The "My Job Is Now Complete!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just pulled out of the parking lot at Grebinger Gallery in Neffsville, Pennsylvania for perhaps the last time as an employee.  I have finally decided it was time to retire...for good!  After working for 65 years, my work meter has expired.  My first job began when I was 12 years old when my Grandpap took me to Roots Market, a farmer's market near East Petersburg, Pennsylvania.  We visited the small animal auction where he bid on a box of a dozen or so guinea pigs for me.  Being that he was the only bidder, I came home with the guinea pigs.  Mom and dad loved the fact that I was now gong to raise guinea pigs in the backyard...Not!  Well, over the years I made quite a bit of money while raising and selling the guinea pigs to pet stores as well neighborhood friends.  At the age of 16, I sold the business to my 70 year old next door neighbor and began a job at the local Acme grocery store stocking shelves and running the cash register.  Wasn't long before I bought my first car to be used as transportation to work, school and finally college.  Did quit the job in my Junior year of college when I got a job at a rental business for a year or so before I began my career in teaching.  Spent the next 33 years as an Industrial Arts teacher while doing a variety of jobs during the summer months when I wasn't teaching or going back to college to gain more credits.  After retiring from teaching in 1999 I began a job at Grebinger Gallery in nearby Neffsville, Pennsylvania.  The owner and operator of the framing gallery was Keith Grebinger whom I had as a student in my classes in high school.  I went the next 22 years working part-time at the gallery and recently, after multiple problems with my back, decided it was time to call it quits.  I figured after working 65 years, it was finally time to call it quits.  I can now spend more time with my wife and friends as well as perhaps resume my one-time hobby of stained glass once again.  

The final framed piece of artwork that I did for Keith (on left) at Grebinger Gallery

Also will give my wife and I more time for traveling to visit family as well as a few of our favorite islands in the Caribbean.  And, it will also give us a chance to prepare for moving to a smaller home or perhaps a move to a retirement community where we can live with people who also no longer work!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "A Hero's Tribute...Framed For Life!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just arrived at Grebinger Gallery and there sitting on the work table was a rather unusual project that I knew would take quite a few hours to complete.  On the work bench was a 5X7 photo of a military veteran with the last name of Page.  I have done many of these memory boxes over the 20+ years I have been working for a former student of mine at Manheim Township High School, but I have never done a job for a female member of the armed forces.  Pretty neat to see all the medals, ribbons and name tag that were laying on the work table along with her Army insignia and a red flag labeled Task Force Medical Falcon.  After talking with my boss, Keith, I began by figuring what size frame was needed to accommodate all of the awards that sat in front of me.  After I determined a size I cut a piece of conservation foamboard on which I would place a piece of white conservation mat board which was the color of the customer's choice.  Follow along with me as I show you by photographs the steps I followed to achieve the final results.  Click on images to enlarge them.  Some steps I'm sure I forgot to photograph, but I believe you will get the idea as to how I finished the project in about four hours.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

All the materials needed for the project placed in the position I plan to use them.

I cut a double mat 30 inches across and 18 inches deep with openings for the
planned items.  I attached the top mat to the bottom mat and cut a piece of
conservation mounting board also. 

On the conservation mounting board I placed a piece of white mat board
and then began to build the sides and center piece to the height
needed to accommodate depth the medals and pins. I fastened the
photo to a piece of conservation board so it
 would be the same height as the side pieces. 

This photo show how I fastened the pieced of foam to the bottom board.

I fastened the name and U.S. ARMY on the right side inside the space allotted with
clear fishing line and fastened all the medals and bars with either fishing line or
hot glue.  Nothing is used that can't be removed if the recipient wanted to take it
all apart at some time in the future.  The red flag was sewn with fishing line on
all corners as well as the center of the flag on the right side.  The three patches alolng
the bottom were all sewn in place with fishing line.

This shows the back of the project.  You can see that some places I was able to sew
and tie the line together in the rear while on other items I had to run the fishing line
through the same hole and then use a button to place each line in a hole so I could
tie it in place.  The metal pieces you see were the bars I placed along with a bit of hot glue.

