We Are There...

Life moves quickly, almost too quickly sometimes.  We get wrapped up in our day to day activities we barely have time to plan ahead and even less time to stop for a moment and remember those people that are important in our lives.  We work with people and organizations all of the time to place a memory point in time, a thank you of sorts, through our engraved products.  Whether it is a matter of raising money for future growth, saying thank you to those who supported our cause to remembering a loved one, Polar Engraving provides you the way to say "we are there."

Etched In

One might say Patrick Calman’s future is etched in stone.... or glass, or wood or nearly any surface, including that of a wine bottle.

The owner of Polar Engraving, Calman was hired to etch special magnum bottles of wine for the upcoming Naples Winter Wine Festival, while not disturbing the vintage contents within. These magnum bottles will be presented during the festival, Feb. 6-8. The prestigious event has raised more than $69 million for local children’s’ charities since it’s inception in 2001.

Calman and his wife Regine Korn launched their engraving business four years ago, specializing in fundraiser bricks and pavers for groups. His work for the wine festival varies from engraved bottles of wine to engraved wraps for wine bottles. The artwork for this year’s engraved wrap was approved by Chef Henry Heng, of the Ritz Carlton Golf Resort. This year’s theme, “Dreams Do Come True,” will draw wine aficionados from all over the world to take part in auctions, wine tastings, tours of local charities and private dinner parties in upscale homes of Naples. Past auctions drew bids of up to a million dollars on top wine lots.

A true Frenchman, Calman knows he must protect the wine by wrapping it many times before engraving each bottle.

“One sixteenth of an inch can make a difference in the flavor of the wine,” he explains. “I protect it by wrapping it a hundred times in plastic. I also add gold leaf. It is one of the most difficult things to do.”

Calman also specializes in memorial and fundraiser pavers and bricks for groups such as Friends of Barefoot Beach, Florida A and M University and the Children’s Garden of Hope and Courage, located behind Naples Community Hospital.

He says the most dubious item he has engraved was for Kraft Construction headquarters on Pine Ridge Road, where the company placed 8 x 8 pavers for each of its employees.

“I asked the owner, ‘What they do if they lay people off?” he chuckled. “Take your brick and leave?’ ”

For more information on the Naples Winter Wine Festival go to http://www.napleswinefestival.com/. To learn more about Polar Engraving go to www.polarengraving.com.