April 2017

A Community Publication Provided By MTCO Communications

MagazineServing Metamora & Germantown Hills

MTCO Communications 220 N. Menard Street Metamora, IL 61548

Available April 4th on

Metamora Hallmark Fixture OperationsCelebrating 70 Years

1947-2017

Copyright 2017 MTCO Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

Connected Magazine is published monthly by MTCO Communications with corporate office located at 220 North Menard Street, Metamora, Illinois, 61548. The publication is intended for use of the residents of Metamora and Germantown Hills.

No article in this issue or any part of this publication may be reproduced without the expressed written permission of the Publisher.

For more information about this magazine, or for additional copies, contact Bob Becraft or Kip DuBois at 309-367-4197 or connected@mtco.com.

If you have questions or concerns regarding your services, please contact our Customer Service Representatives at (309)367-4197 or 800-859-6826.

In our spotlight this month is Hallmark, celebrating their 70th year in business. They came to Metamora in April1947, having purchased a shuttered canning factory that was later converted into a fixture plant. In 1948, the first store fixtures were built

and shipped.

The Metamora facility retained the Metamora Woodworking title until the early 90s, when the name changed to Hallmark Metamora Fixture Operations. Bill Calhorn was responsible for the original purchase of the plant. Soon after, Jake Blachek was named the Plant Manager, along with Edna Barnes, who was named Office and Distribution Manager. Additionally, Roland (Rocky) Elbert spent most of his career as the Facilities Manager, and Walter Goetz was the Production Manager (who later retired as the Plant Manager).

Early history shows the founder of Hallmark Cards, J.C. Hall, made the decision that he wanted more control over how his product was being displayed in stores. In the 1930s cards were displayed in boxes on a table. Hallmark Fixturing began with a casual conversation between J.C. Hall and architect Herb Duncan on the street of downtown Kansas City. Mr. Duncan was asked to develop a new way to merchandise greeting cards. He developed a six-row card top on a 40” high base with eight drawers and a large canopy. His final fixture drawings were made on linen cloth with India ink. Mr. J.C. Hall secured a patent on these fixtures, along with a registered trademark.

With the purchase of the Metamora facility in 1947, store fixtures were being built in mass quantities. In the first twenty plus years, the fixtures Metamora Woodworking was producing were fine furniture construction and finishes. J.C. Hall wanted the fixtures to have a dark background. The card tops, bases, and lights were

designed and called Crown Grey. The drawer units had recessed brass drawer pulls and lights were held up with brass tubes.

Metamora Fixture Operations has evolved over the years. Once a wood assembly, finishing, and distribution plant, today’s look is much different. The sounds of staple guns shooting staples and brads are replaced with sounds of robotic routers cutting plastic. The smell of wood, lacquered paint and formaldehyde are replaced with the smell of warm plastic heating up on the vac-form machines. What has not been replaced is the dedicated, hardworking, loyal, and quality minded Hallmark employees. The dedication to ensuring customers are receiving high quality fixtures in a timely manner and correct is still the desired goal.

Hallmark Metamora Fixture Operations continues to be an active member in the community. Their employees are volunteer firemen, paramedics, youth coaches, school board members and more. For many years, Metamora’s Contribution Committee has donated thousands of dollars to not-for-profit organizations.

Hallmark Cards is 70 years young, 70 years strong, and looking forward to being another 70 years older!

The fixture on the left is a one piece fixture with drawers and card rack from the 1950s and 1960s. Dale Whittington, Fixture Design Manager, stands next to their Signature fixture that is currently being built and shipped.

MTCO Communications 220 N. Menard Street Metamora, Illinois 61548 309-367-4197 connected@mtco.com

President & CEO Glenn Rauh

Vice President & CFO Ann Dickerson

Media Manager Editor - Connected Magazine Bob Becraft bbecraft@corp.mtco.com

Marketing Manager Editor - Connected Magazine Kip DuBois kdubois@corp.mtco.com

____________________________On The Cover______________________________Employees of Metamora Hallmark Fixturing Company taking a quick break to assemble for a photo to begin the celebration of their 70th year in business! Hallmark is located at 501 East Madison Street in Metamora.

EntErtainmEnt & tEchnology

Keep up with Entertainment and Technology news. Add MTCO to your Facebook and Twitter groups, and visit the MTCO Blogspot at www.mtco.com.

digiMAX On DemandWatch the epic adventure, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, starting on April 4th on digiMAX On Demand! In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans of the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction.

New On Demand releases in the month of April include Lion, which was nominated for six Academy Awards, Sleepless, Lucky’s Treasure, Patriots Day, and more! Just missed TV shows, free content, and premium channels content also available.

Press the MOVIE or ON DEMAND button on your remote control to access a newly updated Video On Demand system to browse over 7,000 titles. Browse the Just In and New Releases folders for new titles, or press the yellow button to search for the title you want.

Press the blue button on your remote control to toggle back and forth between viewing by folder lists or by folder artwork.

When selecting your rental, the Default Purchase PIN is 0000.

FREE HBO & CinemaxIt’s still a little cool outside, so grab some snacks and enjoy a long weekend of free HBO and Cinemax channels starting at 6:00 a.m., Friday, April 21st

through midnight on Monday, April 24th. The preview will include the premiere of Silicon Valley as well as movie hits War Dogs and X-Men: Apocalypse, and more.

March 28

April 18

April 4April 11

April TV SpecialsCBS will be hosting the 52nd Academy of Country Awards on Sunday, April 2nd at 7:00 p.m.

