Murrysville Cleaners offers a helping
hand for Homecoming
The kids at Franklin Regional High
School in Pennsylvania knew they’d enjoy their Homecoming
Dance this year. They also knew that other schools located in
the Gulf Coast region hit by Hurricane Katrina might not be
able to experience one for themselves — at least, not
without help.
So, Franklin students decided to
help D’Iberville High School near Biloxi, MI, by donating
their Homecoming dresses to them once the formal dancing event
was over.
Of course, they still needed
somebody to clean them all.
“We got a phone call from the
local high school and they were asking if, first of all, we
could do the dresses, and then what we would charge them to do
the dresses,” said Dave Beatty, owner of Murrysville
Cleaners in Murrysville, PA. “I guess they were figuring
if they had several hundred dresses that maybe they could get a
little better price than the regular price on a
gown.”
Instead of a discount, Beatty
decided to offer his company’s services for free. Since
then, his plant has cleaned 633 formal gowns, which cost more
than an estimated $11,000 altogether.
“We actually cut it off
because of the time element where they are leaving early next
week,” Beatty added. “They have to take some time
and let everybody pick what they want.”
The big project was made a lot
easier since Beatty’s own employees have all generously
donated their time for the project. Plant manager Jamie Tiani
has also given a lot of effort to make sure the dresses get
done right... and on time.
“When something like this
comes up, you find out how good your people are,” Beatty
noted.
It didn’t hurt matters either
that Beatty and Tiani attended a Fran Sadler seminar in
Pittsburgh only a month ago. One subject in the session was the
processing of fancy gowns.
Then, there is the fact that Beatty
purchased a lot of new equipment at the last Clean Show in
Orlando recently, which made it possible for Murrysville
Cleaners to handle so many dresses during their busy season.
“We just remodeled our plant
this past year, so we’re ready to rock-n-roll-now,”
Beatty explained “A year ago, if they would have come to
us with this project, we would have respectably had to
decline.”
Achin teaches spotting in W.
Virginia
The West Virginia Dry Cleaners and
Launderers Association will be working in conjunction with the
E.J. Thomas Company in order to bring a Laidlaw spotting class
to West Virginia.
The class will be held on Wednesday
and Thursday, November 16-17, from 7 to 9 p.m. each night.
It is designed to help cleaners of
any experience level, basic or advanced. Basically, it is ideal
for anybody who simply wants to become a better spotter.
Instructor Mike Achin, who is
director of chemical products for Laidlaw, will follow a
hands-on format. Attendees will learn how to use digesters, how
not to set stains, and how to properly use spotting chemicals.
He will also divulge many tricks
that will save cleaners time and help them avoid costly claims.
The course is highly recommended
for anybody who plans on taking the spotting test in
IFI’s Award of Excellence Program.
For more information, contact Ed Share
of Laidlaw at (440) 241-8628 or e-mail Mike Achin at: machin@laidlawcorp.com.
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