FAST sculpts a niche in the industry

Photo courtesy of Fiberglass Animals, Shapes and Trademarks Inc.

There’s nothing like a giant flamingo, enormous musky or pumped-up pumpkin to catch the eyes of passersby.

Gargantuan roadside art is a domain familiar to Fiberglass Animals, Shapes and Trademarks Inc., Sparta. The company’s team of 20 people produces about 150 fiberglass sculptures a year — some are high school mascots, others are lawn art for businesses, and many are slides and playthings for waterparks.

FAST’s creations are found worldwide, owner Jeff Schauf said. Just this spring a fiberglass pirate ship set sail from Sparta to Korea, where it will entertain water-loving children.

“We build everything to order,” Schauf said. “We have molds for all our features, but we customize them.”

Schauf bought the business in 2000 from friend Jerry Vettrus, who founded the company in 1983. Vettrus remains on board as an artist.

And artists and people with creative streaks are a must for the company, which often creates pieces unlike any other.

“Unusual is normal in our business,” Schauf said. “We get challenges, but we overcome them.”

The company claims credit for a 12-foot-tall, anatomically correct, human heart slide at Children’s Museum in Appleton and the 145-foot-long musky that offers Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame visitors a scenic view of Hayward from the fish’s gaping jaws.

In June, a 30-foot-tall Paul Bunyan rested in FAST’s yard looking sad, just as his designer wanted. The piece was custom ordered by a professor of art at the University of Illinois-Chicago, and it will be shipped to Illinois for permanent display.

Many FAST sculptures become regional icons, bringing the company a level of fame. But its waterpark work makes the biggest revenue splash, Schauf said.

The FAST catalog sports hundreds of water features, the most popular of which is the frog slide.

In some instances, unique displays can be created by combining existing elements, but in other cases, the features are designed from scratch, using foam, clay or plaster models, Schauf said.

It can take the company from five days to several months to complete an order. Paul Bunyan was in the works for more than a year, Schauf said.

- Jennifer Pfaff

Karla Petges, a soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, samples soil and completes field tests in Juneau County. Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS

A dirty business

Go ahead and get a little dirty this summer.

After all, Gov. Jim Doyle proclaimed 2006 the Year of Soil, honoring a natural resource seldom given its due.

Prompting the celebration is the completion of the Wisconsin Soil Survey. That survey maps every inch of Wisconsin’s soil, and the information is available for free, said Carl Wacker, an assistant state soil scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The survey uses the data in innovative ways. Web users can download soil maps that coordinate with a Global Positioning System unit. In essence, the soil map can be overlaid on a photo of the land, showing soil conditions at locations throughout the site, Wacker said.

To make use of the soil data, visit www.soils.usda.gov. The “soil data mart” link is the main source for soil information. It includes spatial and tabular data for the survey, Wacker said.

Select the “web soil survey” link to choose an area up to 10,000 acres and create a thematic map.

- Jennifer Pfaff