Second Harvest Expands to Provide More Healthy and Nutritious Food

Officials from Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin and American Family Insurance announced on February 9th the successful completion of the first phase of Second Harvest’s Food. Health. Hope. Campaign. This phase of the campaign included raising $2 million to pay for an expansion of its facility on Madison’s eastside, and completing the primary construction of the new expansion. As a result, Second Harvest is now able to:

• Store and distribute significantly more healthy and nutritious fresh and frozen food
• Process more food faster to decrease turnaround time
• Handle incoming and outgoing food more safely and efficiently through traffic flow reconfiguration and more shipping/receiving bays

“For many years Second Harvest has placed an emphasis on providing nutritious food to our neighbors in southwestern Wisconsin who are struggling to put food on their tables,” said Dan Stein, president & CEO of Second Harvest. “We knew we needed to make significant changes to our building to give us the ability to provide more fresh and frozen product. Thanks to many generous donors like American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation, Inc., we can now take advantage of opportunities we would have had to turn down previously because of space limitations.”

The first phase of the Food. Health. Hope. Campaign was privately funded by numerous organizations, foundations, and individuals, including a lead gift of $500,000 by American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation.

“We’re delighted to partner with Second Harvest Foodbank as it continues its work to end hunger in our Wisconsin communities, and to do so by providing more healthy, nutritious food to families in need,” said Bill Westrate, American Family Insurance chief operating officer and Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin board member. “We support the efforts of organizations like Second Harvest that provide vital services and support in the communities where we live, work and do business.”

The construction included adding freezer and cooler space, adding new shipping and receiving bays, increasing volunteer space used to process food, and relocating some office staff to a new facility. With the new addition and other reconfigurations, Second Harvest was able to increase their total capacity by 35% to approximately 1.7 million pounds of food.

In addition to celebrating the end of phase one of the project, Second Harvest is now hoping to raise $200,000 from the public to help keep the new space filled year-round. For every $1 raised they can provide three meals. To donate, visit SecondHarvestMadison.org/FHH.

About Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin began working with local hunger-relief agencies in 1986. It helps end hunger in 16 southwestern Wisconsin counties through food distribution to its partner agencies, promotion of outside food assistance programs like FoodShare, and raising awareness of hunger. As southwestern Wisconsin’s largest hunger-relief charity it meets nearly one million requests for help each year. From July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 Second Harvest, together with its partner agencies and programs, provided 13.7 million meals. It is one of 200 members of Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. For more information, visit SecondHarvestMadison.org.

About American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation, Inc.

This foundation builds on our already strong commitment and support for the communities we serve. With this foundation, our community giving has evolved into community investing – strategically aligning corporate goals with community investments and creating alliances with non-profits for mutual benefit. Community investing now aligns with the company’s mission/brand, where impact can be made, and meaningful results achieved. The American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation is intended as an effective and efficient funding mechanism for the company’s community investment and philanthropic strategy. It strengthens our ability to measure the results and impact of our investments for the greatest benefit.

Mullins Promoted to Interior Director at Strang

Strang, Inc. promoted Erica Ostendorf Mullins to the position of Director of Interior Design, Strang President & CEO Larry Barton announced.

“Erica has exemplified great leadership in her time at Strang, and met challenges with a combination of enthusiasm, creativity and dedication,” Barton said. “This is a well-deserved promotion.”

Erica has six years’ experience designing commercial offices, higher education and healthcare facilities. She is well-versed in interior planning, finish and furniture selection and procurement.

She has earned National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ), and is a Wisconsin Registered Interior Designer (WRID). Erica earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Interior Architecture from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point.

Park Bank Honored with Financial Literacy Award

Park Bank is honored to be one of 15 individuals, businesses and organizations to receive the 2016 Governor’s Financial Literacy Award. In a recent ceremony at the Wisconsin State Capitol, Governor Scott Walker applauded the winners for efforts to promote financial literacy in schools, the workplace, and in communities throughout the state.

“Personal financial literacy is a life-long skill that helps the citizens of Wisconsin achieve their dreams, expand their opportunities, and ensure financial security for themselves and their families,” Governor Walker said. “These recipients demonstrate strong commitment to strengthening financial literacy and have had a tremendous impact on their communities. Our sincere thanks for your efforts, and we look forward to seeing all you accomplish in the coming years to help move Wisconsin forward.”

“At Park Bank, we want to make sure that we are helping our youth and our community by providing a foundation for understanding financial literacy including how saving and spending money impacts their future. It’s about preparing people to make financially responsible decisions,” said Park Bank President/CEO James Hegenbarth. Valuable topics taught included taxes and insurance, financing higher education, credit and borrowing, savings, and investing in conjunction with the teacher and an online, interactive web-based program. In addition, Park Bank employees also donated their time to various organizations including Junior Achievement, serving as financial coaches for families at Habitat for Humanity, Teach Children to Save events, high school financial literacy projects, serving on the Wisconsin Banker’s Association’s Financial Literacy advisory board, and teaching financial literacy seminars at the Urban League, Black Woman’s Leadership Conference, and the Black Women’s Wellness Day.

