The results are in.

At the beginning of October we thought it would be cool to do something to support breast cancer research. We decided to donate $2.50 for every single display that we rented, with an additional $2.50 for every pink flamingo display rented. We also decided that we would donate a minimum of $100.

October was definitely busier for us compared to previous years but we did not reach our goal of $100. We rented 21 displays which comes to $52.50, of those displays, eight were pink flamingos so that is an additional $20.00 for a grand total of $72.50 raised. As I mentioned we decided that the minimum we would donate would be $100.00 so that is what we are going to do.

We decided to do this in the morning and had it rolling by early evening. There wasn't a lot of planning put into this at all. As a matter of fact, we were surprised by the results. We had a few customers tell us they really liked that we were doing it. So we will definitely plan better for it next year.

Donation Update

Today is the 10th of October so we are one third of the way through Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I thought is would be a good idea to give everyone a little update on our fundraiser. So far we have rented a total of 8 displays. Which has raised $20.00. Two of those displays were Flamingos so that adds another $5.00 for a total of $25.00.

Hopefully we will rent some more displays and raise some more money for the Susan G Komen for the Cure Foundation.

Flamingos donating to Susan G Komen for the Cure

Special-Delivery 4 U LLC in Muskego, today announced it will be making a donation for every display rented this month to the Susan G Komen for the Cure Foundation. Sheri Haupenthal, President of Special-Delivery 4 U LLC says supporting breast cancer research and awareness is very important. “I have had family members and friends affected by breast cancer. So this is very personal for me.” Haupenthal stated.

Special-Delivery 4 U will donate $2.50 for every display rented during October. In addition for every display with pink flamingos $2.50 more will be donated. A minimum of $100.00 will be donated at the end of the month. “Of course our goal is much more than that.” Haupenthal said.

Special-Delivery 4 U offers storks for baby showers/birth announcements and a wide variety of 2D characters or “critters” as they are also known as in the industry. These include buzzards, penguins, snowmen, cows, smiley faces, graduation caps, stars, balloons, traffic signs, crowns and 3D collection of bears, hearts, flamingos and dinosaurs.

“We help customers celebrate all of life’s milestones. Now we can help fight breast cancer too. When October is over everyone should remember that breast cancer, any cancer really, is a serious issue. Studies have shown that smiling and laughing help to ease the pain of cancer and a great way to make someone smile is to send them a yard card!” Haupenthal says

Special-Delivery 4 U delivers in the metro Milwaukee area. Delivery is free within 20 miles of the Special-Delivery 4 U warehouse. Anything past 20 miles is charged a delivery fee based on mileage. “We have delivered as far north as Port Washington, south to Kenosha and east to Oconomowoc.” Haupenthal stated.

Prices start at $55.00 for a Yard Card, Critter Display or Lawn Letter Saying and $65.00 for a Birth Announcement display. A Yard Card display comes with a 5 foot yard card and up to 10 critters. A Critter Display comes with a standard message board and up to 15 critters. A Lawn Letter Saying comes with your choice of saying and up to 10 critters. The birth announcement display comes with a keepsake star that includes the baby's name, birthdate, length and weight.

For more information on Special-Delivery 4 U LLC, visit their website at
www.Special-Delivery4U.com or call them at 414-651-0366.

It is time for Halloween!!

Ok I know it isn't quite October yet but it never hurts to start planning a little early. I was checking out On Milwaukee - Online Magazine when I noticed an ad for Halloween Express, a local costume store that pops up around this time of year then disappears after October. I thought I would take a look at the costumes just to see what was new for this year. As I was doing that I ran across their blog so I started reading it and found the cutest costume. A toddler's Flamingo costume! Here is a picture of it.

Welome home Olympians!!

We would like to welcome home all of the U.S. Olympians! Here is a picture of a display that we did for Kate Markgraf. She is a three time Olympian on the U.S. Women's Soccer team. In 2000 the women's team won the silver medal, in 2004 they won gold and this year they again brought home the gold.

Congratulations to all of our Olympians!!!

Dressing your mingo?!

