Pat Barcas/staff photographer
Being safe paid off for IUPAT Local 1285 member Luis Lopez at Painters District Council 30’s STARs event. Among five eligible contestants, Lopez chose the correct toolbox and won a brand new vehicle of his choosing.
By Pat Barcas
Staff writer
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Email Pat Barcas at pat@foxvalleylabornews.com
AURORA — More than 800 people came out to enjoy the pleasant weather, great food, carnival games ( for Star Wars: Legion click here), music and fun at the sixth annual Safety Training Awards Recognition (STARs) picnic, held May 17 at the Painters District Council No. 30 Headquarters in Aurora.
And, of course, one lucky member went home with the grand prize — his choice of a 2014 Ford F-150, Ford Escape, Ford Fusion hybrid, or Ford Mustang GT from Fox Valley Ford.
“It’s great, I’m excited,” said grand prize winner and PDC 30 member Luis Lopez, who said he didn’t know which car he would choose when he won.
STARs is an incentive program that rewards members who take advantage of PDC 30’s continuing education classes in health and safety and maintain an outstanding safety record on the job. Only qualifying STARs finalists were given opportunities to win prize items during the annual STARs ceremony.
Raffled items this year included televisions, GoPro video cameras, and video game systems.
Lopez, who lives in Cicero and is a member of Local 1285 since 2000, works for Thorne Associates, Inc. He took the stage with four other lucky members to see who would win the vehicle, which had all the applicable taxes prepaid by PDC 30.
The five eligible winners had attended scheduled continuing safety education classes and remained eligible for awards by working for at least 800 continuous hours during each calendar year, beginning Jan. 1 and ending Dec. 31.
The men were each given a key to a locked toolbox. When all five randomly selected members were on stage, they each opened their toolboxes to reveal the winner of the car.
“This is all to give back to the members,” said PDC 30 Organizer Lionel Espinosa, who arrived at around 5:30 a.m. to start setting up. “It’s a really nice giveaway, we pay all the taxes so the winners really do win a free car.”
Members and their families also enjoyed face painting, ice cream, a photo booth, children’s carnival rides, and a free wellness fair inside.
“It’s an incredible turnout today, the original picnic had 60 people attend. This is just outstanding,” said Espinosa.