The Gialamas Company Presents Sauk Trails Plaza II

The Gialamas Company is proud to announce a prominent addition on one of the few remaining large parcels in Old Sauk Trails Park. Sauk Trails Plaza II, a 160,000 square foot, five story building, located at 1255 Fourier Drive, will be completed in December 2017. Timelessly clad in stone and glass, the building will be located at the north entry into Old Sauk Trails Park and will be the sister building to Sauk Trails Plaza. 

George Gialamas, CEO and Founder of The Gialamas Company, says the project underscores his long held belief that, “Companies understand the importance of high quality space and service and the benefit this brings to their most important asset; their people. Developing commercial buildings with an emphasis on this concept has been the main mission of The Gialamas Company for the past 40 years. We are excited to be bringing a great company, NSI, back to Madison with this new development.”
 
As the major tenant in the building, NSI, a division of West Bend Mutual Insurance Company, is working with local design-build firm, Iconica, in designing their employee-focused office space.

“We love the ten foot ceiling heights and floor to ceiling windows planned for this office,” says Gary Klein, Vice President of NSI. “Our design will provide opportunities for collaboration as well as a variety of alternative work spaces.” NSI is looking forward to the state-of-the-art fitness facility and outdoor patio area with landscaping that will be designed to complement the beauty of the building, all of which helps attract and retain their growing employee base.    
   
Kevin Carey, of The Carey Group was selected by NSI to assist in the search for their new office space and they are thankful for his dedication to locating the perfect “partners” for the future. Recognizing their own values of customer service and cooperative teamwork, NSI selected The Gialamas Company and Iconica for development and construction.

“We began working with Iconica several months ago to clearly identify our space needs. When we began talking to The Gialamas Company, and found they’ve had a strong relationship with our chosen design-build team, it was a bonus,” Klein explains. “I can’t tell you how excited our associates are to have a property manager who understands that the relationship between tenant and property 
management goes beyond a contract, and is truly a partnership.”  

Sauk Trails Plaza II will offer the most advanced sustainable design amenities in the areas of energy, water efficiency and air quality. The HVAC technology will include a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) system to create a comfortable and productive work environment for employees as well as significant energy savings. During construction, the on-site recycling and materials goal is to divert 80% of construction waste from landfill and to utilize as many finishes with recycled, rapidly renewable resources and regionally harvested materials.  

About The Gialamas Company: 

Founded by George and Candy Gialamas, The Gialamas Company, Inc. specializes in Class A Commercial Real Estate in Madison and the surrounding area. For forty years, we have brought our expertise in real estate development, brokerage, leasing and management to the City of Madison and State of Wisconsin. The Gialamas Company’s fully integrated in-house staff and 
maintenance team, combined with our distinct knowledge and experience, ensures the highest level of service in all facets of the company. For more information on The Gialamas Company, visit www.gialamas.com. 

About NSI: 

NSI, a division of West Bend Mutual Insurance Company in West Bend, Wisconsin, offers specialized insurance and safety programs for niche markets like childcare, social service organizations, and sports and leisure. NSI also is a standard market for construction and commercial bonds. Created in 1999, NSI is a top 100 employer in Dane County. Since 2010, West Bend has been named a “Best Place to Work in Insurance” by Business Insurance, placing in the top four companies in the large employee category. West Bend has also consistently been 
included on the Ward Group’s list of the 50 top-performing, U.S.-domiciled property/casualty insurers.   

About Iconica: 

Iconica is an integrated design build firm focused on innovative architectural and engineering solutions delivered by in-house construction managers. Iconica has been working with The Gialamas Company for over 30 years and is a leader in commercial office design and construction in Southern Wisconsin. For more information on Iconica, visit www.iconicacreates.com.  

For additional information, contact: 
Cathy O’Donnell, Vice President of Operations
The Gialamas Company, Inc.
8040 Excelsior Drive Madison, WI  53717
(608)-836-8000

Saturday Night Fever – The Musical Brings Disco to Overture for One Night Only

For immediate release: Thursday, February 23, 2017
Contact: Sarah Knab, 608.258.4438 / sknab@overture.org
Click here for photos.

Saturday Night Fever – The Musical Brings Disco to Overture for One Night Only

“Hit song after hit song, bright lights and dancing to blow you away.” – BBC

“The show’s unique blend of poignancy and perpetual optimism coupled with the brilliance of the Bee Gees score and breathtaking choreography-should provide dazzlingly delightful nights for years to come.”- Theatermania.com

Madison, Wis. –  Saturday Night Fever – The Musical, the iconic story of Tony – the kid from Brooklyn USA – who wants to dance his way to a better life, is returning to Overture Center (in Overture Hall) for one night only on Saturday, March 4 at 8 p.m.