I found a site that is selling a flamingo and 8 different outfits for $24.00 and had to mention it here. I'm sorry folks we will not be offering these as rentals. I would be to afraid of someone stealing them!!! Check out the the site here. Here is a picture of it too.

A recent press release

Waukesha County "Lawn Greeting" Company First in Area to Offer Buzzards & 3D Bears

Special-Delivery 4 U LLC in Muskego, today announced it's two newest displays. The buzzard as well as 3D bears. The buzzard is a vinyl print attached to coroplast. The bears were manufactured, and distributed by Union Products, Inc. of Leominster, MA, which closed its doors in November 2006.

Sheri Haupenthal, President of Special-Delivery 4 U LLC says that both displays are a great addition to the companies' rental inventory. "We have had the buzzards on our website for about a month or so and they have already been rented a few times." Haupenthal stated.

Special-Delivery 4 U LLC offers storks for baby showers/birth announcements and a wide variety of 2D characters or "critters" as they are also known as in the industry. These include buzzards, penguins, snowmen, cows, smiley faces, graduation caps, stars, balloons, traffic signs, crowns and 3D collection of bears, hearts, flamingos and dinosaurs.

Haupenthal is planning to add more children's themed characters as well as an old man and old woman yard cards in the near future.

"We help customers celebrate all of life's milestones. Be it a birth, birthday, graduation, welcoming home a soldier, an anniversary or a marriage proposal we have something for everyone." Haupenthal says.

Special-Delivery 4 U delivers in the metro Milwaukee area. Delivery is free within 20 miles of the Special-Delivery 4 U warehouse. Anything past 20 miles is charged a delivery fee based on milage. "We have delivered as far north as Port Washington, south to Kenosha and east to Oconomowoc." Haupenthal stated.

Another new addition

A company on the east coast was selling these cute bears and we had to add them to our displays.

New Addition

We recently had a request for something "less frilly" for a 40th birthday. Because of that, we started looking for some new critters to add to the ones we already have. Fortunately we were able to buy some already made from another company. Here is our latest addition. Buzzards!!!

Freeze!! Police!!

Sheri had some problems finding the house that she was scheduled to set up a few nights ago. This house is on a court in a quiet little neighborhood. First she circled the court a few times trying to determine which house it was. Then she called me to see if I could help her out using Google Maps street view. That didn't work out to well so she decided to call the customer to get some more information.....like any vehicles in the driveway or distinguishing things about the yard or house.

The customer was able to give her some help. To make sure she had the correct house she went right up to the front of the house to double check the address (that was not lit up). Since it was the right place she started setting everything up. When she had just a few more critters to put in the ground a police officer shows up.

The police officer lit her up with the spot light and had the red and blue lights going. Fortunately Sheri did not park right in front of the home she was setting up. Sheri gave the officer a business card, showed her the order for the display and asked the officer if they could go around the corner to do this so that the recipient doesn't see what is going on (and ruin the surprise).

After taking her license the officer agreed to go around the corner with Sheri. Once they were there, Sheri explained what had happened and told the officer that she was almost done. The police officer checked her license and let her get on with the display. During the time that Sheri was on the side of the road 2 more police cars drove by. It must have been a quiet night in town. LOL

Flamingos migrate to Iraq

On February 24, Chris from Chris in Iraq posted about Kix & Dunn as well as a lawn update. At the end of his lawn update he mentioned that he was looking for a pink flamingo lawn ornament. Michelle Reed, President of the Lawn Greeting Association read this post and e-mailed Chris. After talking with Chris via e-mail and over the phone she mentioned it on the Lawn Greetings Business Owners Forum. Michelle asked the members of the forum to donate a Flamingo to send to Chris for the lawn.

Eleven different lawn greetings companies responded to Michelle's plea and sent her at least one flamingo lawn ornament. The Leominster Flamingo Company (the makers of the pink flamingos) donated 2 flamingos signed by creator Don Featherstone. The Lawn Greetings Association also donated some items as well. Here is a picture of the items before they started their migration to Iraq.

Firefighting Flamingo

Actually the flamingo is the mascot for Engine 10 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The firefighters still do the firefighting. This is a picture of the decal that used to be on their equipment. I found this interesting article about it. Apparently they used to have a bunch of pink flamingos on the front yard of the station as well but a Captain (the person in charge of a single firehouse) decided he did not want them displayed anymore.

