Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Super Bowl XLV Special

We are running a Super Bowl XLV Special! For every order placed between 1/24 - 2/6. Your name will be entered in a drawing for a gift certificate for a FREE future display. Orders can be for anytime. They do not have to be delivered during the promotion dates.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Helping the Milwaukee Ronald McDonald House.

From the Milwaukee Ronald McDonald House website.

In the early 1980s, a small group of dedicated volunteers set out to build the first Ronald McDonald House in Wisconsin. The need back then was heart-wrenching. Families literally had no place to stay while their seriously ill child was being treated at Children’s Hospital or another Milwaukee hospital. The outpouring of support was remarkable. So much so that when we opened in Wauwatosa in 1984, we called it “the House that love built.” Today we serve families in ways we could have never imagined 25 years ago.

During our early years, it was typical for guest families to spend a few nights, perhaps a week with us. Our 25 bedrooms proved sufficient for awhile. Then, over time, medical advances, the kind that save the lives of children who would not have been saved two decades ago, began requiring extended treatments. Yet doctors and nurses told us their young patients showed the best signs of healing when they could spend time away from hospital rooms in a more homelike setting surrounded by family. To accommodate these families, we expanded the House, adding an extended stay wing with 13 two-room units. We also renovated the existing House so that every family staying with us could have a private bathroom, a small amenity it may seem, but one that means a great deal to our guest families. These renovations have continued to make our House the best “home-away-from-home” it can be.

Since the House opened in 1984, over 31,000 families from 568 Wisconsin communities, 48 states and 26 foreign countries have stayed at our Ronald McDonald House. These families are facing the worst crisis of their lives. Their child is seriously ill, and their lives are turned upside down. We may just be the only bright spot in their entire day and we take that responsibility to heart. We are a home-away-from-home, a place where kids can just be kids, and parents can lean on each other.

In October 2010 we had the honor of working with them. We were contacted by a representative about doing a display for a 6 year old boy that was staying at the Ronald McDonald House. Of course we said we would be glad to. After some phone calls back and forth we were set to do it, until we heard the weather forecast for the week.

The meteorologists were saying we could expect wind gusts up to 70mph. The stands we use for our displays can't handle wind that strong so we decided that we couldn't set the display up outdoors. We asked if it would be possible to put the display up somewhere indoors. After some consultations with other people at the House the rep let us know that they were having some sort of get together and didn't think that an indoor display would work for them. So it looked like we weren't going to be able to do the display.

A couple of days later we heard from the rep again, she wanted to know if we could do the display on a certain day (the little boy had gone out of town and was coming back that day and the Mom really wanted the sign for the little guy). Fortunately we were picking up the display they wanted on that day. So we could put it up right after we picked it up from the customer that had it. The little boy absolutely loved the sign! His Mom was thrilled we were able to do it for them too.

Helping the Milwaukee Ronald McDonald House was a really great experience. It is definitely something that we will do again if they want!!!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

This is a test

I read a blog today where the author mentioned that he could post a blog and it would automatically be posted to Facebook and Twitter. Since we (ok really it is just me) have been wanting to find an easy way to update our blog, Facebook fan page and Twitter more often. I thought I would try it for our blog. This blog post is a test to see what happens. If you would be kind enough, I would really appreciate it very much if you would leave a comment so I know that it worked the way it was supposed to. Please leave the comment wherever you first saw this. Thank you all very much. I hope this works.