The Wonder Spelen donor wall in place at the playground. “Wonder Spelen” means “Miracle Play” in Dutch.

In 2019, Fred Kreykes came to a meeting of the Pella Kiwanis Club with an idea: transforming the Kiwanis Park on Main Street into an accessible, inclusive place where people of all ages and abilities could play. He was met with overwhelming support from both the Kiwanis and the City of Pella. Last October, the Wonder Spelen playground opened to the public, featuring interactive and sensory play equipment, as well as accessible bathrooms.

The project was in part funded by the proceeds from the Kiwanis poffertje stand, which the club rolls out at Tulip Time and other town events. It was also made possible by donations from several businesses and individuals, whose generosity the Wonder Spelen team wanted to honor with a recognition wall.

“In 2010, Pella Engraving & Sign Company did my company’s sign. Over 10 years later, I knew they were the only people I wanted to work with on this donor recognition wall,” said Mark Wiskus, a Kiwanis member and chair of the Wonder Spelen project.

Mark and his team collaborated with PEC on the wall’s design. It was important to all involved that the design allow new donor names to be added in the future. And, of course, the wall needed to incorporate some nods to Pella’s Dutch heritage—after all, the crown jewel of the playground is a large windmill!

“PEC does a fantastic job of listening to what their customers want and asking questions about their vision,” said Mark. “We worked together to create a great design that had everything we wanted.”

The construction of the Wonder Spelen donor wall gave PEC the opportunity to flex a wide range of skills—from vinyl work to zinc etching and custom metal fabrication:

• Frame – The donor wall’s custom outer frame was constructed and painted by PEC. The team took color swatches to the playground to make sure they used a matching yellow paint.
• Background Plates – The large background plate was made from aluminum and painted a color-matched dark blue. Then, four etched zinc plates were mounted on top of the aluminum to serve as a backdrop for the donor plates and logos. These zinc plates were painted light blue and feature raised rectangular boxes, marking the spots for each donor nameplate.
• Donor Nameplates – Donor names were etched onto zinc plates. That zinc was painted dark blue, and the names and outer borders were tipped in white. The nameplates were then installed on top of the raised boxes. Several boxes are blank, leaving room to add nameplates for new donors.
• Vinyl Lettering, Logos, and Accents – PEC cut all the lettering on the Wonder Spelen donor wall from vinyl. The Kiwanis and City of Pella seals were printed in full color on vinyl, as were the logos of major donors Precision, Inc., Vermeer Charitable Foundation, and Pella Corporation. For the border along the bottom of the wall, PEC printed and cut out brightly colored tulips, Dutch buildings, windmills, and wooden shoes.

When the parts were complete, the PEC team put everything together and installed the wall at the playground. But that is not the end of the story.

“Now we’re working with Pella Engraving on a street sign for the Wonder Spelen,” said Mark. “We’re all excited to see it!”

At Blue Equipment, Kinze customers can find new and used planters, grain carts, and tillage equipment, as well as parts and a service department.

This spring, Kinze Manufacturing, Inc., embarked on an exciting new venture—an in-house dealership located on the campus of their Williamsburg, Iowa, headquarters. Blue Equipment LLC serves Poweshiek, Iowa, and Johnson Counties, offering new and used Kinze equipment plus parts, retrofit kits, and mobile and on-site service.

“Before Blue Equipment opened, we knew we needed new signage,” said Kinze Senior Creative Services Specialist Mike Dykstra. “And not just storefront signage. Since the dealership is located on our manufacturing campus, we needed signs to direct people where to go and help them backtrack if they take a wrong turn.”

Mike knew exactly who he could turn to with this project: Pella Engraving & Sign Company.

“I’ve known Co-Owner Jeff Vroom for almost 20 years, and I’ve always admired the business,” he said. “I was especially excited when they added the signage division because what they offer is just what I need. PEC can hand-build custom signs, but they also offer very high-quality vinyl signage.”

The largest of the Blue Equipment wall signs being installed at Kinze Manufacturing in Williamsburg.

The Blue Equipment order included three monumental, multi-panel storefront signs—the largest measuring 24′ x 10′—as well as eight new outdoor wayfinding signs to direct visitors around the Williamsburg campus. The Blue Equipment logo was designed by Kinze. Mike designed the signs, then passed the baton to PEC.