According to the article the station recently got a new Captain and he is considering letting the flamingos return. I have been around firefighting and fire trucks for almost 30 years and this is the first time I ever seen a flamingo as a station mascot.

I would love to see a picture of the flamingos in front of this station too. If anyone out there has a picture of it please email it to me and I will post it for all to see.

World's Largest Flamingo

As you travel on Highway 12 through the city of Wisconsin Dells you will see the world's largest flamingo. This thing is 26 feet tall. Of course it is not a living flamingo but a statue outside the Flamingo Hotel. This is a picture that I took of it on Sunday March 30, 2008.

The flamingo was made right here in Sparta, Wisconsin. At the workshops of Fiberglass Animals, Shapes & Trademarks Corp., or just FAST. They make a lot of different things. All of them are very interesting.

I found another picture of it with some people in it to give you another view. Apparently the frog in this picture was also made by FAST.

I wish we had something that eye catching for our displays. Although I am not exactly sure how we would transport it or set it up without the recipient hearing us. ;)

April Fool's kicks off Lawn Greetings Month

Fremont, OH, April 1, 2008- President/Executor Michelle Reed of the Lawn Greetings Association, Inc. (LGA) announced today a declaration that April be considered as "Lawn Greetings Month". The purpose of Lawn Greetings Month is not only to promote awareness of the industry to the general public, but to help bring smiles to those who are celebrating a special occasion or event.

The lawn greetings industry can be defined as small local businesses which help their customers celebrate various special occasions and events by renting displays that are set up in a recipient's yard. The displays vary greatly from giant wooden character signs and small "critter" signs, as they are referred to in the industry, to a wide array of elements for decorating a front yard such as 3 dimensional plastic or 2 dimensional characters and shapes.

Every business is independently owned and operated, unless a company is part of a franchise or dealership. Therefore, terms, prices and inventory vary greatly. However, they all have one common goal in their businesses, to create pleasant surprises by decorating lawns with out-of-the-ordinary items for everyone to enjoy. These items could include anything from a yard full of plastic pink flamingos, smiley faces, cows, ducks, to buzzards, or even hearts, stars or other funny characters.

Reed states that she and members of the industry are very excited to declare their first holiday. "This is a stepping stone in gaining national exposure and awareness of the industry. We all love to help people celebrate the special moments in their life, and a lawn greetings display is a unique and fun way to do it." As a part of this celebration, lawn greetings companies across the nation will be putting out displays in honor of this milestone event, most are guaranteed to make you smile.

Association members are also planning on celebrating another important event based on the creator of the original Plastic Pink Flamingo, Mr. Don Featherstone. In the birthplace and hometown of Featherstone, (Leominster, MA) Mayor Dean Mazzarella declared June 23 as Pink Flamingo Day. On this day, lawn greetings company owners across the country plan on setting out pink flamingo displays in honor of the pink lawn ornament.

"I just love the idea that all across the states, people will randomly see yards full of pink flamingos, all in tribute to Don Featherstone. It will be a hoot!" Reed states.

The LGA is the leading authority and only non-profit trade association of the lawn greetings industry which consists of members from across the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, England, and New Zealand. For more information, visit the Lawn Greetings Association, Inc. on the web at http://www.Lawn-Greetings.org or to find your local Lawn Greetings Company visit The Flamingoed Lawn Greetings Directory at http://www.flamingoed.com/

Time for that other story I mentioned before

In this post I mentioned someone being embarrassed by a yard sign in their yard. I thought I would share a few of those stories with you.

The first one was in a really nice neighborhood. We had done the set up early in the morning on a Saturday. We were home all day and decided to go out to dinner with some friends that evening. Unfortunately we left our business cell phone at home. While we were at dinner our daughter called to let us know someone called on the business phone. We told her we would get the voice mail when we got home that night. Well dinner turned into playing cards and hanging out with our friends until about 11:30pm. When we got home Sheri checked the voice mail. The caller was the recipient of the yard card we had set up in the morning. She was really mad. She wanted the sign out of her yard by morning or she was going to throw it away. Of course we got over there early in the morning and took it down.

