Slip ‘n’ Slides Galore
Did you know that Mokena is a name derived from a Native American language meaning “mud turtle”? According to the Wikipedia, that is exactly what it means. We learned this when Sky Bergeson, the Mokena Chamber president, was telling us about the event the Chamber was planning. Their hopes – to have a mud turtle race. Before we even had the chance to question his thinking, he further explained that they were going to sell “turtles” (plastic toys) to people and then “release” them onto a slip ‘n’ slide so they could “race” to the finish line.
You may remember last summer, we had someone looking for a larger slip ‘n’ slide for the graduation party they were having. We wrote about it on our SPF site in a blog titled Work Can Be Fun Too! and how much fun we had making it. So naturally we offered to help Skye.
After discussing the final plans for the race and the vision he had for it, we designed the Chamber’s slide. Since we have many options with our suppliers, we were able to offer many choices of color and thicknesses to the Chamber. We also had the benefit of us making it for them, so we were able to customize it to their specific needs.
The final product was exactly what was needed. On May 5, 2018 the Mokena Chamber began the tradition with their 1st Annual Mud Turtle Race! The festivities and the excitement of the race were enjoyed by all! The Chamber has more photos you can view at https://mokenachamber.smugmug.com/2018-Galleries/1st-Annual-Mud-Turtle-Race/
While talking about the Mokena Chamber race slide to a group, we had another interested party. The Fox Valley Christian Action group was looking for something similar for their summer campers to use. Without hesitation, we signed up for that project!
The design they had in mind was to make the slide wide enough for two people, and at least one hundred twenty feet long. They had the idea to put PVC piping with holes in it over the slide in two spots along the length to create a waterfall effect and keep the slide wet continuously. It sure seemed to work well based on the pictures they showed us!
It certainly makes us here at SPF happy that we can take our forty years of experience working with flexible plastics to create not only custom fabrications for the industrial setting, but these fun custom items for other groups as well. In fact, it was our knowledge and experience with secondary containment and floor liners that made it a little easier to perfect the slip ‘n’ slides.
Many companies have to protect their floors from accidental spillage from their tanks or machinery. In order to do that, they require a liner on the floor. But in some instances, it’s easier to have an inflatable liner that they can move at will, and add or remove air in the chamber to help the liner to adapt to the area it needs to be in. And that is what makes the slip ‘n’ slide and the floor liners so similar!
With all the similarities and potential cross-over that we have seen in the last forty years of servicing multiple industries, it certainly makes the future a little more exciting for our company! Who knows what we will be making next? Maybe it’s an idea you have? Call us today with an email or call 708-479-5501!