Technicraft which is one of my favorite locally and family-owned businesses in Peoria is celebrating their 50th anniversary this summer. They had a party to celebrate this golden occasion and of course I was there.
And of course I was armed with the MBIP Camera and you can see the photos from this festive anniversary party by scrolling on down!
Here we are at Technicraft and check out the sign commemorating their 50th anniversary, they’re golden! Let’s go inside and join this party that I assume is already in progress!
Three Generations Of Technicraft
As I mentioned in the introduction, Technicraft is a family-owned and run business and here’s the three generations of Technicraft.
The top photo is founding owner and operator, Ted Kern, who opened up Technicraft back in the summer of 1969. I wonder if he gets royalties from Bryan Adams?
Tom Whalen is Ted’s son-in-law and he started working for Ted in the late ’70’s. He bought the business in 2004 and is the current President of the company.
Pictured in the bottom photo is Colleen Kimball who’s Tom’s daughter and she’s the current “Ringleader” here at Technicraft. You can read more about them and the company right here.
The Past
They had a nice array of photos, memorabilia and printed materials from Technicraft’s past displayed on tables at the party.
The Present
Back in the production area were samples of Technicraft’s present-day work.
Press
Technicraft has been featured in the Peoria Journal Star, iBi magazine and Colleen Kimball was featured in the “Take 10” column in Peoria’s Art & Society magazine. (Note: iBi and Art & Society have merged and they are now Peoria Magazine.)
Marty Monologues
Technicraft is the official MBIP Framing Headquarters and they also prepare and print the posters and program for the Marty Monologues shows. (Note: The next show is October 20th, here in Peoria at the Apollo Theatre!)
Summer of ’69
De Ingles from Smiley Graphix designed a special “Summer of ’69” sticker for the party and anniversary. That’s her and her husband John (the other half of Smiley Graphix) directly below the sticker! Always great to see both of them!
The Party
As you can a nice group of people showed up to celebrate this golden anniversary of Technicraft!
Food and Wine and Cake…Oh My!
There was a nice selection of food from Cyd’s In The Park, there was also wine and of course an anniversary cake from Trefzger’s Bakery.
Dueling Cameras
I wasn’t the only one documenting this event, Raphael from Videogenique was filming the party.
The MBIP Bag-O-Presents
I brought a patent-pending MBIP official Bag-O_Presents to the party and part of it was a mini deck of cards that Colleen successfully put together.
She then let everyone else from the Technicraft Team pick a random present. The team is the aforementioned Colleen and Tom, plus: Annah Sparks, Paul Volow, Stacey Vohland, Karl Zimmerman and the founder of Technicraft, Ted Kerns.
Thanks to Technicraft for hosting a fun party and Happy Anniversary!
Here’s to 50 more years and after that we’ll all be dead. Hooray!
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419 Elm Street
Peoria
309-495-5245
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Related Posts: The 3-D House of Technicraft, Framed! (At Technicraft) and A Tour of Technicraft.