Our second time was a set up on a Sunday morning. This display was ordered by the ladies parents. It was raining cats and dogs when I set up the message board and critters. I wasn't home for more than 10 minutes when the recipient called and demanded that we remove the sign immediately and refund her parents the money they spent on it. Back out in the rain storm to get the sign. Which I found on the side of the house. She was so upset she had her husband take it down. Sheri called the lady that ordered the sign and explained what happened and reminded her of our policy regarding early pick ups (no refunds). She was just fine with it and really didn't understand why her daughter was so very upset. She called back later to let Sheri know that she found out why. Her daughter didn't want anyone knowing that she was turning 40. Apparently this lady lies to everyone about her age. LOL.

Fortunately we don't get many of these types of calls. But they have happened a few times obviously. If someone doesn't appreciate the gift that we have set up for them then we will remove it as soon as we can. I'm sure glad most people appreciate them though.

A new way to raise funds.

The Lawn Greeting Association is using a new way of raising funds. I think this is a really cool way to do this. I hope this idea catches on with schools and other non profits out there.

Busted!!!!!

We try to do set ups without the recipient seeing us because that is part of the surprise. To come out of the house and see your yard full of critters and a yard card is an awesome way to start your day. Unless of course you are embarrassed by it (another story another time).

Today I got to the house I was flocking and start setting up. I noticed that the curtains on the picture window were closed. This was not an easy set up due to all the snow and ice that we have had lately. I had to make about 5 trips to and from the car to get all the dinosaurs & the yard card set up. On my last trip I grabbed 3 dinos and the bag that we leave behind with a card for the recipient. As I was walking up the driveway I dropped on the dinos.......of course these were the 3D ones so it was loud. I grab the dino and put the last three in the yard. Then it is time to make my way to the front door to leave the bag on the handle. The front door has a huge window in it and as I walk up to the door I notice someone sitting on a couch looking at me. I quickly put the bag on the door handle and hightail it for the car (on an icy driveway). I made it back to the car without falling on my tush. I looked back at the door to see if the person was coming out to investigate and I saw that the curtain on the picture window was wide open. Uh oh busted!

I don't know for sure that I was caught but if not then I got real lucky.

Calendar? Who needs a calendar?

Sheri went to go do a set up tonight at a business in the next town over. While she was on her way there she looked at the paperwork for the set up and noticed that it said "Tuesday Feb 20". She had written down what she heard the customer say. But today is Monday February 18th so she either had the day or the date wrong. Time to call the customer to verify which it was. It turns it they were both right. The customer wanted it for Wednesday the 20th but had told her it would be Ok to do the set up on Tuesday night. LOL.

To top it off, she was pulled over by a policeman. No she didn't get a ticket. The police in that town will pull you over for anything just to check you out. I used to work in that town and my employer had to file a complaint with the police department for harassment of the employees. Someone from my office was being pulled over every single week but no tickets were ever issued. Really strange. Anyway back to Sheri and her run in with the law. The officer wrote her a warning because the front license plate was missing.....it fell off when I tried to fit into a parking space that had a ton of snow where my bumper needed to be. The plate is in the trunk.......guess I need to reattach that now. ;)

Wisconsintites are so helpful.

First a little bit of background. For those that don't live in our area we got hit with 12-18 inches of snow on Wednesday. Schools, businesses, churches and even government offices were closed. There were people getting stuck in ditches and on the side of the road all over the area.

Now fast forward to Thursday evening. We had a set up to do. Sheri went on this one in our car. She made sure to take a shovel in case she needed to dig out an area for the message board. She gets to the house and parks as close to the side of the road as possible. To get the sign out of the car she needed to remove the shovel so she props it up against the car.

As she was setting everything up, a few cars drove past really slowly. Then as she was getting some more critters out of the trunk a car pulls up and the driver rolls his window down. He then asks her if she needs any help. Obviously he thought she was stuck and not out there putting up a birthday display.

Press Release

Local Lawn Greeting Company joins International Non-Profit Trade Association

Muskego, WI – February 4, 2008 – Sheri Haupenthal, owner of Special-Delivery 4 U LLC in Muskego, WI is proud to announce its membership in the newly formed International Lawn Greetings Association, Inc - the only trade association for the Lawn Greetings Industry.