Cost-effective, versatile, and durable vinyl was an excellent option for this project. Both the wall and wayfinding signs were printed on vinyl backed by an aluminum substrate. These signs will be able to withstand exposure to the weather and UV rays.

From fabrication to installation, it was an all-hands-on-deck project, calling on the talents of Jeff and fellow Co-Owners Jarid Purvis and Cory Vande Kieft, as well as signage experts Todd Richards and Jeff André.

When the signs were fabricated, the PEC team loaded them up and made the 70-mile trek to Williamsburg. On-site, the three storefront signs and three of the wayfinding signs were installed panel-by-panel and connected using splice strips. The rest of the wayfinding signage was retrofitted over existing post-and-panel signs.

“Their attention to detail is excellent,” said Mike. “I’m a bit Type A, so I’d notice if the panels didn’t line up perfectly. But the PEC team came equipped with strips of colored vinyl they could use to fill in any spots that were even an eighth of an inch off.

“Pella Engraving & Sign Company knew exactly what I wanted, and they delivered,” he concluded.

The new banners at Pella High School (left) and Lincoln Elementary School (right).

This fall, students, teachers, and staff at Pella Community Schools were greeted with a fun surprise: custom banners from PEC, proudly sporting the Pella Dutch colors and logo.

“We’d all been apart for five months, so it was very important to me and my colleagues to give everyone a big welcome back,” explained Pella Middle School Principal Josh Manning. “We’d seen banners on light poles at other schools and colleges, and we thought it was a great idea. New banners would be exciting for our students, teachers, and staff, and as an added bonus they would also boost our curb appeal and branding. Soon all five buildings in our district were on board, and we brought our idea to Pella Engraving & Sign Company.”

PEC Graphic Designer Kristi Olsen worked with Josh on the banner design, which prominently features the Pella Community Schools logo and signature green-and-white color scheme. The 4′ x 2.5′ banners were printed on durable material using latex ink, so they will withstand the outdoor elements. The hems were also reinforced, so the banners won’t tear in high winds or bad weather.

PEC made 73 banners total, which were mounted on light poles on the grounds of Lincoln Elementary, Madison Elementary, Jefferson Intermediate, Pella Middle School, and Pella High School. Because they needed to extend out from the posts, each banner was equipped with a top and bottom pole pocket. PVC poles were inserted through these pockets, then secured to the light posts with a bracket. For added security, the PEC team looped straps through reinforced grommets sewn into the banners. It took PEC just three days to install all the banners.

“It was an honor to work on such a visible project that uplifts our community,” said PEC Co-Owner Jarid Purvis.

“We’ve had lots of positive comments,” added Josh. “Many have said the banners exude our Pella spirit, and that they feel proud to be part of our district. We look forward to working with PEC again in the future!”

PEC custom designed, printed, and installed vehicle wraps for Pella Fiber’s telecom fleet.

Pella Fiber is ready to hit the road, thanks to custom vehicle wraps and vinyl decals and magnets from Pella Engraving & Sign Company.

The telecommunications utility is locally owned and operated by the City of Pella and will start offering high-speed internet, TV, and phone service in spring 2021. Construction of the fiber optic network began this summer, which meant it was time to brand Pella Fiber’s fleet and the contractor vehicles working on the project.

Five Pella Fiber vehicles—three vans, one SUV, and one truck—needed full vehicle wraps. Fifteen magnet decals and thirty-five regular vinyl decals were needed for the contractor vehicles. Graphic Technician Todd Richards, who specializes in digital printing and vinyl installation, and PEC Co-Owner Jarid Purvis met with Pella Fiber to develop a design for each piece.

“They had great ideas, playing off some sample pictures we showed them,” said Keetah Dodson, Pella Fiber’s customer service manager. “They also took our branding guide into consideration and worked to match colors and incorporate our icons into the designs.”

For the wraps, Todd used a program that allows him to tailor the design to the unique contours of a vehicle by inputting its make and model. Once the designs were finished, the wraps, decals, and magnets were printed on premium vinyl laminated for protection against scratches and UV rays. The wraps were also contour cut and installed by Pella Engraving.

