A State Championship Title in the Horizon

At the beginning of every season each wrestler has one goal in mind, a State Championship Title.  While everyone hopes to reach this elite goal, only a few actually have the dedication, skill, and determination to make it.  And for John Meyer’s son, Seth, this dream will come true on Saturday, February 9, 2013.  Seth qualified to compete in front of thousands at the IHSAA Individual Wrestling State Championships at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.  As any athlete will tell you, it takes a great deal of sacrifice to compete at the highest level; and for wrestlers it is no different. Seth was eliminated in the first round of Regionals in 2012 as a freshman. After this tough loss, Seth used this experience as motivation for next season. While other athletes were relaxing and spending time with friends in the off season, Seth was in the wrestling room with numerous coaches perfecting his skills. He spent hours and hours running sprints, lifting weights, drilling technique and wrestling in live situations to gain precious experience that would lift him to the next level. As the 2013 season approached, the goal was the same… but this year, the outcome was different! 

 “It is very exciting to see that all the hard work Seth has put in, is paying off.  As a freshman, wrestling varsity at 195 pound class, he sure took his lumps; most of the wrestlers in the upper weight classes are Juniors and Seniors.  This year, Seth is wrestling at the 220 pound weight class and he took 1^st place at Sectional and Regionals.  Going to Semi-State, Seth was not predicted to finish any better than 7^th by the ‘experts,’ he wrestled in the Championship match this past Saturday! “John Meyer shares…full of pride!

“Being a parent and his coach it is a feeling that overwhelms me with emotion, for those of you that know me a little more personally, I don’t do a very good job of hiding them.  Seth’s journey this is year is not over; he will work very hard this week and the goal now is to place - meaning he will have to win his first match on Friday night.  Both Stephanie and I are very proud of the hard work he has exemplified.  He couldn’t have gotten here without the support of his Harrison Wrestlers team mates and coaches.”

I would like to give special congratulations to this young man for this once in a life time accomplishment. Seth Meyer will participate in the “March of Champions” on Friday, February 15, 2013 before he prepares himself for competition. Words simply cannot describe the breathtaking feeling of this competition. Please join me in wishing the best of luck to John Meyer’s son this weekend as he continues to achieve his goal.

This local news station touts the teams’ efforts as well in the below segnment they ran.  They recognize the dedication and team work it has taken for these young men to reach their goal.  Way to go Seth, and way to go Raiders!  

Josh Norris | Project Engineer

What Happens In Vegas.....

I just received this picture, hot off the celebrity press, and had to share.  I knew Evan and Tony were going to Vegas to receive an award for the Hagerman Group this week.... what I DIDN'T know was that they stopped off at a show while they are in town... or should I say, were SEEN at a show.  A trusted source sent me this picture late last night, apparently Evan and Tony were called on stage at this "famous Tiger show" and my friend snapped a picture!  

Okay, maybe they aren't... in fact... at a "famous Tiger show", as convincing as my photographer was.... But our head of the masonry department and head of field ops for the masonry division are, in fact, in Vegas right now; not to start a new career in tiger taming, but to receive a National Award that The Hagerman Construction Mason Team just won for their work on The Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana. However, if they happen to wear their new show stopping threads to the awards ceremony at the World of Concrete/World of Masonry convention.... no one can blame them!

If you want to watch live as Evan and Tony accept the 2012 Masonry Project of the Year Award, Municipal Category, with the 3000 other people that will be there live and the 5000 viewers that will be watching online, here is the link:

www.specmixbricklayer500.com 

FEBRUARY 6th from 4:00 - 5:00pm (1:00 - 2:00 pm PST)

I think the question we are all asking ourselves is "Will he be wearing his new 'tiger taming uniform'.... or won't he?????"  I guess you will have to tune in to find out!

More information about the Award: 

“The 2012 Masonry Construction’s Project of the Year winners showcase the significant contributions the masonry industry makes to the advancements in architectural design. These projects demonstrate cooperation between the mason contractor, materials supplier, design engineer, and architect,” said Editor Rick Yelton. “These projects provide optimism for our audience that masonry construction is on the path to recovery. Masonry Construction’s qualities — resiliency, sustainability, and durability — continue to garner the interest of owners.”

