Recycling has become routine for us at wvawards.com. The Eugene/Springfield area, located in western Oregon, has always been environmentally conscious and the area has convenient recycling centers for our three biggest “waste” products, which are cardboard, plastic bags, and newspapers, which come as packaging from our suppliers. Others materials we need to recycle are packing peanuts, metal and plastic scraps, old catalogues, office paper, and occasionally, glass and acrylic pieces. Over time, we have gotten more efficient at reusing and recycling items, and our suppliers have improved the packaging so there is less waste.

The 3 biggest waste products are fairly easy to reuse or recycle. Newspapers are reused in shipping orders out to customers, the excess goes to the local Eugene Mission who has drop boxes all over the Eugene/Springfield area. Many of the cardboard boxes that our products come in, can be used to hold customers orders. Excess boxes are broken down and taken to one of two convenient recycling centers we have near by. They are Bring Recycling and Rexius Forest Products. Rexius Forest Products sets a wonderful example for businesses to recycle and protect the environment. They have drop boxes for a variety of recyclables. Most of our plaques, and trophy parts, come in plastic bags, so we have lots of them, and in many sizes. Some we reuse for customer products, but the rest go to the same recycling centers mentioned above.

Other waste products are in smaller quantities, so we don’t have to deal with them on a weekly basis, but can recycle them periodically. These include packing peanuts, which are either reused in shipping or donated to a local office supply place that gladly takes them. Metal and plastic scraps are mostly reusable, since we make a lot of small plates and labels. Office paper is accumulated in a 90 gallon plastic container and picked up when we have it full. Occasionally we have glass pieces that are damaged and those are recycled through the city pick up service. The few acrylic pieces that we discard, we have not found a source that will recycle them.

Another aspect of recycling has just begun in the awards industry. In very recent times, our suppliers are coming up with “Green” products. For example one supplier offers bamboo plaques. Bamboo is a “certified renewable resource,” so it is “the perfect award for environmentally conscious organizations.” Another supplier is offering plaques that are recycled wood from various sources. It’s great to see this happening in our industry.

Yet, another aspect of recycling is from the customer’s point of view: the accumulation of bowling trophies, or your children’s trophies over the years, for example. The good thing is that many people keep their awards for years, even a lifetime. But what do you do with old trophies, plaques and medals when you no longer want them? Some donation centers like Goodwill will take them. Occasionally you will find an awards shop that recycles them; you would need to call and ask. Some of these old awards can be used for humorous awards by putting a new engraved plate on them, and perhaps a new figure. Old plaques can be reused by replacing the old plate with a new plate, but I would advise caution. The old award should be in tip-top condition. Don’t insult your recipient with a dilapidated or outdated award. It can really spoil the awards event.

I must say a final good-by to a long time customer who passed away earlier this month (May 2009) of a heart attack. It will be brief and to the point, just as he was.

He came in the awards shop after Cross Country in the fall and Track & Field in the spring, always prepared with his typed list of top athletes receiving awards, and a box full of perpetual trophies and plaques to be engraved.

About 5 years ago, he came in looking very ill – he was so very thin – I knew something had to be terribly wrong. When I sincerely asked him how he was, he said “Fine!” rather gruffly. I never asked again about his health, although I learned later that he was fighting, and beating throat cancer.
It was interesting how much he told you without saying a lot. He was always upbeat about the athletes and always looking forward to more good seasons in the future. In more recent times, he would pay for the awards himself, noting only in passing, that the budget was tight.

And so, I salute you DeWayne Cantrall, for 33 years of teaching and coaching, for always being so positive, and for being a good person.

I still expect him to walk in the door to order his Track & Field awards. If I could ask him how he’s doing in the great beyond, he would say, “Fine!”

One of the featured products for this year is the Acrylic Floating Plaque. It features a classy combination of 1/4” thick acrylic, suspended above a beautiful piano finish plaque in your choice of black or rosewood. The rosewood piano finish plaque comes with gold hardware and the black piano finish with silver accessories.

The plaque is made so that it can stand on a desk or shelf with the use of gold or silver pegs attached to the lower back of the plaque. If you prefer, the plaque has keyhole slots so that it will hang either horizontally or vertically on the wall.

Acrylic Floating Plaque (Black)This Corporate award comes in 2 sizes: 8”x10” or 9”x12” and is priced competitively at $75. and $79. respectively, for either black or rosewood piano finish. The price includes the engraving and 1 logo.

