spectacular sunrise at
I had the opportunity recently to tour the Maple Street YMCA in Kalamazoo and learn about the wonderful things this organization provides the local community. The Maple Street YMCA is where I spent a lot of time when I was 12 to 15 years old. I worked out every afternoon after school to ready myself for football I have fond memories of the ‘Y’
Today, the Y is so much more than what it was back in the 1970’s. I was completely unaware of the impact the Y makes throughout the community and inside our schools From day care to fulfilling senior activities and all points in between, the Y is actively involved.
Currently, the Y is in the midst of a capital campaign to fund improvements at the Portage facility The Portage facility is bursting at the seems and unable to expand its membership. You may ask, why Portage? Portage ultimately helps finance Maple Street as many children/adults who use Maple Street cannot afford the full membership fee So, improving and enlarging Portage benefits the whole program.
I will be participating and wanted to share the info for others to consider as well if interested Feel free to reach out if you have questions
Thank you.
Steve B
Treating PFAS out of foam from a fire truck at the Kalamazoo Airport (Photos submitted by Hunter Taplin)
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Fallasburg Dam! (Photos submitted by Rich Anson)
Paul Vosburg Division: IS Director of Firetruck Services
Ontayveon Fry Division: IS Laborer
Michael Sunderland Division: Transportation Driver
Jedd Smith Division: RS Site Superintendent
Wayne Estep Division: RS Operator
Nick Lotycz Division: RS Operator
Mike Deur Division: IS Area Manager (Midland)
Marquis Wilder Division: UI CCTV Operator
Aidan Davis Division: Shop Warehouse Assistant
William Scott Division: Transportation Driver
Zach Area Division: RS Field Tech
Phillip Novotny Division: Transportation Driver
July Safety Awards
Taplin is happy to be able to provide “swag” to employees periodically (onboarding, spring meeting, etc ) and we LOVE seeing our people sport our brand/logo But please remember that “swag” is a PERK of working for a great company, not something employees should just automatically expect (and DEFINITELY shouldn’t demand )
We provide uniforms (with professional cleaning) to all field staff. If employees prefer not to wear the provided uniforms, that is your choice but you are then responsible for wearing appropriate clothing that you supply. If you worked anywhere else and they didn’t provide you with uniforms or shirts, would you show up naked?? Of course not! You’d wear something from your own closet appropriate for the work you were doing. The expectation is the same here. We try to make sure everyone gets some swag from time to time so you can represent Taplin with pride, but we can’t constantly replace shirts that get dirty nor provide a weeks worth of shirts to every employee constantly
Randy Gonzales Division: UI Combo Operator
Glenn Deuster - Observed rebar in the path of personal vehicles and gravel trains and spoke up to avoid any damage/loss
Stop by any of the office locations or the shop to get your hardhat stickers in memory of Julio. ��
Also, don’t forget you can donate to Taplin’s established memorial fund for Julio via payroll deduction, CC, cash or check. There is also a GoFundMe set up to pay off Julio’s bike so Gabe can keep it
An accident reconstructionist has been engaged as we hope to further understand Julio’s accident
If any calls are received or questions are asked, please direct them to Steve B Taplin or Keith Schillo Every one of us can only speculate, because we want to understand why Julio was taken from us, but we really need to wait until an expert provides some light Steve and Keith are the only authorized company representatives to answer any questions pertaining to this topic. Please direct your inquiries, or that of any third parties, to one or both of us.
Thank you for your help
Keith
Over the next couple of weeks, we will return to the paper vehicle inspection reports for all trucks and company vehicles We currently have a paper process for the heavy equipment, so nothing will change there
All pre and post trip inspections will be recorded on the paper documents and turned in on a daily basis We are simply waiting on the delivery of said documents Everyone will be required to fill out this document whether or not there are any issues found In keeping with current company policy, safety defects that could compromise your safety or that of the motoring public, must be reported immediately to your supervisor and the equipment maintenance staff Once again, keeping with company policy, ‘Stop Work’ authority can and will be utilized by the driver or any crew member that observes a vehicle issue that could render the vehicle unsafe for use
It goes without saying that faith can and does carry people through hardship and giving your grief to God through prayer can certainly lighten the load but it’s also true that those same circumstances can push people to question their faith or lose it entirely. The book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” by Harold Kushner is a wonderful read that explores that idea and helps process grief
The reader walks away with a renewed understanding of what religion and faith mean to them personally and an appreciation for a God that is not all-powerful to completely remove “bad things” from human existence but one that is ever-loving and will always help carry the heavy loads and walk with you through life’s ups and downs
We have copies of the book available at the office, in case anyone would like to read it in the days and weeks ahead as we all grieve the loss of Julio. I hope maybe it can help someone else as well. ❤
Worth a read! ����
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Family
We live in a mixed-up world today. Many of our ‘leaders’ in Washington, and in other units of government, do not represent the values that this country once held true Honesty, decency and common sense have fallen victim to political gain, subversive ideology and the constant use of ‘plausible deniability’
For those who may not know, plausible deniability would be defined in the following manner – ‘lying about an action for which a person has committed by explaining it away citing a circumstance that no one can prove or disprove’. Usually, plausible deniability is utilized when someone is caught doing something illegal, immoral or in violation of some regulation or known rule. We all see this on a daily basis.
I want our company, the Taplin Companies, to be our sanctuary from the angst in this world When you walk through the door, get in your truck/excavator or crawl under that piece of equipment you know that a bunch of people have got your back and you have theirs
With the tragic loss of Julio, I hope we have all stopped to take account of what it means to work with someone. Julio was not perfect, but here are some of the things he was:
· Loyal
· Charitable
· Eager to give away his knowledge to those that would listen
· Intense
· Hard working
· Fair
· Clear
· Honest
· Friend and our Family
The Saturday that we had our I/S meeting and the paving guys surrounded me when I told them to get their equipment out of my parking lot was memorable. What these idiots didn’t realize is that there were about 20 guys coming out of the office to ‘greet’ them. Their tune quickly changed, and they thought it would be good to move their equipment. This afternoon I started to think – ‘holy shit, it’s a good thing Julio wasn’t there!’ The fight would have been on immediately What we have/what you have at this company is a second family, your team, your friends It warms my heart to think that we have created this atmosphere together. Is it worth protecting? Is it worth honoring? What does it mean to protect or honor this family we have?
· We are honest with ourselves and one another.
· If we mess something up, we own it We hold ourselves accountable for our actions
· We don’t leave something for someone else to take care of unless they are made aware of the situation
· We look out for one another
· We assume that everyone has good intentions and that we are all pulling from the same side of the rope.
· We listen.
· We seek first to understand then to be understood.
What do we do to protect this family? How do we nurture and keep it alive even as the company grows and spreads out? Is being a larger company that has no connection amongst all the people that work there really worth the growth? A larger company can be a good thing relative to long term sustainability, but does it have to be at the cost of losing a family atmosphere? What do we do when a new person just doesn’t understand the ‘family’ concept and becomes detrimental to the team? How can Human Resources evaluate who will be a positive family member when hiring? I challenge everyone to think about these things. If you want to share your thoughts with me, send me an email. Otherwise, talk about it with your teammates
All of these thoughts and values existed prior to losing Julio. Let’s honor his memory by making this place as good as it can be for everyone. We should all hope that when we leave this earth we are regarded as highly as Julio.