This all-new production that shares Tony’s love for dancing in spectacular new ways. Fueled by the vintage Bee Gee hits, this contemporary retelling of the classic story captures the energy, passion and life-changing moments that have thrilled audiences since 1977.  Now, a new generation of talented actor/singer/dancers meets a new generation of playgoers to explore the soaring sounds and pulsating rhythms of this coming-of-age disco fantasy.

Almost all of the songs from the original movie sound track are included in the stage musical. The album remained 24 weeks on the top of the US album charts and stayed until March 1980 on the charts. In the UK, the album also achieved first place for 18 weeks and it is one of the most successful movie sound tracks of all time. In 1979 it won a Grammy as Album of the Year. In 2003 it reached # 131 of Rolling Stone’s “500 best albums of all time”.

Based on Nik Cohn’s 1975 New York Magazine article “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night” and Norman Wexler’s hit 1977 film, Saturday Night Fever – The Musical features the world famous music of the Bee Gees. This musical adaptation of the classic film is the story of a talented, streetwise kid from Brooklyn who attempts to escape his dead-end life through dancing. The score includes many classic disco-era hits. Tony Manero is a clerk in a paint store in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. But he lives for Saturday evening and his visit to the local disco, 2001 Odyssey. At the disco Tony is no longer an inconspicuous employee, he is the king of the dance floor. There he meets dancer, Stephanie Mangano. The two decide to take part in a dance competition. Although Tony is interested in a relationship with Stephanie, she rejects him, thinking that she can pursue higher goals and meet a better selection of men in Manhattan. But Tony and Stephanie continue to rehearse and win the dance competition. However, Tony, not happy because a competing pair of Latino dancers was clearly better, hands the championship trophy to them. The dispute divides Tony and Stephanie. After some very tragic events, Tony and Stephanie decide to remain friends.

This production of Saturday Night Fever The Musical, presented by NorthCore Productions and 2 Luck Concepts LLC,  will be directed by Marcia Kash with choreography by Marc Kimelman and music direction by Steve Thomas. Tour direction is by Columbia Artists Theatricals, Gary McAvay, President (www.cami.com). Featured in the cast are Matt Alfano as Tony Manero, Tessa Alves as Stephanie, and Heather McGuigan as Annette, along with Christy Adamson, Jak Barradell, Katie Beethan, Deb Collins, Michael De Rose, Kristin Dobby, Aaron Ferguson, Nicko Giannakos, Ryan Gifford, Sarah Higgins, Galen Johnson, Kyla Musselman, David Rosser, Adam Sergison, AJ Simmons, Justin Stadnyk, and Jennifer Thiessen.

Tickets start at $30 and are on sale now:

• In person at the Overture Center Ticket Office (201 State Street)
• Online overture.org
• By phone at 608.258.4141
• Groups of ten or more eligible for discounts, email groups@overture.org or call 608.258.4159

Saturday Night Fever is presented by Overture Center as part of the Theatrical Series.

Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin features seven state-of-the-art performance spaces and five galleries where national and international touring artists, ten resident companies, and hundreds of local artists engage nearly half a million people in educational and artistic experiences each year. Overture.org

With over 25 years of combined experience in theatrical producing and entertainment, NorthCore Productions was founded by Steve Roth and Rachel Crowther with the intention to produce, present and manage high quality entertainment while fostering new work and developing long term clients. With an extensive background in local, national and international theatre, touring and entertainment, we are focused on exceptional programming while facilitating expansion in the arts community. With roots in entertainment excellence and a core focus in creating, developing, managing and producing projects for the stage, our goal is to provide high quality product to houses across North America while nurturing a growing audience and maintaining creative integrity in the industry.

Executive Producer 2LUCK CONCEPTS (John Luckacovic and Eleanor Oldham): John spent 19 years with Columbia Artists Management Inc., rising to an officer and director of the company. Eleanor was with ICM Artists in London, where she signed and managed the careers of conductors and instrumentalists. In 2001, they formed 2Luck Concepts to search the world and develop and produce unique and engaging projects. Among many projects, 2Luck managed and produced all of Akram Khan’s projects including Sacred Monsters (featuring Akram and Sylvie Guillem) and In-I (featuring Akram and Juliette Binoche); they produced and managed the first-ever tours of London’s Shakespeare’s Globe Original Practice productions of Twelfth Night and Measure for Measure, followed by Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Comedy of Errors and Hamlet. 2Luck also produced tours of Poland’s 100 member national treasure MAZOWSZE, as well as two coast-to-coast tours of Anda Union from Inner Mongolia, The Music Man In Concert featuring Shirley Jones and Patrick Cassidy and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Current projects include the award-winning street dance/contemporary Company Wang Ramirez from Germany, Tina Packer’s Women of Will, and EarFilms, a unique approach to storytelling utilizing a 3D ambisonic sound system and a blindfolded audience.

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