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For media inquiries contact: Leeana Van Valkenburg, President (541) 476-3422 To e-mail click here |
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July 2008 Cedar Mill Elementary School’s third grade class of Beaverton, OR purchases a custom designed bench for placement on their playground as a permanent memorial of beloved classmate Jack Fried. In demonstrating their love for Jack, the third grade class, parents and teachers held fund raisers to pay for the bench and its accompanying bronze plaque. Jack died of a rare form of cancer at the age of 9 years, but not before he made a profound and selfless impact on this world. He was named the Children’s Miracle Network’s Champion child for Oregon in the spring of 2007. Donations reportedly continue to be received in his name to various associations and foundations which support children who have terminal illnesses. |
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June 2008 Accurate Electric of Vancouver, WA purchases bench as gift in recognition of valued customer. |
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2008 Wildlife Images of Grants Pass, OR receives two more benches donated as memorials through the Donor Bench Program. For more information on Wildlife Images, visit www.wildima@cdsnet.net. |
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March – December 2008 MGB’s website is revised and updated. New and exciting bench designs added to line. |
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Years 2005 thru 2008 Steel Costs increase dramatically due to China’s extensive growth and need for steel exported from the USA. In 2007 alone it was reported by MGB’s fabricators that steel costs increased by 33%. |
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July 2007 – 2008 Banfield, the Pet Hospital has purchased five custom designed benches for their pet recreation facility in Portland, OR. |
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July 2007 St. John Vianney Elementary School of Michigan has bench made in memory of beloved teacher. |
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Year 2007 Bench Production Moves to Portland, OR area proving to be beneficial in every area of production and an even better quality bench. |
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Year 2007 Laser Cutting Services Inc. adds to MGB’s ability to produce finer details, ultimately allowing more flexibility in bench designs. |
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February 2007 Steve Irwin Benches- Two custom memorial benches and plaques commissioned by Wildlife Images were shipped to Irwin’s widow Teri and family for placement at Australian zoo. Funds were donated through MGB’s donor bench program with Wildlife Images by friends and fans of Wildlife Images and Steve Irwin. For more information on Wildlife Images, visit www.wildima@cdsnet.net. |
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June 23-25, 2005 Display Garden opens to the public featuring an array of benches, new bench designs and sculpture at MGB’s Home Office in Grants Pass, OR. |
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February 18–22, 2004 Home & Garden Show in Portland, Oregon. This is the fourth largest such show in the United States, with over 650 booths on display. We will be displaying both our benches and contemporary steel sculpture lines. |
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February 15, 2004 Memory Garden website planned to be completed and running. |
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January 23, 2004 Graffiti resistant poly ceramic alloy coating, also known as Micro Clear, is now available for benches and sculpture. This clear coating can be applied over any color, adds additional protective hardness and is especially useful in high-risk public locations. |
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January 23, 2004 New "Classic" back design is added to the bench line. |
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January 20, 2004 Donor Bench program is initiated with Wildlife Images in Grants Pass, Oregon. Donors can buy gift benches for the animal sanctuary and buy benches for their own home use with a cash gift included for Wildlife Images. For more information on Wildlife Images, visit www.wildima@cdsnet.net. |
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September 8, 2003 Memory Garden Portland Office opens. |
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May 10–11, 2003 Art In Bloom Show in Medford, Oregon. Memory Garden displays its benches. |
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April 18–19, 2003 Master Gardener Spring Fair at Oregon State University Extension Service. MGB shows off its benches to garden enthusiasts in Josephine County, Oregon, |
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April 11–13, 2003 Radio Home Show: Memory Garden displays benches at the Jackson County Expo, Medford, Oregon. |
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May 31, 2003 Rex E. Eipper bench, with bronze memorial plaque, is dedicated on the main street of Grants Pass, Oregon in memory of his love for the city and his spirit of community involvement. The bench is one of several custom designs, featuring the natural beauty of the Rogue Valley area, prepared for City of Grants Pass as part of its successful program enabling people to memorialize family members and others with benches (each equipped with a bronze plaque) in the downtown area. This program is intended for city beautification and tourism enhancement. For further information, see www.visitgrantspass.org and www.ci.grants-pass.or.us. Also see entry at July 11, 2000, below, and the testimonial in "About Memory Garden" on this web site. |
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November 1, 2002 Father & Son police officers are memorialized with a "God Bless America" patriotic bench and bronze memorial plaque. The bench has been donated by the Grants Pass City Police Association and Josephine County Sheriffs’ Association, and installed at the Josephine County Courthouse. |
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June 22, 2002 The J. David Siddon Sr. bench with bronze plaque is dedicated in downtown Grants Pass, Oregon to memorialize Dave Siddon, founder of Wildlife Images. The bench features Mr. Siddon with his famous bear and cat. (Installation of the bench is included in the City of Grants Pass bench program. See May 31, 2003 entry for Rex E. Eipper bench, above.) |
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November 2001 Three Rivers Hospital is the recipient of a "Mother’s Roses" bench donated by the Zonta International—Grants Pass club. |
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November 2001 Emeritus Council of Southern Oregon University Foundation in Ashland, Oregon purchases Memory Garden benches, one for campus enhancement and another, with bronze recognition plaque, as a gift to former SOU President Stephen J. Reno, upon his becoming Chancellor of Higher Education for the State of New Hampshire. |
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September 2001 September 11, 2001 memorial benches are designed in hope that we will never forget. |
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January 2001 Rogue Community College, Grants Pass, Oregon, purchases ten custom–designed benches to upgrade its campus. Designs include osprey, river and mountains behind campus, and the outlines of its distinctive college buildings. |
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November 27, 2000 Marjorie K. Holzgang bench dedication ceremony. This bench with memorial plaque was purchased by the City of Grants Pass in recognition of this outstanding citizen’s decades of effective community service. The Holzgang bench is the first made for the city’s bench program. For further information, please see May 31, 2003 entry for Rex E. Eipper, above. |
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July 11, 2000 The City of Grants Pass announces that it has begun its donor bench program with approved designs and colors for installation of benches in public locations. Donors can purchase benches with bronze memorial or recognition plaques. The benches are designed to honor and remember persons of the community, enhance the beauty of downtown, provide pedestrian resting places, and promote the area as a tourist destination through the use of custom designs emphasizing fishing, rafting, and other activities on the Rogue River. Please also see May 31, 2003 entry for Rex E. Eipper, above, and referral to Charlie Mitchell, Economic Development Specialist of City of Grants Pass. |
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June 19, 2000 Hillcrest Cemetery purchases an "Autumn Leaves" bench to be placed in the cemetery in recognition of a board member. |
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1996 Philip L. Nelson, who has a background in steel sculpture, designs the first bench in response to a suggestion by his brother Stanton that they memorialize their recently deceased mother, Marguerite D. Nelson. Phil creates this bench, titled "Mother’s Roses," to recognize Marguerite’s creation of a silk rose and the business she and her husband, Herbert, developed for their production and sale. Herbert arranges to have the bench installed in the public garden in Portland, Oregon, where Marguerite enjoyed growing flowers and vegetables on a small plot that she rented. |