Archive (2000):

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Third Street School to be Razed - Scholarship Fund and Memorial Planned (8/25/00)

SUGARCREEK -- Plans are underway to begin razing the former Third Street School on August 29, 2000. The local school board discontinued use of the building in the early 1970s. Andreas Furniture purchased the building and grounds from the school board for warehousing purposes. Andreas added to the original structure and made significant modifications to accommodate its warehousing needs. Andreas sold the school building along with the warehouse located directly behind it to Swiss Valley Holdings LLC in December of 1999.

“When we originally looked at the property, my first thought was to restore the school and use it as an administrative building,” said John Miller, President of SUPERB Industries, Inc. “Further evaluation made it apparent this would not be feasible. The condition of the structure and the requirements of the Ohio Building Code make restoration not only impractical, but also cost prohibitive. Also, additional parking space was required to meet the zoning regulations of the Village of Sugarcreek,” Miller said.

“While razing the building is necessary for us to meet our operational needs and regulatory requirements, we want to recognize the significant contribution this school made to education in this community,” stated Miller. A memorial using the two pillars in front of the building is planned. “We plan to work with Les Troyer and other historically minded people in the community to make the memorial as meaningful as possible,” Miller continued.

SUPERB has also established the “SUPERB Third Street School Scholarship”. A $500.00 scholarship will be awarded to a graduating Garaway Senior who is a direct descendant of a person that attended the Third Street School and who meets certain other criteria to be established by Garaway. “This is our way of recognizing on an annual basis the contribution of the Third Street School and help young people achieve their educational aspirations,” said Miller. SUPERB has made a big commitment to training and education. It has an established apprenticeship program that is accredited by the US Department of Labor. Employees are sent to specialized training on a routine basis and regularly participate in internal training programs.

“A number of people have asked if they could have a “piece” of the old school as a souvenir.  We will donate some of the original bricks to the Garaway Athletic Booster Club and PTO for this purpose.  They plan to sell these bricks to interested people as a fund raiser. Questions about this fundraiser should be directed to Mark Blauch, Garaway Athletic Booster Club President,” said Miller.

“We ask that people please understand that we cannot accommodate any other requests for “souvenirs”. The demolition contractor owns the salvage rights and the condition of the building makes scavenger hunting dangerous. For this reason we ask that the public not enter the work area during the project. Trespassers will be dealt with appropriately,” Miller stated.

“We have hired specialists to do the work to assure that it is done safely and properly.  J & L & Son Excavating is the demolition contractor. J & L was chosen, among other things, because they had previous experience with removing buildings of this type. They removed the old Tuscarawas County Jail several years ago which was a building of similar size. Environmental Construction did the environmental testing and asbestos abatement prior to demolition,” commented Miller.

Demolition is scheduled to begin on August 29, 2000 and the project should be complete by the end of September.

HOOVER STAFF ENGINEER JOINS SUPERB (7/17/00)

Superb Industries, Inc., of Sugarcreek is pleased to announce the addition of Jerrit Ekama to their team.  Ekama comes to Superb with over 23 years experience in the designing and production engineering field.  A graduate of ITT Tech, Jerrit has additional training in CAD/CAM Unigraphics, Auto Cad 14 and Fast Cad. 

As an employee of The Hoover Co. in Canton for the past 19 years, Jerrit was promoted from Tool Designer up to Staff Manufacturing Engineer.  As Production Manager for Superb, Ekama will be responsible for employee and machine scheduling, as well as ensuring that Superb maintains its 100% On-Time delivery rate.  We know that Jerrit Ekama will be a tremendous asset to the Superb team!

Former Apollo Engineer Joins Superb (5/31/00)

SUGARCREEK - Superb Industries, Inc., of Sugarcreek, OH is pleased to introduce a new and distinguished employee – Mr. Peter J. Ekama. A native of Holland, Ekama has been a US citizen since 1973.  In November 1941, as a university student during the German occupation of Holland, Ekama was detained by Hitler’s troops as a “volunteer laborer” and sent to work on German aircraft engines.

After the end of World War II, Ekama returned to Holland. In 1952 he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering – Machine Design & Production Management.  Ekama was a member of design teams for several European companies and was responsible for a patented automatic hydraulic valve system. 

In October 1966, Bendix, a NASA contractor, brought Ekama to the United States to work on the Apollo space program. He was specifically responsible for the design of the high volume air pump valving system that ensured the re-entry capsule would surface right side up after splashdown.

After the Apollo program ended, Ekama was employed by Diebold of Canton, Ohio and holds several patents with their company. Superb Industries, Inc. is delighted to have Peter Ekama on the team.