Last Thursday, we ended our workday with celebrating St. Patrick's Day at the office! Our festivities kicked off with another Jammin' Jim's Strategy Spotlight show followed by a performance from our company band, Bending West. 

The beautiful snowflakes covered our ground and buildings today! It was fun to take a little afternoon break, grab some complimentary hot popcorn, and watch the snowfall! 

Look at this amazing photo Jim took during one of his morning walks on the prairie. What a great way to star the day! 

 The melting snow and mud make us long for warm, sunny days. Because of that, it's easy to forget how beautiful winter can be. Thanks to our associates for always sharing their photos with us.

Here's a fun summer memory!

While one of our associates, Jim, was out exercising on the prairie one summer morning, he snapped this gorgeous photo. He shared, "I think what appears to be a layer of fog was actually solid mosquitoes!" Yikes! 

Can you imagine pulling into work and seeing this? One of our associates, Joyce, took this incredible photo over the summer.

With views like this, who wouldn't want to work here? 

Over the summer, Linda, one of our associates, was able to grab some incredible photos. We love all of her pictures and are glad she shares them with us. Here's one of our favorites! 

Last year we reintroduced beehives to the campus landscape. Four of the five bee colonies survived the winter and were in good shape this spring. The bees are very advantageous to have on campus. They are great pollinators for our fruit trees, our vegetables in the associate gardens, the shrubs and perennials in our campus beds, and for all of the wildflowers in our prairies. The hives are located in an area that is hidden and away from associate traffic. Undisturbed, the bees go about their business undetected. How cool?!

Another great perk of working at West Bend is the associate garden plots. For only $25 associates can plan, beautiful, organic gardens. The gardens are looking great this year!

Our landscape renovation plan includes major changes inside the circle drive at the main front entrance. Specifically, the large copper beech tree and the metal burr oak tree have been relocated
and will be replaced with flower beds and lower vegetation. 

Relocating a mature tree is a major undertaking. We contracted with a landscape firm that specializes in this activity. Late in the fall, the ground at the base of the tree was covered with straw to prevent it from freezing. As temperatures dropped, the root ball was excavated, wrapped, and allowed to freeze solid. A mammoth 66,000-pound front-end loader was then used to lift and move the 18,000-pound tree and root ball.

The copper beech tree was originally planted in honor of Rocky Dedrick. The metal oak tree is a sculpture commemorating West Bend’s reaching $1 billion in assets in 2003. The tree and the sculpture have been relocated as features of the newly established Dedrick Prairie.