Two-Color Press Arrives

Thank you to all who made the two-color press possible. The truck pulled in about lunch time today, October 28. This is definitely a reason for Thanksgiving. Staff members have prayed for this day.  A number of us are snapping pictures and want to share the excitement with you. Thank you so very much!

Printing Efficiency Improves for Large-Print Magazines

Replacement Press Arrives –Thanks to Many Donors

Thanksgiving came several days early at Christian Record Services for the Blind.

Answering prayers and filling a crucial need, a two-color offset press arrived on October 28, thanks to an anonymous group of generous donors who purchased it and presented it to Christian Record as a gift-in-kind.

Although not new, the German-built 1980 Miller TP-32 two-color perfector press has low usage and was well maintained at its previous location in Great Bend, Kansas, where it was viewed and tested.. 

“Because it can print two colors at the same time, two sides in one pass, it can print what has been taking a week in just one day,” says Russ Thomas, production manager, with a big grin on his face.

For more than two decades a Sakurai two-color offset press was at the heart of Christian Record’s production department. Before wearing out beyond use, it produced millions of pages for countless books, magazines, brochures, and documents. Repairs would have cost at least four times what it was worth, according to Thomas..

Because Christian Record Services expends as much of its budget as possible directly on programs and services for the blind, it had not built up reserves to meet an emergency of this magnitude.

That’s when someone stepped up to the plate and personally spearheaded a fundraising drive, contacting a number of friends and relatives and other generous people. With the cooperation of an area church as collection point, the $20,000 to purchase it and the $17,000 to ship and reinstall it came in from scores of donors.

For small print jobs, a Konica Minolta bizhub color printer helped fill the gap after the old press quit. And so did an ancient, slow, one-color Miehle press (when it was operational) that served as back-up. A page with full color on both sides had to pass through the Miehle press eight times!

The Miller TP-32 can be expected to give Christian Record seven to ten years of dependable service, with the hope of purchasing a newer press in the future as funding becomes available.

Many of the printed materials produced by Christian Record are in extra-large-print for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of sight-impaired readers. Public education, program services, and fundraising materials are also printed to meet those needs.

Christian Record Services for the Blind has been providing free Christian publications for adults and youth with visual impairments for more than 100 years. In 1899 a blind young man in his early twenties convinced a group of Christians to help him publish a monthly journal for those who could not read printed pages. The Christian Record was born, a name that has persisted now for 110 years, even as services and programs have expanded and shifted.