My Company...AP ltd.

AP ltd. http://www.apltd.com/ is a brand image and strategy design firm. We provide a complete range of branding services to energize your brand image with communication tools that encompass advertising, Internet development and multimedia.

What that means is that we help our customers focus in on who they are and then create communication tools that present that brand image to their various target markets. At AP ltd., we have been working with our customers and their brand image for nearly 30 years. We started as a print advertising agency in 1978 and added multimedia services in the mid 80's. Then, in 1994 we added Internet capabilities.

Today, online promotions and public relations are augmented with traditional print literature, ads, public relations techniques and multimedia to create a company's desired brand image and an environment where their promotions can reach their fullest potential.

On the Internet, AP ltd. has been helping companies work more closely with their customers, prospects and employees through the creation of custom programs that enhance relationships and increase ROI. The applications we develop are sensibly priced and customizable to fit a customer's specific business needs. And, since these applications are Internet based, there is no expensive equipment to buy or need for additional in-house technical support.

Online or through traditional media, our nearly 30 years of advertising and promotional expertise has taught us how to reach out to individuals in various marketplaces and appeal to them on a personal level. As importantly, we work very closely with our customers. They trust us and depend on us to help them with their current and future brand image needs.

I love fishing. Not the way my friend Phil loves fishing. He lives to fish. I just enjoy fishing. I always get out for one trip every year sometimes I'm able to go out for an additional day trip. My annual trip is up to Northern Wisconsin to a little town called Cable. It's about a half an hour north of Hayward.

I've been going to this area for about 23 years now. I was first introduced to the area by my ex-wife Lore when we were dating. We went up there with her parents and her twin sister. Once their parents were older we started going up with just the three of us. My wife's sister and I became fishing buddies while my wife just enjoyed the solitude.When we first started going north we fished on a much larger lake than we do now... Lake Namekagon.

At the time it was a well rounded fishing lake with a wide variety of fish. The water is stained and can get very rough. In my opinion, they've ruined the lake now by turning into strictly a muskie lake. I enjoy fishing for muskie, but that is not the only fish I want to catch.

To show you how important fishing is in my life, I've been divorced now for over two years and separated for three years prior to that. And, we still go. It's not that my ex-wife and I still have any feelings for each other it's just the fishing trip. The first year we skipped it and it nearly killed us. We tried to go separately the second year. I couldn't find anyone that could/wanted to go and my ex could only find her sister and a friend. The one stuck was my ex-sister in law because she lost her fishing partner. The following year we made the decision to try the old group...my ex, my ex-sister in law, my daughter and me. We found that as long as money wasn't discussed we were fine.

So for the last three years now I've been back to being able to take my trip with few problems. My ex-sister in law, Leona, and I are extremely compatible when it comes to fishing. We both like morning fishing when the sun is just coming up and the birds and animals are wandering around without the fear of running into humans.

As much as the fishing we enjoy seeing the deer, otters, loons and especially the eagles. Last year we saw a better fisher person than we could ever hope to be. We saw an eagle swoop down right in front of us, stick his claws in the water and pull up a fish. We also saw a family of otters, eight in all, playing along the bank. We stopped fishing for a while at that point and just watched.

For me, though, the main reason for the trip is the fishing. The lake, Lake Owen, is not a great fishing lake. It is a good one though. The lake is clear. You can see 15 feet down easily which makes fishing a challenge. You can see the fish, but they can also see you.

We get a lot of bass, some northern and a few walleye. There are some trophy size northern and walleye in the lake, but we would rather catch a few good size ones rather than wait all day for the big one. The bass you see in this article were caught in July of 2004. In 2004, we had a great year for bass. They were all around 16 inches and feisty. This year was good, but the size wasn't there. Most of our bass were around 14 inches.

We can also have all of the pan fish we want. There is a bay that is so full of crappie, blue gills and perch that you have trouble getting your hook in the water before all the little ones jump on your hook. We go there later in the morning when the big ones have stopped biting.

When the trip is over we always come back with enough frozen fish for about two or three fish fries. No, I am not a catch and release person. I enjoy eating fish and as long as we are eating what we keep I am alright with keeping my catch. I don't think I would ever mount a fish. That seems like a waste and frankly I don't have anywhere to put the fish up in my house. To date, though, I haven't had to make to make a mount or not to mount decision, but like all fisher people...hope springs eternal.

Why wouldn't anyone want to become a Jaycee? As a Jaycee you are involved in your community, have friends, get to help people and have the opportunity to improve your career.

I've been a Jaycee for almost 15 years. My only regret is that I didn't join earlier. I joined when I was 35 years old so I only had five years as an active Jaycee. Since I am now 51 years old. I have been an over age Jaycee or, in Jaycee lingo, a rooster for 16 years. Man, I've been a rooster three times longer than I have been a Jaycee.

Why do I stick around? In what other organization can you have so much fun and help people at the same time? I'll never forget a Jaycee meeting at the end of my first year as a Jaycee. At the end of a Jaycee fiscal year, all of the money that they make less chapter expenses is given back to the community.

At this meeting my chapter, the Palatine Jaycees, gave back $25,000.00 to the community. No less than a dozen community groups and individuals showed up at this meeting to collect their checks. I have never seen so many tears and thanks in my life.

And fun, Palatine has over two hundred members. I can't walk into a grocery store without running into a Jaycee. My current circle of friends are Jaycees. Besides Jaycee events, I play on a pool league with Jaycees, I go to Bear games with Jaycees and most of the parties I go to are with Jaycees.

The Palatine Jaycees' biggest event each year is our Fourth of July Festival. The festival is four or five days of uninterrupted madness. Eighty percent of the chapter members are involved and we go from early in the morning to very late at night. We run the whole festival from the music to the fireworks. It's extremely intense, but I wouldn't miss it for the world. It's that much fun.

One of the areas that the Jaycees are structured for is leadership training. In the Jaycees, leadership training is more than becoming an officer, although that is training in itself. Every project that is run requires a P & L statement, manpower and planning. Can you imagine putting Palatine's Fourth of July festival on your resume? "I was chairperson of a project with over a $100,000.00 budget, coordinated manpower for 160 volunteers and generated XXXXX profit
for the chapter." That is the kind of job skill that most employers would kill for.

The Jaycees are extremely important to my career even today. I currently am the Public Relations Director for the Illinois Jaycees. As PR Director I work with the chapters throughout the state teaching PR and I write quite a few releases. Writing releases on a regular basis keeps your writing skills sharp which is important in my business. Plus I am developing quite a few press contacts which will also help me in my career.

In fact my business, AP ltd. would not be the company it is today without the Jaycees. Ten years ago I met a guy at one of the meetings that asked me if my company would be interested in working with him in developing Internet sites. Thanks to that meeting our company now thrives as a leading developer of Internet sites.

Friends, career and personal enrichment...what else can you ask from an organization? I can't imagine what my life would have been without the Jaycees. My life is that closely tied to the Jaycees. I'll ask again. Why wouldn't anyone want to become a Jaycees?