Industry support of Masonry Construction’s Project of the Year continues to grow. This year there were 57 submissions, and online voting for Reader’s Choice was the highest ever. The contest exemplifies mason contractors’ contributions, including: helping architects and engineers create the best masonry has to offer; exceptional problem solving and teamwork; painstaking restoration and repair work; and environmentally friendly construction.

The awards include one overall Project of the Year and winners in seven categories. Winning projects will be featured on Masonry Construction’s website, www.masonryconstruction.com

Stacy Neill | Director of Marketing

The Hagerman Group was honored to be selected as a Business of the Year finalist for the 11^th Annual Pillar Awards.  Jeff Hagerman, President of The Hagerman Group, gives his thanks in the above picture during an interview by the Fishers Chamber of Commerce President, Dan Canan. 

The Fishers Chamber of Commerce Pillar Awards focuses on Celebrating Business Excellence.  This awards ceremony started in 2001 with a purpose of celebrating success, sharing best practices and encouraging increased commercial and industrial activity. The ultimate outcome is a strong local economy. The Pillar Awards is about recognizing the businesses and employees that excel in areas such as customer service, community pride and economic development.

The categories for this award included Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, Entrepreneurial Spirit and Employee of the Year.  


Stacy Neill | Marketing Director

26 Acts of Kindness Recognized in Journal Gazette Newspaper

Recently I was contacted by The Journal Gazette in reference to our blog posting on 26 Acts of Kindness.  We are so happy to see that this movement isn't losing momentum and are very excited to be a part of a community that cares... and continues to make a difference in honor of these children.

Here is our blurb:

"Employees at The Hagerman Group, a general contracting construction company in Fort Wayne, have been chatting about a blog posting by Stacy Neill, marketing director at the company’s location in Fishers.
She passed on the posting of a friend who had her four children choose toys that represented the slain children and donated the items, wrapped as Christmas presents, to local families in need.
The post is at http://bit.ly/Y7WCon."


Full article here:

Published: January 17, 2013 3:00 a.m.

Showing acts of kindness

Area residents join movement to honor Newtown victims

Rosa Salter Rodriguez | The Journal Gazette

At the beginning of last year, Deborah Sturges made the typical resolution – to lose weight.
Amazingly, she says, she kept it.

This year, her resolution was a little different – she resolved to do 26 acts of kindness in memory of the 26 children and adults who lost their lives when a gunman opened fire inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14.

And that’s how Sturges, owner and president of Hallmark Home Mortgage Co. in Fort Wayne, became part of a nationwide movement that is getting a warm local reception.
Individuals and businesses are following through on a suggestion by NBC reporter Ann Curry that has taken off via the Internet.

“It was Ann Curry who actually inspired me,” says Sturges, 60. “Ann Curry hit the nail on the head. You just feel desperate and you want to feel you can make something positive out of something so terribly horrible.”
Sturges says she’s already started fulfilling her resolution. She made contributions to a food program for which a neighbor volunteers and to a gardening initiative that works with refugee populations in Fort Wayne.

She also posted her resolution – along with other New Year’s resolutions by staff members – on a digital sign outside her business at the corner of Coldwater and Cook roads.

“I’ve been kind of surprised at how many people have talked to me about it” because of the sign, she says.
Jeanette DeVore of Fort Wayne says she’s also gotten responses after she wrote a letter to the editor in The Journal Gazette urging 26 acts of kindness and posted a Facebook message.
One person said she made dinner for a friend who had recently had surgery, and one gave money to the local rescue mission. Another traded work schedules so a colleague could be home with her son who had just returned from a military tour of duty in Afghanistan.

DeVore says she’s also started on her 26 acts.
“I gathered some household stuff for a friend with a new apartment, and I passed on some baby clothes and toys to someone with a new child. It’s a small thing, but I gave a pop to the mailman one day. And I called a friend whose cat had died,” she says.

DeVore, 62, a social worker who serves as executive director of the foster grandparent program in Fort Wayne, says the campaign “made me a little more mindful of what might cheer up other people.”
Nancy Carlson Dodd of Fort Wayne believes she was the unwitting recipient of an act of kindness from someone she calls “The Angel of Lost Cars.”

Coming out of Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, the senior citizen, who’s 76, forgot where she parked her gray Honda SUV. Dodd was wandering aimlessly when a man in his 40s approached her and found the car within moments – a feat she compares to losing 10 pounds in a week.