Nest I was ready for the frame which was about 1/2" in width and two inches in depth.
After cutting the 45 degree corners I glued and used  fasteners to hold it together.
When it was dry, I cut a piece of Museum Glass for the opening.  Museum Glass
is non-reflective as well as protective of that is behind it.  It will not allow the items
and colors to fade.  You don't see any reflection from the glass.

I placed the job, face down, into the frame and used a special gun to drive in pins
to hold the project in place.

Around the edge I used the yellow tape gun, seen at the top right,
to place a layer of double-sided tape around the edge and then stretched
a piece of Kraft paper on the back to keep out critters from eating anything.

Final step was to add the labels for the gallery at the bottom and place
Wall Buddies on the top for hanging.  Because of the weight, I didn't
feel that picture wire was safe enough to support the weight of the job.  

The final result.  I'm sorry I didn't get a better photograph since the light bar above
 it was so intense that it showed.  Normally lights or sunlight from a window would
not be seen, but in this case the bar was so close and just at the right
angle to be seen.  I'm sure the customer will love the final result.
I did...and it will look great hanging on her wall.

The "The Other Larry" Story

It was an ordinary day.  My boss at Grebinger Gallery in Neffsville, Pennsylvania, Keith told me to do a really good job on the "Beatles" poster he had just given me.  When I looked at him with a confused face he laughed and said, "The job is for a former high school friend of yours!"  My friend began talking to Keith when he brought in the poster and Keith told him his former high school teacher worked for him, the customer asked whom that might be.  Keith passed along my name and the customer instantly got a smile on his face.  "Make sure you tell him to do a good job on my poster."  

Larry, framer of the Beatles poster with the other Larry, childhood friends.
We removed our masks just for the photograph.

He then told Keith that we lived a few blocks from each other while growing up and went to school together.  When Keith told me his name was Larry Snyder, I had to tell him about all our time together in school from kindergarten to the end of 9th grade.  Seems that at the end of 9th grade, Larry's mom and dad decided it best if he went to a Military School to help with his.....well.....schooling!  The stories I could tell here, but won't, might have been responsible for his switching to a more formal schooling for the final three years of high school.  When I went home I began to search for photographs of "the other Larry" as my mom and dad used to call him.  Being that they had named me Larry was the reason for my friend's name.  The other Larry lived on Jackson Street near the world famous Armstrong Cork Company.  He lived a few blocks from another friend and now my traveling buddy with his wife Sue, Jere Herr.  The other Larry, Jere and I all began elementary school together in 1950 at Brecht Elementary School.  Jere and the other Larry lived on the West side of the  Lancaster Train Station while I lived on the East side.  

Mrs. Good's 1st grade class.  Jere is front row far right while the
other Larry is front row far left.  I'm top row, far left.
Masks weren't necessary in 1950.

We all walked the mile-and-a-half to elementary school, but Jere and the other Larry walked across the Prince St. Bridge while I walked across the Duke Street Bridge.  All of us had Miss Boché, who became Mrs. Good part way through the year, for 1st grade.  When we began Jr. High School we all met at the local lumber yard, between our homes, to get on the school bus.  After we lost the other Larry due to changing schools, Jere and I both graduated from the same high school where we ended up teaching together after college.  We did miss the other Larry for the final three years of high school.  Then, the Manheim Township High School class of 1962 began to hold class reunions.  The names of a few who didn't graduate with us for one reason or another were suggested as being added to our class list.  The other Larry was one of them so Jere and I once again had the chance to spend some time with the guys from the neighborhood.  Then, a few days ago I had the chance to see the other Larry once again when he came to pick up his matted and framed poster that I worked on for him. It looked great, but getting to see him once again was more eventful than working on his artwork.  

One of the 4 group shots of the MTHS Class of 1962 taken at our 50th Class Reunion in 2012.  Top row, far left is Jere and I am two from him in the light brown jacket.  The other Larry is middle row, second from left.  Jere's sweetheart and now wife, Sue, is in front row, second from the left.  Great time was had by all!

