The "Repairing Memories To Last A Lifetime" Story

Cameron Gallagher - a spitting image of his dad, Glenn.

It was an ordinary day.  Working at Grebinger Gallery and Frame Shop in Neffsville, PA.  Trying to catch up on all the work that had come in during my two week vacation to the Bahamas.  One of the neatest projects was trying to repair the 46"x32" matted frame which featured two Kansas City Royals baseball jerseys as well as a multitude of photographs which featured rookie catcher and Lancaster native Cameron Gallagher.  Cam's dad, Glenn was a student of mine when I taught high school.  He was an all-star quarterback for the Manheim Township High School Blue Streaks as well as a great pitcher for the Streaks baseball team.  Just an all-around nice kid who you knew was going to be a success at whatever he wanted to do.  

Cameron catching for the Royals.

The Clemson Tigers football coach offered him a scholarship to play quarterback and Glenn jumped at the offer.  In college he played both football and baseball and before long he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays as a pitcher.  He played 6 years in the minors before a torn labrum ended his career.  His oldest son Austin was drafted by the Dodgers as a 3rd baseman and he went as far as A ball.  But Cameron, a catcher by trade, has finally made it to the majors with the Kansas City Royals.  

Must be a thrill to sit in the Royals dugout.

In the minors he struggled his first year and broke his hand by a pitched ball in his second year.  His defense is what caught the eye of the Royals and eventually his hitting improved.  He is selective with the bat and his walk rate of 9.2% shows that.  He is predicted to hit 6-10 home runs a year in the future and hopefully throwout close to 50% of the base runners who try to steal on him.  As a high school catcher he was one of the best catchers in Lancaster County which led to him being offered a scholarship to East Carolina University as well as being drafted by the Royals for a signing bonus of $750,000.  

Cameron hits his first homerun in the majors.

He chose the Royals!  The frame I'm going to try and repair for his mom and dad was damaged in shipping.  The glass and frame were broken.  The frame features both home and away jerseys as well as a small plaque and 10 photos.  Done in Royal's blue with gold trim, the frame is fantastic, and I'm going to try and correct all the problems that it now has.  Follow along while I show you what was necessary to repair the job.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Unwrapping the damaged frame from it's matting. 

Preparing to repair the frame with glue and metal corners. 

Glass and dirt had to be removed from the job.  The shirts had come loose and I had to reattach them to the board.

Placed the jerseys and photos into the frame and prepare to place a dust cover on it.  I needed to use two pieces of brown paper for the dust cover due to the size of it.

Dust cover in place I now add the "Wall-Buddies" for hanging.

And, the final result.  Great memories from Cameron's baseball career have been preserved for a lifetime.