The floating plaque is a very rich looking award, unique and beautiful.

Sky has played the euphonium since the sixth grade.  It is a large horn, the size of a small tuba, and I often wondered why he picked this big awkward instrument to play.  In the 8th grade he started taking lessons from a private music teacher named Todd Johnson.  Todd is a very patient teacher, who worked well with Sky.  Sky’s practice sessions were sporadic at best, and Todd would often express his wish that Sky would practice more.  At the time I had a “nagging” priority, with his school work coming first, so the euphonium practice did not always get as much attention as Todd wished.  Nevertheless, by Sky’s senior year, Todd was encouraging him to work on solo pieces, and his first solo, the Morceau Symphonique, came off with great success.

Todd now encouraged him to enter the high school District Solo and Ensemble Competition, held in February 2002.  Sky played the same piece, Morceau Symphonique and received a 1+ rating, which is about the equivalent of an A+.  This was the first that I realized how good he was.  I felt a bit guilty that I should have known earlier, how talented he was, and that I should have done more to help  promote his musical ability.

Next came the State Championships, April 2002, at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon.  Sky, Jim (my husband) and I made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Ashland, the evening before the competition and stayed at a motel.  Sky wanted piece of mind, knowing we only needed to go across town to the campus the next morning  instead of making a long drive from our home.

Sky had brought black dress slacks, a white long sleeved dress shirt and a tie to wear.  As Jim was helping him adjust his tie, Sky said that the tie was going to be too tight around his neck to be able to play well.    We did not urge him to wear it, knowing that playing well was the most important thing.  I was a bit concerned, however, that he would look too casually dressed, and that he might be docked for appearance. My concern rose to the anxiety level,  when we arrived at the Southern Oregon campus and saw many of the young men wearing tuxedos.

We dropped Sky off at the registration area, found a parking place, and then proceeded to the hall where he would play his piece.  Sky had arranged to meet with his band teacher and, along with his accompanist, was practicing his piece in another area of the building.  We entered the room where the “Baritone Horns” were going to perform.  As we looked through the booklet we found 12 contestants in all, each beginning their performance 10 minutes apart.  Three other students were also playing the Morceau Symphonique, which might not be a good thing, since the judges could make direct comparisons of their efforts.

As the solo performances began, each student was allowed a brief tune up time, and announced by contestant number only.  The student could make a brief introduction of his or her piece before beginning to play, and the piece could not exceed 8 minutes.   As I listened to each piece being played, I took a few notes on each performance.  After a few pieces, I suddenly realized that there was a quality that instantly singled out the best players.  The student either played clear distinctive notes – or watery sounding notes.

Sky with the ninth contestant.  As the eighth performer was finishing, I looked back to see if he and his band teacher were on hand.  As we were applauding for Contestant #8, Sky entered the room and walked up to the front carrying his horn case, and wearing his backpack.  I had another twinge of anxiety that he might receive a deduction for this, since all of the other students had left their cases and backpacks at the back of the room.   Sky knelt down, took out his euphonium, removed his backpack and stood ready, waiting for a signal from the timer.   He nodded to his accompanist and began.  This was my opportunity to compare the quality I had noted in the best players – was he playing clear distinctive notes, or were they watery?  Much to my pleasure - and relief, Sky played very distinct notes and a beautiful rendition of Morceau Symphonique.  On the final note, he looked straight out at the judges and hit it perfectly.  (I later asked him if he remembered that, but he did not.)

We listened to the last 3 contestants, with #11 and #12 also playing the Morceau Symphonique.  Jim picked one student as a winner, but it was not Sky.  I reviewed the notes I had taken and chose the 3 performers that I thought would become the winners.  Sky was among them; I thought he could even be #1, but I hesitated to say so. The “Mom factor” could add some bias, but even taking that into account, I thought he would place in the top 3 and that is what I told Jim and Sky when we had a moment together.  Sky felt he had played well and was satisfied with his performance – also a good sign.

The awards ceremony was not until 6:30PM, so we would not hear the results until then.  In the meantime, Sky went off with a friend, while Jim and I listened to the all of tuba players perform, as well as some of the trombones.  I took notes on them, just as I had with the euphoniums, and ranked my top choices.