Our 60th Class Reunion will come in 2022 and we will all have a chance to gather once again and relive "the good ole' times."  The stories will fly and be the same ones that we told at the last reunion and the one before that.  But, that's OK, since we probably won't remember what stories we told and may not even remember how we fit into the stories.  We'll all laugh and have a great time anyway.  And, hopefully we won't need masks by then.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Lancaster Picture Framing Amazes A Customer" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Had just caught up with most of the jobs at Grebinger Gallery where I work part-time for a former student of mine who opened his mat and frame shop about 30 years ago.  We have been busy recently making mats and frames for high school and college diplomas for just about every and any school in the USA.  Just when I thought I was done, Keith brings this large piece of mat board that held a variety of items on it to show me my next assignment.  The project was a collection of Indian relics from along the Susquehanna River which is the biggest river along the east coast which flows through Pennsylvania into the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.  The majority of the items the customer brought in for matting and framing were relics from the Susquehannock Indians.  The Susquehanna Indians lived in nearby Manor Township between 1575 and 1763.  The area along the river where most of the Indians lived was known as Washington Boro.  The artifacts that he bought to the gallery were found prior to the sanitary sewer extension that occurred in Washington Boro in the late 1990s.  The job was perhaps one of the most challenging projects that I have worked on during the 20 plus years I have been working at Grebinger Gallery.  The following photographs will give you an idea what I had to do in order to complete the project for the customers.  I may have missed taking a photo or two, but I believe you can still understand what was involved in this project.

These are the items to be matted and framed.  The two large rocks made it challenging since we would need a large  rather large frame to accommodate the thickness, as well as the weight of the rocks.  Arrowheads, a bracelet, a small rock with score lines on it and printed pages were part of the job.  Keith and I decided that wooden framing pieces would work best to help hold the rocks in place.  The mat that the customer selected is under the pieces.  Click on images to enlarge them.

The frame was a 3" high frame which I cut, glued and placed metal pieces in the corners for extra support.  After placing Museum glass in the frame, I placed foam board pieces with the same mat attached along the side of the project to hold the glass in place.

I once again placed everything in position so I could begin to attach them.  First I glued and screwed the two pieces of framing material to the bottom mat.  They were allowed to dry before I continued.  

To hold the rocks in place we used a netting similar to the veil from a wedding dress.  It is strong and easy to work with.  I had to cut lines above the frames in which I forced the netting through to the back.  To hold the netting in place we used a glue gun and applied an adequate amount of glue to hold the netting in place so the rock wouldn't move.  After doing both rocks, I was ready for the next step.

This shows pulling the netting tight on the back so I could use the hot glue gun.  The two screws you see are holding the framing piece in place.  That framing piece is what I sat the rocks on when gluing.

Here you can see the two rocks have been glued in place.  All the buttons you see were the arrowheads that I attached in place on the front side.  I used clear fishing line to place around the rocks and arrowheads and ran through a single hole I drilled with a small drill bit.  When I pulled the fishing line tight, I threaded the two ends of fishing line through the holes in a button so I could pull them tight and tie them.  As you can see by all the buttons, it took a considerable amount of time to accomplish this step.  You will also notice that to hold it in place I had to use metal tabs along the edge of the job.  I couldn't place the matting inside the frame since the rocks were too thick to allow me to do so.

Here I have attached the backing paper to keep dust and parasites away from the job.  This backing paper needs to be trimmed and the screw eyes placed along the sides to hold the picture wire.

After attaching the wire I placed the logo for the gallery on the back.

The final result!  The two printed items were attached to a piece of black foam board and trimmed before gluing them to the rear mat board.  If you struggle, you can barely see the fishing line, but most people will not see it if they are just looking at the final job.  The project weighted about 10 pounds when finished and looked great!

The "Another Custom Framing Job From Grebinger Gallery" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Working at Grebinger Gallery and Framing in nearby Neffsville, Pennsylvania.  I have written a few times about working part-time for a former student of mine, Keith Grebinger, after I retired from teaching in 1999.  Today, Keith gave me the job of trying to mat and frame a job much like one he did when he first opened his shop in the 1990s.  

