The "A Momento For A Football Great" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Recently finished framing four football jerseys and one basketball jersey for a customer at Grebinger Gallery and Lancaster Picture Framing in Lancaster, PA.  Took some time since I am still not allowed to work more than an hour or so a day due to my back surgery in late October.  The customer who had us do the jerseys also brought in 22 District III football medals which included three that were state championship game medals.  They were medals that the coach of the Manheim Central High School head football coach, Mike Williams, had earned during his tenure as head football coach at MCHS which is located in Lancaster County, PA.  

Lancaster Newspaper photo taken in 2003 of Mike and his
team after winning the State Championship.  Game was
played with a constant snow falling throughout the game.

Mike coached for over three decades at the rural school in Lancaster County and amassed an impressive record of 348 wins, 75 losses and 3 ties.  This past season was his last as head coach.  His teams had won 20 Lancaster-Lebanon League section titles, 16 District III titles and a State Championship (2003).  There are about 16,000 high school football programs in the United States and Mike has to have one of the most impressive records of any coach that every coached in any of those schools.  My son-in-law Dave, who coached at Quince Orchard High School in Maryland and now coaches at Urbana High School, has coached for 11 years now and has over 100 wins already and may someday be able to have the same thing said about his programs.  Our customer wanted us to frame the 22 medals so that they could be presented to Mike as a memento of his accomplishments as head coach.  The final result that I came up with looked rather impressive and I thought I would take you through the steps I used to complete the job.  Easier to show you rather than try to explain it, so the following photos will give you an idea what is involved in creating a memory box worthy of one of the greatest football coaches in the history of high school sports.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

I have cut the mat (32" x 40") with the 22 openings and spaces for the years that the medal was won.  This shows the back side of the mat along with the gray mat board where I will place the medals.

These are the patterns that I have created to do the job.  The large mat is an exact duplicate of the top mat while the small blue rectangles with a hole cut in them will help me center the medals in the openings that have been cut.

With the use of the patterns, I can hot glue the medals in place.  After gluing I can remove the pattern to be used on the next medal.

After gluing a row of medals to the bottom mat board I cut openings in the mat board so I can force the ribbons through them.

This shows you what the medals look like after being attached and the ribbon placed through the mat board.

On the rear of the mat board I staple the ribbons to the foam board which is attached to the rear of the mat board.

The pattern is still used to position all the remaining ribbons and metals to the bottom mat board.

I have placed the final gray and maroon (school colors) mat board on top to see if everything looks fine.

On the rear of the top mat I attach the pieces of paper that hold the year that the medal was won.

On the rear of the mat board I place a double layer of 3/8" foam, over the pieces of paper I just taped in place, so the board will be raised 3/4" above the medals.

This shows the final job, medals and dates in place, next to the frame whichs hold the glass.

The final result.  Turned out fantastic and worthy of hanging on the wall of one of the best high school coaches that every coached football in the country.

Photo of Mike Williams after receiving his gift of the framed medals!