A little after 6PM we met Sky and headed toward the performance hall where the awards ceremony was to take place.  The hall was packed beyond capacity, with people sitting in the aisles and standing along the walls.  The Master of Ceremonies had the contestants come up and sit on the floor on stage in order to make room for more people in the audience.  The ceremony was delayed a few minutes because of ties the judges were trying to resolve.  Finally they began, and I assumed they would announce winners in alphabetical order, so the “baritone” category would be one of the first.  But it was not to be.  The “Baritone” category was one in which they were still trying to resolve a tie, so it would be announced later!

As it turned out, the category winners were announced in no particular order.  I marked the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of each category, in the program booklet. It helped to keep busy, the anticipation was almost as bad as the anxiety. Finally, toward the very end, they announced that a decision had been reached in the “Baritone Horn” category.  They announced that the tie had not been broken, instead, they would award a 1st and two 2nd place winners, but no third.  The 1st place winner was the one my husband had picked.  I held my breath for the next announcement – the two second place winners.  The next name that was announced was Sky’s!  He pumped his fist and got to his feet to receive his medal as the audience applauded.  The other second place winner, also on my top 3 list, reacted in much the same manner as Sky, when his name was announced.  Sky was thrilled, and we were thrilled!  What a great ending to an exciting day.  This was the high light of Sky’s high school career, and a turning point for him.

It was very important to rank in the top 3 because they were the only ones who received medals – the only ones to have their names announced on stage, the only ones to have their names listed in next years program as the previous year’s winners.  It’s the recognition, the honor, the thrill of it all!  But even more importantly, this medal confirmed to Sky that he had a great deal of musical ability, and he knew this was his calling.

Update-2004
Sky is now a sophomore at the University of Oregon, and doing well.  As a Freshman he was accepted into the Wind Ensemble, an elite group made up mostly of upper classman and graduate students.

Update-2009
Sky is now working on his Master’s Degree in Music Performance at DePaul University, in Chicago. He started playing the bass trombone in 2006, because he wanted to play in symphony orchestras, and the Euphonium is rarely used in these groups.
He studies with Charlie Vernon the principal trombonist with the Chicago Symphony.

Engraving and corporate awards have changed considerably since 1992, when I first got into the awards industry. The use of the laser engraver has made production faster and given engravers the ability to do more detailed graphics and logos. In earlier times plain gold brass was used, then came black brass, and now we see many colors and marbled colors on plates. Many have their own graphic designs silk-screened into them. Plaques themselves have taken on a greater variety as noted by rosewood and black piano finish, and high gloss walnut.

Acrylic awards have become increasingly popular and have also gone from clear and jade to full color with green, blue, and red marbled backgrounds, or colored accents radiating from the bases.  There are more acrylic pieces that are free standing, or have posts or frames into which they fit. Some have insets in the base for easier attachment.

Glass pieces are also popular, but this is one product that the laser has yet to conquer. Most glass pieces need to be sandblasted in order to achieve a high quality of engraving. They are still much more time consuming to create, but the finished product is very high end.

An item that has not changed much is the perpetual – the plaque with all those little plates on it – except that the plates are not black brass instead of gold brass. It is a wonderful idea to have a permanent recording of accomplishments displayed on the office wall, to honor those who have achieved.

Corporate Awards and gifts will continue to change with new technology and customer preferences. It will be exciting to watch.

Medals have also changed from the traditional gold, silver, and bronze, to full color, some have spinning center pieces, cut-outs, holographic inserts, and more. The neck ribbons are often clip-on style for faster assembly. Backs of medals often have a framed area to insert a plate or mylar with the engraving information. Using a separate piece of material for the engraving shortens the assembly time, because the inserts can be engraved so much faster. The engraving, usually on a mylar material, is much more vivid and therefore easier to read than when it is engraved right into the medal.

Some custom medals are now available in record time. Using a stock medal with a custom insert , you can receive personalized medals in 3 to 8 days, plus shipping time.  I should caution that this 3 to 8 days is after the artwork has been approved, so it is best to plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time before the day of the event.

Custom pins, like custom medals, can also be created in a short time period. Again, using stock pin hardware and inserting the custom artwork, you can have the finished product in about 2 weeks, as discussed above.

More acrylic awards are being used for Sports presentations, but we also see many traditional items, including trophy cups and perpetual plaques.

These are just a few changes we have seen in Sports Awards. They will continue to change, just as the Corporate Awards have, with new technology and customer demands for the new and different.