“It’s been my resolution for years to remember where I park,” she says, adding that the worst time she temporarily lost her car was many years ago when she lived in California and was visiting Disneyland.
“You do that and it’s hopeless. You might as well just take the bus home,” she says with a laugh.

Several businesses have used websites or Facebook pages to promote the acts-of-kindness movement.

Employees at The Hagerman Group, a general contracting construction company in Fort Wayne, have been chatting about a blog posting by Stacy Neill, marketing director at the company’s location in Fishers.
She passed on the posting of a friend who had her four children choose toys that represented the slain children and donated the items, wrapped as Christmas presents, to local families in need.

The post is at http://bit.ly/Y7WCon.

Meanwhile, Cambridge Square Apartments posted a video on Facebook, while Three Rivers Credit Union recently urged employees to be kind in a “Pay it Forward” initiative.
DeVore says she thinks Fort Wayne has been fertile ground for the kindness movement because the city already is “such a giving place.”

She says she noticed the spirit in her work with a program that places seniors in schools and child care centers while paying them a small stipend.

“I’ve seen them bring kids in need into their homes – not in their role (as foster grandparents) but just as human beings – and not think that it’s any big deal,” she says.
She sees the movement as a way “just to remind ourselves that we could all add to the good in the world, in ways small or big; it all matters.”

Sturges agrees. She says she’s worked in United Way leadership positions and has seen what kindness in the Fort Wayne community can do.

She would like doing acts of kindness to become a standard way Americans respond to tragedies, and she is looking forward to coming up with additional acts of kindness during the year.
“I’ve got 24 more,” she says, “so I have a long way to go.”

Kara Leeper, 26 Acts of Kindness | Stacy Neill, Proud Best Friend

26 Acts of Kindness/Paying it Forward...

Get your tissues out; this is what it TRULY means to Pay it Forward.  I wanted to share with you what my best friend of 21 years is doing.  This moved my heart so much that I want the world to hear, see, and feel compelled to continue this movement.  This shows that there are still good things happening in spite of these tragedies.  Bad things happen, and there is no explaining it… but it is how we respond that determines our character.  Please read what the most amazing, loving, and selfless friend in my life has done with the only outcome she is expecting and hoping for, is to change people’s lives.  See how it inspires your heart to keep this movement going…  How will YOU Pay it Forward with 26 Acts of Kindness in memory of the ones that lost their lives on December 14, 2012?

Max, Abby, Zack, and Chloe Leeper - 26 Acts of Kindess

When thinking about trying to Pay it Forward for the victims of CT we decided for the 20 children we were going to pick out a gift to donate in their honor just for them. I read their stories online and we either picked what they wanted for Christmas or something that would represent them. I should note that my children do not know about the tragedy but they are participating in the Pay it Forward idea. They helped pick out toys for each one of the kiddos 'we adopted for Christmas.' We thought this would be a great way to honor those sweet kiddos and also pay it forward. Now a child who might not have received a toy for Christmas will receive something great in honor of these sweet kids. Our local Salvation Army adopted 450 families for Christmas and we were planning on taking these toys there but if you know of someone in need, please message me or comment. I will take them tomorrow afternoon. Sooo here it is...

Charlotte went to school that day in a pink dress and pink boots.

-We got a barbie all dressed in pink.

Daniel loved firemen and had a lot of firemen at his service.

-We got a firetruck lego set.

Olivia was supposed to be dressing as an angel in a live nativity scene.

-We got a beautiful doll that looks like an angel

Josephine loved the color purple.

-We got a Disney doll all dressed up in purple

Ana's dad is a jazz musician and he wrote a song about her.

-We got a pink microphone that you can sing into.

Madeline was an avid reader.

-My kids picked out their favorite books.

Dylan loved video games.

-We donated a Leapster.

Catherine had beautiful red hair.

-We picked out a doll from Brave with bright red hair.

Chase loved outside.

-We got a soccer ball

Jesse liked to play outside and with the horses that live in his backyard.

-We picked out a horseshoe game.

James loved sports

-We got a baseball glove and ball that would fit a 6-7 year old

Grace was said to be 'a real little doll.'

-We picked out a baby doll that looks real.

Emilie loved being a big sister and doing crafts with her little sisters.

-My kids picked out a jewelry making craft kit.