“PEC was recommended to us by several local organizations. They have been professional and great to work with, plus the value of their product is excellent,” said Doy Ousley, the telecommunications director for the City of Pella. “All this, and we had the privilege of keeping our business local to Pella, which is very important to us.”

“Pella Engraving also provided the finished products on a tight timeline of just a few weeks,” added Keetah. “They did an excellent job responding to our needs.”

To mark this season of growth, Creative Marketing and Communications Specialist Melissa Chipps was challenged to come up with new signage and wall displays. She turned to longtime friend Tim Sadler, head of Pella Engraving Company’s Sadler Sign & Design division.* Melissa and Tim worked together during the design phase, then the baton was officially handed to Tim and the PEC team. They turned Melissa’s ideas into reality in three major projects:

Headquarters Exterior Sign

First on the list was a new exterior sign for corporate headquarters. The Precision, Inc., team procured the ¼” aluminum and used their capabilities to cut out their new logo. The sign was then passed in two pieces to Pella Engraving Company. The Sadler division welded the pieces together. Then they created an installation template and manufactured brackets to install the sign into the concrete wall of the building. After the PEC team installed the sign, Gritters Electric came in and added LED backlighting so the sign can be illuminated at night.

The exterior sign was installed using brackets fabricated by PEC’s Sadler Sign and Design division.

Wall of Industries and Frosted Glass Brand Elements

In another project for corporate headquarters, the PEC team created a wall display highlighting the industries supported by PPI and PFI. High-definition color photos representing each industry were UV-printed on a thin layer of aluminum. Each aluminum tile was then attached to PVC backer pieces of different thicknesses. Brought together, the varying heights of the tiles give the display visual interest and depth. Glass panels with frosted-vinyl backing display the PPI and PFI logos and feature definitions of the terms, “manufacture” and “sanitary,” as they are used by Precision, Inc. The tiles and glass panels were installed by Tim and PEC Co-Owner Jarid Purvis in a hallway above the main lobby. Across the way, they installed frosted glass panels—also fabricated by the PEC team—that feature the corporate tagline and Precision, Inc., logo.

UV-printed aluminum tiles mounted on PVC backers of different thicknesses create a display with visual interest and depth.

The frosted glass panels display the corporate tagline and Precision, Inc., logo.

Wall of PPI Locations

For the interior of the Technology Center, PEC created another wall display, this time highlighting PPI’s four Iowa and two international manufacturing locations. Black-and-white photos were printed on five 24″ x 40″ Metalphoto® panels. This phototransfer technology permanently embeds dye into the pores of the aluminum, ensuring crisp detail and durability. Each photo panel was paired with a 24″ x 8″ plaque displaying the location name. The display was installed by Jarid and PEC team member Greg Dickenson in the main conference room of the Technology Center.

Metalphoto® anodized aluminum panels showcase black-and-white photos of each PPI location.

“I’ve known Tim for nearly 10 years and have always had a pleasant experience working with him and his team,” said Melissa. “They always seem excited when I bring something new to them, and they always accept the challenge of helping me bring my ideas to life. Pella Engraving Company and the Sadler division are my go-to whenever I need signage or display plaques.”

*In June 2019, Tim handed over the reigns of the signage division to PEC Owners Jeff Vroom and Jarid Purvis. Learn more about the signage team.

New signage welcomes patrons to The Cellar Peanut Pub’s Newton location.

Since it’s 2015 move to Pella, The Cellar Peanut Pub has quickly become a favorite hangout for both townies and visitors. It’s almost impossible to imagine Franklin Street without this friendly neighborhood institution and its expert Pubtenders. Now, with a new location in nearby Newton, owner Marty Duffy and his wife, Betsy, are turning their attention to a new project: establishing the Peanut Pub brand.

“With the business growing, I really started to think about our branding,” said Betsy, who handles marketing the pub. “We needed a uniform logo and signage. Thankfully, I knew exactly who to turn to.”

Marty and Betsy reached out to Tim Sadler, head of the Sadler Sign & Design division of Pella Engraving Company. They needed two matching storefront signs featuring the new logo (for the Pella and Newton locations), as well as a double-sided hanging sign to be installed on the side of the Newton pub. A longtime Pella resident himself, Tim was glad to take on the project.

