A welcome project

When the Coal City Area Club needed a new welcome sign it turned to industrial arts students at Coal City High School.

Last fall, the club’s recording secretary Georgette Vota reached out to industrial arts instructor Adam Macholz to inquire if his students could recreate the original green sign located at the club entrance. His answer was, “yes.”

The project—funded by the Coal City Area Club—was scheduled for the spring semester.

Instead of using all wood materials that deteriorate over time, Macholz went with a PVC material that would last longer.

An exact replica of the sign was created by the teacher and students working from a photograph supplied by the club.

Students Wyatt Koehn and Drake Haden were the ones recreating the sign as part of their class work.

Materials were ordered in February and work commenced shortly thereafter. By April, all of the letters were cut out using a CNC machine and cleaned with a bandsaw and sanders.

“A tedious process since they have to be very careful not to damage the letters,” Macholz said.

Once all the letters were ready, the students attached those to the backing board and then started carving the posts.

The sign was then secured to the posts and was prepared to transport to the area club.

Area club personnel picked up the new sign in early June and it was installed at the club entrance the week of June 19.

“These boys should be very proud of their work since this sign will welcome club members for may years to come,” Vota said.