Jack loved football and the NY Giants

-We couldn't find any NY Giants stuff here so we picked out a football

Noah was wearing a superhero shirt in his picture

-We picked out an Iron Man superhero character.

Caroline wanted a camera for Christmas.

-We picked out a kids camera to donate in her honor.

Jessica wanted cowgirl boots and a hat.

-We picked out some pink cowgirl boots for another little girl to have.

Arielle wanted and easy bake oven.

-We couldn't find it!! So we got a cake pops kit for kids to make cake pops.

Benjamen loved to dance and get people out on the dance floor.

-We picked out a guitar for kids

Allison loved to garden.

-We picked out a flower garden toy that grows.

We participated in some other random acts of kindness too and plan on doing more.

-We were at the dollar store and paid for the next person in line who was buying groceries there.

-I bought lunch for the man in line behind me at Subway.

-Jeremy bought lunch for the man in line behind him at McDonalds.

-We rescued two little dogs that were running down a busy street by our house and found them a safe home until their owners could be found.

-We gave food to someone who really needed it.

-We delivered flowers to a strangers house that helped us when we were in a car accident.

-Jeremy gave money to a lady who was pregnant that really needed dinner and didn't have the money.

This makes 27 but we don't plan on stopping there. I just might not post about it. ;) Part of it was kind of embarrassing sometimes to put yourself out there but then to see the smile on someone’s face when you made their day was awesome. I have been reading about ways others have been paying it forward and it truly has been inspiring. Thank you for sharing and posting.

Kara Leeper, 26 Acts of Kindness | Stacy Neill, Proud Best Friend

Project Spotlight – Valparaiso University Welcome Center

If you happen to find yourself in Northwest Indiana anytime soon, be sure to look for a Hagerman trailer on the campus of Valparaiso University.  Hagerman is currently the Design-Builder of the Valparaiso University Duesenberg Welcome Center on the south side of campus just south of the beautiful Chapel of the Resurrection.  More on the Welcome Center in a minute….first a little lesson on the extensive history between The Hagerman Group and VU.

THG has been involved in numerous projects over the years on the campus of Valparaiso University.  The most notable, however, would be the Chapel of the Resurrection.  Completed in 1959, the Chapel is one of the more famous and notable structures in the city of Valparaiso and really in all of NW Indiana.  In terms of beauty and distinctive architectural elements, it is unmatched. 

The Welcome Center was started this past June and will be complete by May 2013.  It is a roughly 15,000 SF structure that will serve the needs of current staff and prospective future students.  It has office space, presentation areas, conference rooms, a beautiful lobby and waiting area, and the ability to host University functions that are catered.  The site will include beautifully stamped concrete, outdoor patio areas, and a sidewalk that connects the entrance to the famous “Kissing Bridge”. 

The project team consists of Hagerman Inc. as the Design Builder, Design Organization as architect, KJWW as the systems and structural engineer, GAI as the Civil Engineer, and Lakeshore Landscaping as the landscaping consultant. 

John Kilbury | Project Engineer

Prepare to Love Taylor University

A video you must see!  We are proud to be Taylor Universities building partner.... check this out!

via ESPN.com

Why? Because Taylor University, an NAIA liberal arts Christian college in Upland, Ind., has perhaps the best hoops-slash-Christmas tradition in the whole wide world. That sounds like hyperbole, but it's not that far off.

What is this fabled tradition? It's called "Silent Night." Every year around Christmastime, Taylor students and fans pack the school's gym as they would any other game. Only on "Silent Night," the crowd dresses in pajamas and stays absolutely silent until Taylor scores its 10th point of the game. What happens then? Bedlam.

In fact, it's probably best you just watch the video for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNo9x7KQ4ZI&feature=share

The Christmas-y fun doesn't stop there. In the closing moments of the game, Taylor fans unite for a singing of "Silent Night," and then reconvene for a school-wide Christmas party called Christmas Fandango where the school president reads the Christmas story, students compete in gingerbread house-making contests and children tell Santa what they want for Christmas.

In other words, if you don't like Christmas -- and yes, plenty of people do not like Christmas, including my roommate -- do not go to Upland, Ind., on "Silent Night." You probably wouldn't like it.

In the meantime, Taylor deserves credit for a thoroughly awesome college crowd tradition, one just begging for a big, well-organized Division I crowd to pay it tribute. Your move, Orange Krush