The new logo is a bespectacled and mustachioed peanut, which bears a striking resemblance to Marty. Tim partnered with its creator to design the signs. Then, he Photoshopped their proposed designs onto pictures of both Peanut Pub locations and showed them to Marty and Betsy.

“Tim made sure the plans for the signs followed all city ordinances,” said Betsy. “We were excited to see the finished product.”

The Peanut Pub’s new logo takes center stage—rendered in vivid color with a vinyl printer.

Fabrication started with cutting and assembling the wooden bases of each sign, which were then painted with three coats of solid color stain to make them dark green. Using the digital logo file, Tim’s team printed a full-color Peanut Pub logo for each sign on quarter-inch aluminum. The logos and sign lettering (also quarter-inch aluminum) were then cut out using the PEC plasma cutter and affixed to the wooden bases.

The Sadler Sign & Design team also handled installation and fabricated much of the mounting hardware for each sign. For example, Tim designed and made the ornamental bracket that holds the 4′ x 5′ hanging sign. He then built a scaffold, which allowed him to bolt the sign to the wall. The Sadler Sign & Design team was able to flush-mount the storefront sign in Newton by bolting into the building’s mortar; they used a canopy-mount system to install the sign at the Pella location.

“The work Tim and his team did on our signage is kind of like magic,” said Betsy. “I’m planning to start my own venture soon—a brewery. When that gets off the ground, I won’t go to anyone else for my signage.”

The donor wall at the Cambridge SportsPlex honors all those who contributed time and money to the project.

It took 140 donors to make it happen, but thanks to their dedication, the town of Fairfield, Iowa, has a new gym and pool facility that is improving its citizens’ quality of life and attracting new people to the community.

Originally built 45 years ago, Fairfield’s recreational facilities were due for an upgrade. In 2011, planning began for the multi-million-dollar Cambridge SportsPlex, and it opened in 2016. The 36,000 square-foot-space includes an indoor three-lane track, three full-size basketball courts, fitness area, exercise floor, storage, batting cages, restrooms, and showers.

After the grand opening, the SportsPlex task force committee wanted to recognize the generous donors who contributed to the project. A member of the task force, Kent Whitney, had previously worked with the PEC team and was pleased with the end result of the project. On behalf of the committee, he approached Pella Engraving Company about creating a donor recognition wall.

“I stopped in one day and showed them our ideas. They immediately took to it and got excited about the project. I knew right then we had the company we needed with the capability and passion to create our donor wall,” said Kent.

Kent already had a design in mind, and PEC was able to bring the idea to life using a three-part approach:

• Wave-inspired, curving background plates were cut on PEC’s state-of-the-art plasma cutter from 1/8″ aluminum. After color-matching the client’s artwork, these plates were painted in three shades of blue.
• 1/8″ zinc plates with a pebbled texture were cut on a band saw and painted light gray to showcase the donor list. Donor names were etched into the zinc and tipped in black.
• PEC turned to Sadler Sign and Design of Pella for the smallest lettering on the sign. The scale of the letters was too small to be handled by a plasma cutter or CNC machine. Vinyl was the perfect solution. The PEC team pre-coated the vinyl with the task force committee’s chosen shade of gray, and the individual letters were cut by Sadler Sign and Design. This lettering technique was repeated for the sign’s headline to create a cohesive and eye-catching final design.

The donor wall was installed in the Cambridge SportsPlex lobby. It perfectly fills space on a bare wall and improves traffic flow through the building. The task force committee was very pleased with the final project.

“Pella Engraving Company made what could have been a very challenging project enjoyable and stress-free,” said Kent. “The team’s professionalism and friendly and flexible demeanor made us feel like our project was the most important one on their plate.”

Based in Wallingford, Connecticut, Horse Show Ribbons was founded in 1965 by Page’s mother, Ellie Estes, now 93. When Page, a former champion horsewoman herself, began to expand the business, she acquired a company that was using Pella Engraving to fabricate its foil blocking dies. Soon after, Horse Show Ribbons placed its first die order with PEC and has never looked back.

When Page gets a new customer, their unique artwork is sent to PEC and processed through its system. First, a negative is created and imprinted on 0.153-inch magnesium, then run through an imager (image on left below).

