Stephen Lathrop experienced awe while looking up at the 2,000-year-old Roman Colosseum earlier this month.
"Of course, there's nothing nearly that old in America," said the 23-year-old Newton man.
"It was then that I realized that we really were half way around the world."
Lathrop was among about 40 employees at the Poppelmann Plastics USA plant here who flew to Rome on Sept. 2 as part of a trip celebrating parent company Poppelmann's 60th anniversary.
Including employees' guests, the Catawba County group totaled nearly 80 people.
Festivities during the three-day celebration included guided tours of Rome, an extravagant dinner party with fireworks and a special Holy Mass at the 383-year-old St. Peter's Basilica.
The Poppelmann entourage included more than 2,000 employees and their guests from company locations in Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Denmark.
Germany-based Poppelmann picked up nearly all of the tab. Employees in Claremont paid $100 each for the trip, while spouses and other guests paid $200 each.
Most Catawba County participants had never ventured outside the United States.
It was Lardena Kennedy's first time on a plane.
"I was a little nervous, but it was worth it," said the 44-year-old Conover woman.
"They treated us like royalty, and I had a fantastic time."
Wendy Renegar was especially impressed with St. Peter's Basilica, located within the Vatican City.
Holding 60,000 people, the symbolic "mother church" of the Catholic Church is regarded as one of the holiest of all Christian sites.
"It's a very spiritual place, you could feel that clearly," said Renegar, a 45-year-old Catawba resident.
Renegar and Lorraine Kordoski were among local Poppelmann employees who participated in an optional two-day trip to Germany. The side trip included tours of three Poppelmann plants.
"Every detail of both trips was meticulously thought out," said Kordoski, a 49-year-old Catawba resident who has traveled to Europe before.
"The planning that went into this was incredible."
Such attention to detail — and generosity toward employees — are typical of the company, said Jack Shelton, Poppelmann Plastics USA's president.
Shelton recalled how five years ago, Poppelmann brought 1,900 people to Germany for a sit-down dinner in honor of Gertrud Poppelmann's 80th birthday.
The sole stockholder of the Poppelmann Group died on April 18, 2009, at the age of 84.
The Rome trip was intended to be a dual celebration of her 85th birthday and the company's 60th anniversary.
In 1953, Gertrud Poppelmann joined the company that her husband Josef Poppelmann had founded in 1949. After his death in 1983, she continued the company as managing director together with her brother-in-law Karl-Heinz Diekmann. In 1997 she moved from management to the advisory board of the company and remained a member until her death.
The 1,400-employee Poppelmann Group develops and manufactures high-tech plastic products for customers in more than 70 countries worldwide.
It has plants in Germany, France and Claremont, and is considered one of the leading enterprises in the plastics processing industry in Europe.
Since 2007, Poppelmann Plastics USA has manufactured the horticultural products of its TEKU division in Claremont.
The Claremont complex doubled in size with the recent addition of an $8 million, 55,000-square-foot warehouse.
The new warehouse is the second building in a master plan for what will be a multi-operational complex on the company's 27-acre site, Shelton said.
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