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| Monument Builders of North America is THE voice of memorialists in North America and around the world, continuing to serve members for the betterment of their customers. |
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Memorialization is the art of commemorating the lives of those loved |
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NEWS AND EVENTS2007 MBNA Aspire Awards Announced MBNA’s Aspire Awards were created to recognize monument builder companies that have drawn favorable attention to their companies, and in turn, to the industry through their specialized marketing and/or public relations campaigns. Award entries were called for in mid-November 2007, and the Association had an excellent variety of projects submitted. Out of all the entries received, five stood out significantly with three earning Aspire Awards and two honorable mentions. An honorable mention award was presented to Eternal Art Monument Company of Boscobel, Wisconsin, a relatively new member of MBNA. The company branched out from a 20 year-old sign company operated by the husband-wife couple. The wife, Lorinda Larson Dull, who submitted the entry, had worked for another monument builder company for 10 years designing, selling and doing high detail etching. Therefore, the two collaborated on their professional design experience in launching their new business. What the judging committee particularly liked was Eternal Art’s practice of taking their designs to the public. Through the use of full-scale color stand-ups (that they call “monulites”), they easily transport the conceptualized monuments to trade shows, fairs, meetings, people’s homes and cemeteries so that members of the general public can visualize what a finished monument would look like. When bidding on a local veteran’s memorial, the two created a miniature scale model that won them the contract. They’ve received extra mileage from the model because photos have been taken of it and published in subsequent newspaper ads and articles concerning the memorial in progress. For individual customers, Eternal Art helps them come to design decisions through the use of 8x10 photographs to show how a particular design and type of granite will look on the customer’s lot in the cemetery. MBNA applauds Eternal Art for effectively proving that seeing is believing. MBNA is also proud to present an honorable mention award to Oregon Memorials, represented by Lee Neilsen. Thanks (or not) to eBay and other sites like it, the Internet is having an impact on the way monument builders do business. When used properly and in a professional manner, the Internet can provide far-ranging opportunities for those in the profession. More monument builders are realizing this and are creating their own Web sites in order to capitalize on the fact that people look to the Internet as an information source. Oregon Memorials, a wholesale only memorial dealer, found that its customers (cemeteries and funeral homes) were moving to computerized service for their families. Wanting to stay ahead of the curve, they selected a web design firm to build its Web site. The company interviewed many of their customers, researched the marketplace and even attended the ICCFA International Conference. The result is an award-winning, partners only system (the customers are the only ones who have access to their monument builder) that is an easy to use resource for showing options and building the value of memorializing in granite. Oregon Memorials didn’t stop there. A portion of their site puts customers in touch with their columbaria designer. Oregon Memorials says the response from its customer base to its new Web site has been great. They have seen a marked increase in their reach all across the country, where previously their impact remained primarily in northwest and northern California. But, that’s not all: The company entered an international competition for business branding on a Web site. They were placed in competition against the Web sites of IBM, DHL, Kodak, MasterCard, FUJIFILM, Verizon Wireless, the US Postal Service, GE and others and came in second place for an international B2B Ace Award. Winning this award gained them even more PR exposure. MBNA applauds Oregon Memorials for venturing out into a new promotional area and for researching it properly to do it right. The Monument Builders of North America presented Muir’s Marble Works with a 2007 Aspire Award. Muir’s Marble Works in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, Canada gives us an excellent example of how a monument builder company supports its community. Ed Howlett is the only Certified Memorialist in Atlantic Canada. His family business has served Newfoundland for more than 165 years. In addition to tasteful print advertising in local publications, Muir’s Marble Works presents the community it serves with items that are emblematic of the monument building industry: such as, donating a $1,300 plaque to mark the 100th anniversary of a local cemetery; donating 50 sets of granite bookends to schools, charities, sports groups and fundraisers; and donating a granite tale to raise money for the Mount Pearl Swim Team Auction. Muir’s Marble Works has also recently donated two scholarships to a local school and purchased sweaters for the local hockey team. In addition, the company also makes monetary donations to local organizations, such as the Last Post Fund (a veterans group), the Spina Bifida Association, and the Cancer Care Foundation. MBNA applauds Muir’s Marble Works for emphasizing its history of service to the community, and for proving its stake in its community’s well being and future. A 2007 Aspire Award was also presented to Woodlawn Memorials, Inc., represented by David DeFilippo. No stranger to MBNA’s Aspire Awards, Woodlawn Memorials received an honorable mention award in the 2006 awards program. While MBNA can’t verify it 100 percent, Woodlawn Memorials may be the only company in North America to design a memorial and then have it become so popular with the community that the memorial was placed on a t-shirt. David DeFilippo of Woodlawn Memorials in Everett, Massachusetts was contacted by a Lynn Massachusetts’ firefighter to submit a design and bid for the city’s firefighter memorial. The Lynn Fire Department wanted a memorial that was personalized to the City of Lynn. Working with a local firefighter, DeFilippo incorporated into the memorial an etching of a photo obtained from the historical society of the “Great Lynn Fire of 1981”. The design struck a chord with the citizens and firefighters, and, as a result, it was soon placed on a t-shirt. More than 1,000 t-shirts have been sold, with $2 from each sale going to benefit the families of fallen firefighters. The Daily Item Newspaper, which is circulated to nine area cities and towns, did a story on the memorial. DeFilippo says the impact on his business has been huge. Families have come into his studio to ask him to do a memorial because they are either a family member or friend of a Lynn firefighter, or they have read about or seen the firefighters’ memorial. MBNA applauds Woodlawn Memorials for doing precisely what memorialists are supposed to do; listen to the client and personalize the memorial. The unexpected publicity this particular memorial generated can’t normally be expected, but it was the frosting on the cake for community service. The third recipient of a 2007 Aspire award is Anderson Memorials, Inc. The owners of this monument builder company, which dates back to the 1870s, have discovered that bringing art to the community has brought recognition and business back to them many times over. Jeff Anderson, CM, of Anderson Memorials in Austin, Minnesota holds a graduate degree in commercial art, sculpture and design, and his design philosophy is to create a monument for a perfect stranger as though that person were his best friend. Profiled in the spring 2007 issue of Southern Minnesota Magazine, Jeff is quoted a saying that “Memorials should be as unique as the people they represent. The things we do become landmarks”. Much of his work is done in bronze. Last December, he and his wife Renee playfully put Santa caps on a bronze statuary display outside their shop. This captured the attention of their local newspaper, which featured a photo of the display on its front page, then later used the photo to get more subscribers. But not just one thing caught the public’s attention in 2007; it was a number of things. Anderson Memorials donated a bronze sculpture of a little boy and girl, “Come Sit with Us”, to a local playground; it designed, produced and donated a percentage of the cost for a bronze statue for a feature in the baby section of a cemetery; it was one of the sponsors for an area high school art show, and it helped sponsor a concert for a teenager who died in a car accident. Anderson Memorials is currently working on two veterans’ memorials, and Jeff has been interviewed by a television station for updates on the projects. In addition, an organization contracted with the company to produce more than 500 markers to be placed on the unmarked graves of those who died in mental institutions. Naturally, this project has garnered considerable public attention. A number of articles have been published about it, and one newspaper sent a photographer to Anderson Memorials to photograph the work in progress on the memorials. MBNA applauds Anderson Memorials for its outreach in bringing art to the community, and for the care it takes in creating all memorials—large and small. Congratulations to all who entered the 2007 Aspire Awards program. |
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