Next, the plate is placed in the developing tank to expose the bare metal. Then, it’s off to the etching machine where it is acid-etched to about .070” deep. The magnesium plates are then cut apart (image on right below). Although Horse Show Ribbons’ foil blocking dies are unmounted, PEC does offer mounting on wood or aluminum backers.

Horse Show Ribbons’ final die size is often 2.25 x 4 inches, but sometimes dies as small as 2 x 1 inch are created. The final size of the magnesium die is critical. “Even a fraction of an inch off on the size, and the dies won’t work in the press,” explained Page.

Page needs one master plate for each customer. This plate typically lasts 10 years. She uses a separate plate, also made by PEC, with place imprints—e.g., first, second, third, etc.—in combination with the main imprint for place ribbon orders. Using the presses in her shop, she uses gold or silver foil to stamp onto the color and style of ribbon chosen by the customer.

“We produce more than 500,000 ribbons each year,” said Page. Beyond equestrian customers, Horse Show Ribbons also makes ribbons for birthday parties, weddings, bat and bar mitzvahs, and other events.

A hot stamping die made by Pella Engraving on the press at Horse Show Ribbons.

The resulting ribbon.

PEC gets a hot stamping die order from Horse Show Ribbons two to three times per week during their busy season, and about once a week the rest of the year. Because PEC fulfills same-day turnaround when artwork is emailed by 9:00 a.m. Central Time, Page knows she never has to wait long for her dies to arrive.

“They know exactly the size I need, and they’ve helped me out when I need to place an order in a hurry,” said Page. “They are so easy to work with—I would not think of going anywhere else.”

Top, the Photoshopped mock-up provided to Pella Engraving by Winterset Gymnastics. Bottom, an unaltered photo of the finished sign.

The athletes and coaches at Winterset Gymnastics are flying high thanks to the new company sign created by Pella Engraving Company.

The gym, which offers tumbling and trampoline classes to kids ages 2 to 18, was in need of a sign after they relocated in August 2016. “The building we moved into is much larger than our old space and just turned 100 years old,” explained Matt Floden, who co-owns Winterset Gymnastics with his wife, Holli. “We did a lot of renovation. While we were able to get the majority of the work finished before Christmas and start classes in the new studio in January 2017, we waited on the sign until a mason could come and repair some of the bricks and mortar on the exterior. That masonry work was completed this year, so we were ready to move forward.”

Matt and Holli knew the façade of their building featured a border and two diamond accents in white brick. However, historical photos of the building revealed there was a third diamond accent covered by old signage. Excited by the discovery, they removed the old sign and started brainstorming ways to design their sign around the three diamonds. Matt, an architect by trade, used Photoshop to digitally build a mock-up of the sign they envisioned.

The brown color was selected from the Matthews Paint System.

Matt and Holli knew right where to turn to make their vision a reality. Holli is the sister-in-law of Pella Engraving Company Co-Owner Cory Vande Kieft.

“We got the mock-up, then chose a color from our Matthews Paint System that closely matched the color of the sign in Matt’s example,” said Cory. “This paint is specifically formulated for signage and performs really well in outdoors settings.”

Next, Co-Owner Jarid Purvis used the PEC plasma cutter to cut the 20-inch-high letters out of 1/8-inch-thick aluminum. He set the type to match the font from the mock-up. Once the letters were cut, he sanded them to remove imperfections and drilled holes for the stainless-steel screws that would secure the letters to the building.

The 20-inch-high letters were cut by the PEC plasma cutter to match the example.

“We painted the letters and the screws with the brown color we chose to match Matt’s example,” said Cory. “After that, we put on a clear coat to give the letters an added layer of protection from the weather. This coat also contains a UV inhibitor to help prevent fading.”

On a clear February morning—less than a week after Matt sent the Photoshopped mock-up to Pella Engraving—he installed the finished sign on the building with help from Toby Tyler, the dad of a Winterset Gymnastics athlete who was also very involved in the remodel of the new studio.

“If you’re looking for a sign I would definitely recommend working with Pella Engraving Company,” said Matt. “They were fast and easy to work with. The end product perfectly matches the vision we had.”

Athletes from Winterset Gymnastics pose with the letters for the new sign.