May
2002
Spotlight
on: Karl Weidel Incorporated
Look to Bob Applegate and staff for insurance needs
By
Joe Emanski
Bob
Applegate may live in Lawrenceville now, but he was born and raised
in the City of Trenton. The 62-year old owner of Karl Weidel Incorporated,
an independent insurance agency located at 23 South Warren Street,
grew up in the western part of Stuyvesant Avenue, across from
Cadwalader Park. Today, he's in his forty-first year with the
company.
Along the way he's attended the Pennington School and Rider University
and become a well-known figure to Trenton's long-time residents,
employers and workers.
"My
father was in the business. I worked for him for a couple of years,"
says Mr. Applegate of his initiation into the insurance business.
"Karl Weidel was started in 1915 by Karl Weidel, Jr. It was
located initially on State Street-for old-time Trenton people,
it was on the Dunham's block, between Broad and Warren, above
Child's Restaurant.
"Then
it moved to 25 South Warren, I believe sometime in the early fifties.
Three or four years ago we moved from 25 to 23. That's not a lot
of moves in all those years-though there may have been a lot of
moves between 1915 and the 1950s, that I'm not aware of."
Weidel
provides insurance services for business and industry, as well
as personal property and casualty insurance. They serve the business
owner, the factory owner, or the individual buying auto or homeowner's
insurance.
"We
represent a number of different insurance companies, which enables
us to be able to shop the insurance to a number of companies for
the best insurance and price," says Mr. Applegate.
In
1986 he bought the company, which today has a staff of five.
In
addition to his role as president of the company, Mr. Applegate
is heavily involved in the community. He is very active in the
Trenton Rotary Club, where he is on the board of directors and
is a former treasurer.
He
is also on the board of directors of the Trenton Downtown Association.
In his spare time he enjoys his membership at the Hopewell Valley
Golf Club, where he has a 14 handicap.
Mr.
Applegate and his wife, Linda, who retired this year as the director
of alumni affairs at Westminster Choir College, recently celebrated
their thirtieth wedding anniversary at Diamonds in Trenton. He
lists Amici Milano as another favorite restaurant, though he certainly
does not limit his enthusiasm for Trenton cuisine to those two.
He recently enjoyed a meal at the Lafayette Yard Marriott Conference
Hotel, which he deemed "a really beautiful place."
Bob
Applegate is a fan of Trenton through and through. No one should
be surprised to see him rooting on Trenton's athletic teams.
"I
thoroughly enjoy the Sovereign Bank Arena," he says. "My
wife and I are hockey fans. I'm getting too old for that rock
and roll, but for sports, it's great. And Waterfront Park is a
great success. I'm a sports enthusiast, so I love to see that."
