business, which Barrie says was difficult, “but we had made the deep dive into this.”

Even BDM’s freelancers were included in the project. Freelancers like digital designer Natalia Berglund were “hired” for 100 hours, only to be given that time back for their projects.

Berglund used her 100 hours to create her first sculpture, using her two daughters as models. Her emotions showed as she spoke of the opportunity given to her by the agency.

“It’s just the generosity,” she said, “trusting the people to do something good with this time.”

D’Rozario spent his 500 hours working on three projects: a squid cookbook, a musical album and a book he’s calling “3 Bits of Advice,” in which he solicits random secrets of success from high achievers in various fields.

“If the only thing that comes out of it is that everyone got time to do great things and have an amazing four months which are the best times of their lives then that would be well worth it,” D’Rozario says.

The 500 hours came to an end the first week in August. The BDM office is again buzzing; the race of commerce back on.

But scattered about are subtle reminders of the rarest of summers — a bandaged blister on a keyboard from landscaping, callused hands on a calculator from wrangling horses and videos of laughing children pulled up on a work computer.

D’Rozario believes the 500 hours will make the agency better, but that was never the explicit purpose.

“Honestly, my big hope for this is now that they’re back, people realize, the things you wanted to do, you could always be doing and find a place for it in your lives,” he says.

Year after year we let the sun go down on dreams because we can’t take time. Maybe it’s time to start giving it.

(Copyright 2013 by KARE. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)