Cen-trif-u-gal

Eighth grade science class was not the highlight of my educational experience.  I’m sure that I could blame it on a hormonal imbalance, but the fact of the matter simply was, I did not enjoy the process.  Class, to me was boring, and lab, well, it was as “entertaining” as a group of middle school boys could make it.  I do, however, remember the discussion on centrifugal force, but little did I know the impact that science term would have on my world.

For those of you like me in the 8th grade, and ignorant to such terms.  A centrifugal force is the movement of, or being directed outward.  As opposed to a centripetal force, which is a movement towards the center.  Two very similar words, with completely opposite meanings.

As we close out another year at the Larson Family of Companies, 2011 is a classic example of both forces acting together to help us achieve another successful year of true customer service.  Outwardly (centrifugally speaking); what you see on the surface are the Larson employees helping hundreds of our customers recover from a devastating July windstorm.  Having been in business in Hutchinson since 1967, the number of previous customers impacted by mother nature’s fury was significant, and at times overwhelming.  Inwardly (centripetal); what you did not see on the surface, was a team of professionals bound together by a common goal…..a commitment to our friends, neighbors, and even relatives to help right their world as quickly as we could.  The task was overwhelming, and at times seemed terminal.  However, those forces from 8th grade science kept us going, and kept us going in the right directions.

A journey of 10,000 miles starts with one step, and that is exactly how our team responded; one step at a time.  As the month of December winds to a close, it is time to say thank you.  Thank you to our customers, our employees, their families and the unlimited amount of sacrifice that they gave, and lastly to Mrs. Elwood, that middle school science teacher who had no idea the impact of a simple science experiment and the affect it would have on a young, naive, Iowa farm boy.