Tom & Lou Ann Balch Grand Marshals of Ashton’s Summer Celebration by Cheri Kemp
Crest Foods employee, Tom Balch and his wife, Lou Ann, were named the Grand Marshal’s for the Ashton Summer Celebration held in June. This honor won them a seat in the parade with a bird’s eye view of the crowd that turned out for the event. These lifelong residents of Ashton have been mainstays in Ashton for many years. They have provided hands-on work and volunteering of their time on many opportunities within the village. Countless people have benefited from their volunteerism. Tom, a 34 year employee of Crest Foods, is the Ingredient Division Warehouse Manager. His wife, Lou Ann, re- tired from Crest Foods about a year ago after spending 29 years here. While they were each working full time at Crest Foods, they found time to volunteer at the Ashton Care Pantry with over 40 years of donated time between them. Tom was also on the Ashton Village Board, a position he held for 20 years as trustee of the sewer and water committee. “June was the first time in 20 years that I didn’t attend a board meeting” stated Balch who decided not to re-run for the board this year. In addition to this, Tom is on the Ashton Cemetery Board. He, Lou Ann, and their grandchildren volunteer their time each spring, fall and Memorial Day sprucing up the grounds of the cem- etery. Active in their church, the Dixon Church of the Brethren, Tom is the Financial Secretary and Lou Ann vol- unteers on various activities within the church. In their spare time, they like to dote on their four children and seven grandchildren. They especially enjoy watching the grandchildren in their various sports activities. As a hobby, Tom enjoys tinkering with vehicles and restored a 1968 Ford Mustang and several years ago, he restored Lou Ann’s fathers 1987 GMC truck as a surprise for her. Many of you have probably heard the saying ‘if you want something done ask a busy person’. I would say that fits the two of these Ashton citizens to a T! Thank you Tom and Lou Ann for your dedication to the village of Ashton.
What – another production room? We just can’t seem to help ourselves. Maybe it’s an addiction or maybe there is just something seriously wrong with us, but we just can’t seem to stop adding pro- duction space in contract packaging. The room that is currently being used to store equipment in the west warehouse and was for- merly the aromatic room when the area was part of the Ingredient Division warehouse will be a yet-to-be-numbered production room for contract packaging. Also, following a long standing tradition of doing things with a very short lead time…this transition will all take place by early August. What’s going in there? We can’t say just yet, but it will be different than anything else we have done at Crest. Watch for progress on the rebuild of this area and details on what we are doing in there will surface soon. Making More Room!
July, August & September 2017 Crest Ink 19
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