Get ready for Hallmark Channel’s inaugural “Meow Madness” as 100 adorable, adoptable “cat-letes” purr-fect an unstoppable zone defense while taking shots from the “flea throw” zone as each team claws its way to “The Final Fur.” The special will showcase adoptable kittens in the most competitive tournament the basketball world has ever seen. Tune in Monday, April 3rd at 7:00 p.m. on the Hallmark Channel. More information at www.hallmarkchannel.com/meow-madness.

The 32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony honoring Joan Baez, ELO, Journey, Nile Rodgers, Pearl Jam, Tupac Shakur and

YES, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 7th. Fans can also snag a front row seat

when HBO broadcasts the event on Saturday, April 29th at 7:00 p.m.

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Do you have some community news to share with the residents of Metamora and Germantown Hills? Send it to connected@mtco.com, or mail it to us at 220 N. Menard St., Metamora, IL 61548 Attn: Connected Magazine.

in our community

Book FairGermantown Hills will be hosting its Buy One Get One Free Scholastic Book Fair on April 27th and April 28th. The book fair will be held at the Middle School from 2:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. both days. The Elementary School will their book fair on Friday from 3:30 p.m - 8:00 p.m.

School Tax ReferendumsElection Day April 4, 2017

Metamora Grade SchoolMetamora Grade School is putting a tax referendum on the ballot to keep up with the expenses attributed to providing quality education for all students.

For full details and to see how this referendum will impact your existing property taxes, visit their website at www. ametamoracommitment.com, or visit their VoteYesMGS Facebook page.

Metamora High SchoolSome of the areas the new reduced referendum will target include improvements in vocational, agricultural, the award-winning Robotics program, and STEAM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math).

For a home valued at $150,000, the increase will be just under $14/year. This increase is in addition to the amount taxpayers have been paying on the previous 1998 referendum.

The Town Hall informational meetings for both schools was recorded and will be replayed on digiMAX local channel 40/410HD in the days prior to the election. Check your on-screen guide for broadcast times.

Join the Swim TeamThe Metamora Area Swim Team is open to all children in the MTHS school district ages 5-18 that can swim one length of the pool unassisted. An informational meeting will be held on April 11th from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. in the MTHS Commons or you can register online at www.metamoraswimming.com after April 11th.

Metamora Park DistrictSummer Employment Know someone looking for a summer job? The Metamora Park District is now accepting applications for pool staff for the 2017 season.

Spaces For Rent The Park District has multiple spaces available. Park shelters, an activity room and even the swimming pool can be reserved for your upcoming event.

Quarter AuctionThe GFWC Illinois Metamora-Germantown Hills Junior Woman’s Club will be holding their Annual Spring Quarter Auction on Thursday April 27th at the Flame in Metamora. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and auction begins at 6:30 p.m. Paddles are $1.00 each. All auctions are 1 to 4 quarters! Grab your friends and loose change for an evening of fun!

Food and beverages are available for purchase from the Flame. For more information contact Michelle Bohm at 309-634-5651.

Sponsor a BookThe Germantown Hills Library opened its doors in January; however, some of the shelves look a bit bare due to their limited annual government funding. To help increase their book supply, the GFWC IL Metamora-Germantown Hills Junior Woman’s Club is organizing a book sponsorship. Visit the library to peruse the books available for sponsorship. Books will vary in genre and pricing, but a label naming its donor will be placed inside the cover of each book.

Contact Melissa Peters of the the Junior Woman’s Club at 712-1540, or Kim Scurlock, at the Illinois Prairie District Public Library with any questions.

Jump, Jive and Swing!The 2nd Annual “Jump, Jive & Swing!” Buffet Dinner and Swing Dancing will be hosted by Metamora Jazz Ensemble of Metamora Township High School on Friday, April 21st. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. with a delicious fried chicken buffet starting at 6:30 p.m. Professional dance instruction starts at 7:30 p.m. and dancing ends at 9:00 pm.

This fun event will be held at Metamora Fields in Metamora. Cost is $35 per person. Tickets sold in advance only, deadline to make reservations is April 12th.

For tickets or more info, call (309) 383-2177 or e-mail sherwood64@gmail.com.

Watch MTHS Robotics Competition on TV!Congratulations to the MTHS robotics team that won the entire FIRST Robotics competition on March 18th in Peoria. They are on to the world championships in St. Louis at the end April!

Scott Kerker and the Redbird Replay team taped parts of their preparation and the competition, so be sure to tune in to digiMAX local channel 400/410HD to watch thes team’s amazing accomplishment. Check your on-screen guide for one of the many upcoming broadcast times.

Additionally, the MTHS alliance, which consists of three robots from MTHS, Tremont, and a team out of St. Paul, Minnesota, set the world record for the highest points earned in a match! They scored 506 points and usually teams are ecstatic to get 300 points. Forty teams from all over the Midwest were at the competition.

Spring Benefit ConcertThe Metamora Area Swim Team and Metamora Park Foundation are hosting a Spring Benefit Concert at

Metamora Fields Golf Club from 7:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 8th. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in

advance for $40 at the Metamora and Germantown Heartland Bank locations, or at the Metamora IGA. Tickets are $45 at the door.

Ticket price includes one drink ticket, free appetizers, and an evening with the Joe Stamm Band! A silent auction, 50/50 raffle, and more will take place.

Easter Egg HuntsChristian Union ChurchThe Christian Union Church (367-4603) at 925 W. Walnut in Metamora will hold is Big Easter Hunt on Friday, April 14th. Arrive anytime between 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Short walking tours depart every ten minutes and the egg hunt follows each tour (bags provided).

Snyder VillageHop in for an Egg Hunt at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, April 14th at Snyder Village Health Center. Bring your Easter baskets and come see the Easter Bunny! Contact Amanda Yetter with any questions at 309-366-4180.

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