Keith's sample he made as an example of what could be done.

As a sample of what he could do for his customers, he designed, cut and framed a series of 1970s Gatorade NFL helmet bottle caps.  Neat job which has hung in his framing gallery since I began working for him after retiring.  A recent customer saw the job Keith had done and loved it.  He found his own set of 1970s Gatorade NFL helmet bottle caps on eBay and purchased them.  

Set of Gatorade NFL bottle caps.

Talked with Keith about what the customer wanted his display to look like and Keith passed it on to me.  I first make a sketch of what the final result should look like and placed measurements on the sketch which were similar to the job Keith had done.  Placed those measurement into a computer program on our mat cutter and in no time had cut the top and bottom mats for the job.  Knowing the size by now, I cut a frame and glued it and after dry, placed metal corner clips in place on the framing machine.  From this point on, I will give you a visual story to make it easier for you to understand what is necessary in  matting and framing something as detailed as what you have seen in the above photograph.

Along with the bottle caps, the customer gave us artwork he wanted included ini his design.

List showing the placement he wanted for his design.

My sketch with measurements to be used to place the idea on the computerized mat cutter.

The computer screen showing the job laid out to match my measurements.

Cutting of the top and bottom mats.  The top was blue suede while the bottom was a red textured mat.

Two mats are fastened together with the logos supplied positioned under the mat.

To give depth to the mat to allow space for the 1/4" high bottle caps, I had to create what you see here.
This is made using foam board that is 1/4" thick. You are looking at the underside of the mat.

The bottom mat is also blue suede.  The bottle caps will be fastened to this layer.

Each bottle cap is fitted with a double layer of black matting foam.  The foam is
glued together, place inside the cap and twisted so it holds under the bottle clips
that hold the cap on the bottle.  At no time do we glue anything onto the bottle
cap which would damage the customers product they brought to us.  

The top and bottom mat boards are placed together with tape and the bottle caps are
placed in the order given to us by the customer.  They are then glued in position.

To help with the positioning, I cut a sample pattern on the mat cutter.
The pattern made sure each row is positioned the same distance apart.
Glue was place on the black units placed inside the caps and glued to the bottom mat board.

The frame is cut on a cut-off saw, glued in clamps and attached together with clips
which are pushed into the frame on this machine.

I didn't take photographs of the cutting of the Museum glass and placing it in the frame.
When placed together, fastened in place with clips, a backing paper added and corner hangers added,
the result should certainly please the customer.  Even I thought it looked great and I"m hard to please. 

The "A Keepsake For A Lifetime" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Christmas morning and we have just returned from our oldest son's home in West Hempfield Township, Lancaster County.  Had a great time watching them open their myriad of Christmas gifts and enjoying breakfast with the family.  It is now time to prepare for the entire family to arrive at noon to have a snack and open more holiday gifts.  There will be ten of us to exchange and open gifts before we celebrate Christmas with an evening meal which will be attended by a few additional guests.  My wife and I decided that this year we would enjoy being able to see each person open their gifts instead of everyone opening gifts at the same time and miss the expressions on faces as they view their gift for the first time.  Most agreed, but it was decided that two people, sitting next to each other, would open their gifts at the same time.  Fine with us, so the onslaught began.  After close to an hour of enjoying smiles and laughs as packages were opened, there was one final package left to open.  

The Mountville Angels.  Click to enlarge
My grandson Caden is standing, center with sunglasses.
My son, Derek helped coach and is on the left.
This was another tournament they won in the summer.

Our grandson Caden was the  recipient of that final gift which was about three feet high and four feet long.  His eyes opened wide when he pulled the paper from the one corner of the package to the other side.  He had the biggest smile when he looked at the entire gift and called for his dad to take a look at it.  Caden has played baseball for several years now and this year was part of the 14U (14 years old and under) Mountville Angels.  They won their division in the regular season and qualified for the LNP (Lancaster Newspaper) Tournament at the end of the year.  This is similar to the World Series, only on a much smaller scale.  Well, his team won the tournament with Caden hitting a homer in one of the games and laying down a perfect squeeze bunt in the bottom of the last inning to tie the game in the finals.  Two innings later his team won the game!  I played in the same tournament in the mid-1950s and Caden's dad played in the tournament in the mid-80s and again a couple of years later and Caden's uncle played in the tournament several times as I coached that team.  