Special-Delivery 4 U LLC has been in business since January 2005. Haupenthal and her husband Tom purchased the business from the original owners on May 1st 2007. Since that time they have revamped the website, introduced new signs, expanded the delivery area and have become the only lawn greeting company in the Milwaukee area to offer Lawn Letters.

Beginning as an online forum group, founded by Scottie Claiborne (owner of Flamingoed.com, a lawn greeting directory), several industry business owners congregated to "talk shop" about their experiences with owning such a business. They often discussed topics such as general small / home business concepts, where to purchase materials, how to construct their inventory, customer relations, marketing for the industry, and personal chit-chat.

“This formation illustrates that the Lawn Greetings Industry has turned more from being a hobby to that of a recognizable and profitable industry and needs to standardize.” Mike Smeck comments, who co-owns Yard Card Surprise based out of Lorain County, Ohio, and who is the Vice President of the ILGA.

The mission of the association is to support the development of the commercial lawn greetings industry through a variety of means, including market development, voluntary adherence to a Code of Ethics, research, and to promote awareness of and build community with the lawn greetings industry worldwide through a network of reputable lawn greetings companies.

“We are proud to have Special-Delivery 4 U join our membership. We look forward to helping them grow their business by making many resources available to them,” ILGA President Michelle Reed states, adding “in turn, helping them provide better service to their customers.”

Currently, the ILGA has reached its goal by being the leading resource of the lawn greetings industry and consists of over 1000 subscribed members from across the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Australia, England, and New Zealand. Many “newbies” state that the business owner’s forum is a wonderful resource and that the individual posts have helped them start their own lawn greetings business. Members of the business owner’s forum have been known to start many industry trends, and the talent among the group is often shared with one another in many forms.

For more information on Special-Delivery 4 U LLC, visit their website at
www.Special-Delivery4U.com or call them at 414-651-0366. To learn more about the
International Lawn Greetings Association, Inc., visit their website at www.Lawn-Greetings.org.

Glossary of terms we use.

I thought it would be helpful to include a picture glossary of the terms that we use. You know just in case someone actually reads this sometime. ;)

Yard Card: A large sign with a message.












Message Board: A sign that can have a customized saying put on it.









Critter: The smaller items that accompany a Yard Card or Message Board. These are available in 2D (top picture) & 3D(bottom picture). Note: these are not always animals. Can include balloons, balls, stars and various other items.

Stork: An announcement for a birth or a baby shower.











Keepsake Star: A custom hand made star on the Stork with the vital statistics of the baby (pictured above).

Sibling Star: A custom hand made star for big brother or sister.












Lawn Letters: Individual letters that spell out a saying.

Found a way!!!

Well we have finally figured out a way to get signs in frozen ground! Hot water & a rubber mallet. We had a set up today (temps have been below zero for a few days) and Sheri decided to try pouring water in the spot the pegs go on our sign bases. She then had to use the mallet to get them all the way in. We will find out in a few days how easy this will be to remove. LOL.

Cold!!!

We haven't had any displays this week but that is ok. The temperature right now is zero. Add (or subtract in this case) the wind chill and it feels like -17 degrees. Way to cold to be out in. According to the news you can freeze exposed skin within minutes at this temperature.

Interesting weather

The weather in southeastern Wisconsin has been really strange this last week. Last weekend it was so foggy that you couldn't see across the street in some places. Monday it was in the sixties. We hit a new high for January of sixty three degrees. Then to end the day on Monday, there were tornadoes in Kenosha county. Fortunately no one was seriously injured. Thursday it snowed again. All different types of weather.

The good news for us though is the warmer weather makes it alot easier to put up a display. Just last week I had a very hard time doing a display as the ground was solid ice. This week the display I did went in like a hot knife through butter. I love those types of displays. This one was an unusual request. The flocker wanted just a sign with a specific saying on it with no critters. Once I got to the flockee's house I understood why. The yard had to be the smallest front yard I have ever done a set up in. The critters would not have looked good at all because they would have been bunched together to much.