The matted and framed Christmas gift to my grandson Caden. Click to enlarge.

It's a big thrill for anyone to win something such as the LNP Tournament, but to have three generations do so is pretty remarkable.  And, Caden will have a chance once again next year.  Well, the framed momento that I made for Caden was admired and appreciated by everyone.  I was thrilled that I had the opportunity to make the momento, which is filled with mostly newspaper stories from the tournament  and a photo I took of Caden and his mom and dad holding the trophy as well as a few photos taken of him during the tournament.  This will be a great keepsake that he will treasure for his lifetime.  And, I think he just loved it!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Memories To Share Forever!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished framing a rather unique project brought to Grebinger Gallery in Neffsville, Pennsylvania.   The gallery is located a few miles north of Lancaster on Route 501N.  The customer was a young woman who brought her wedding corsage of dried flowers, her head piece, earrings, wedding announcement and lapel corsage that her husband wore at their wedding a few years ago.  She also brought a wooden, unassembled 3/4" thick, oak shadow box she had purchased previously.  It was our job to put the shadow box together, add a frame to the front which she has chosen at the gallery and finish her shadow box with the treasured wedding items she had brought to the gallery.  The photographs that follow will give you an idea how we handled the project and show the results that she received.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The square oak shadow box had to be glued together. 

This is the frame sample that was used and the actual frame that I cut for the job.

To fasten the shadow box I used cardboard guides to make sure it was equal on all four sides.

A special drill bit was used to put the screws into the front frame.  The screws
had to be inside the edge of the box so the inside panels fit tight to the shadow box.

Next I cut a piece of Museum glass to fit the opening in the shadowbox/frame.
Museum glass is both reflection free and conservation approved.

I placed the glass in place in the box. It sat on the lip you can see at the bottom of the shadow box.

Next I placed a layer of 1/4" acid free foam board around the sides of the shadow box.
I did not come the entire way to the bottom of the wooden shadow box so that
I could set the panel holding the momentos brought in by the customer in place. 

This shows the shadowbox with frame in front and glass inside, panels along the sides,
and the two pieces, one a piece of foam board and another the mat she chose, that will be taped and glued together that will hold the mementos 

After joining the front mat board and rear foam board with tape and glue,
I attached the corsage with fishing line.  I chose fishing line so it will be
invisible when viewed.  It is also stronger than thread.  I sewed it top and bottom
under the wrap that holds the bouquet together.  I made two holes at the top
and bottom of the wrap and used the needle and line from the back to go
around the corsage.  Tied it tightly in the rear of the job.

Next came the head piece with ribbon, both held in place with fishing line.  I did
make only one hole in the board for the ribbon and had to run the fishing line through from
the rear, around the ribbon and back through the same hole.  Then had to use a
button with two holes in it to secure it on the rear of the board.

The announcement was placed on a few layers of foam using glue and put in place.

The groom's corsage is prepared for sewing in place on the bottom right of the board.

This is the rear of the foam board showing the plastic threads in place.  Three locations
I had to use buttons to hold the fishing line in place; two on the head piece and one on the corsage.

All the pieces are in place and ready to be put together.

Flower petals are used on the bottom, since the weeding corsage was so brittle that when put
together dropped pieces to the bottom.  By using other petals on the bottom it will look better
if and when the corsage drops more pieces in the future.

Since I have loose petals in the bottom, I can not lay the shadow box on the front.
I must place the kraft paper on the rear while it sits upright.  This cover is placed
on the job to make the rear look good and to keep any critters out of the job.

Metal hangers called wall buddies are attached to the rear on the corners.  This will hold the job
on the wall without the top hanging away from the wall as it would with wire on the back.

Last part of the job is putting the Gallery label and instruction on how to clean the Museum glass.