While creating an ad for a local soccer tournaments program, I was having trouble finding a design I liked. Trying to decide whether to settle on this one particular layout I decided to seek advice from a graphic designer friend of mine. This friend works in the graphic design department at Velcro and is very good at what he does. I greatly respect his judgment and value his opinions when it comes to design work. He looked over it and we decided to make some changes, but in the course of that he questioned the benefit I had used as the tagline, "Quality Awards Build Brighter Futures." The conversation we had follows: Mike : I like where you are trying to go with the tag line but I'm not sure quality is the right word... I know why you used it... me : ummmm.... i don't know what to replace it with Mike : but does the quality of the award really play into the accomplishment I guess it does if I think about it me : quality awards that reward the accomplishmen...

There are two kinds of recognition. The effective kind and the ineffective kind. The ineffective kind often finds its way to the trashcan or the back of a shelf fairly quickly. These types of recognition products are often referred to as dust collectors and in the most severe cases trash. Effective recognition inspires and invigorates the receiver to continue to strive to achieve. These types of recognition awards and trophies are often times cherished for a lifetime and the stories of the victory or success is often times repeated again and again. Jimmy Rollins MVP trophy fits this category. I think that Aaron Rowand will be talking about his gold glove for some time. We shouldn't forget that for kids, effective recognition goes great distances towards building brighter futures and is imperative for some youth to keep them striving to try their hardest and keep wanting to come back year in and year out. This is omething that dust collectors can't do and a great reason...

Quakertown Alive is hosting it's 9th annual arts alive festival on Saturday, May 17th. This event is a good time to be had by all and includes a nu mber of things to do that celebrates the arts. With close to 100 artists and crafters and live performances going on all day, downtown Quakertown comes alive on this Saturday to help spread the arts to all. Included in the activities are musical performances, horse drawn carriage rides, magicians and much more. Check out Quakertown Alives Arts Alive page for more information. Hope to see you there! Q uakertown Alive! is a volunteer-driven, non-profit community development organization in Quakertown, Pennsylvania based on the principles of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and its Four-Point Main Street Approach . See "About QA!" at left for additional information.

There are many great things about this time of the year.  The plants are starting to bloom and signs of spring can be seen everywhere. The athletic fields are starting to get used again, and signs of new life are everywhere.  I just want to take the time to remind everyone that we need to practice good sportsmanship and remind all parents that these games are played for the kids enjoyment. It is hardwork to play a long season for everyone involved, and it is even harder to have your kids playing while you are volunteering and coordinating the bigger picture.  As parents we need to realize all the hardwork and dedication the kids put into playing youth sports, and also the parents and volunteers work that goes into getting the kids to practice and the games, and volunteering to help out in  youth sports organizations where it is very desperately needed.  Thank you and your participation and involvement does not go unrecognized.  The smiles on the kids face s...

The Perfect High School Award This plaque is right for the following reasons: Digital Imprinting: This thing is done with the newest technologies to keep your school spirit up to date. Full Color Logo: Gone are the days of the same old engraved award. These plaques utilize technology to bring your award to life. Uses: MVP Awards Scholar Athlete Awards Coaches Awards We here at Bux-Mont Awards have put an awful lot of thought into recognition, and one of the things that diffentiate us from them is our willingness to learn, to adopt new technologies and to not be afraid to fail. We do this for you, our customer, so that you may have the absolute best when it comes to recognition products. Below we will highlight what we have found to be the perfect high school scholar athlete award . Check the full photo set here.

There are many more than five, but these seem to be getting it right. Evaluation is based on sponsorship efforts, child enrollment, and the effectiveness of their recognition program. So here they are in no particular order. Deep Run Soccer : Deep Run Soccer has a tradition of being an excellent club to play for. Their intramural and travel teams have consistently been among the best in the area. Deep run has provided the Pennridge High School teams with many qualified soccer players. They also implemented the TOPS program that enable special needs kids to play organized soccer. Harleysville Soccer : We recently celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the opening of our new Harleysville store and since we have been here we have heard nothing but good things about the Harleysville Soccer Club. Their Previous President wrote a great article about the benefits of volunteering that I posted to this blog and he continues to be instrumental in providing the quality leadership needed ...

I can not begin to tell you how many amazing tastes that were taken in from the many vendors at the show. The Washington House and Sellersville Theater booth offered a great crab bisque to taste while checking out the upcoming lineup at the Theater. Pumpernicks and Houlihans both had samplings of their menu that showed why they are popular spots to visit when eating out. The Texas Roadhouse has it's chili and pulled pork to sample, and the ice cream at Maggie Moos was simply magnificient. The William Penn Inn highlighted the event for me with a sampling of their desert menu. They had these little deserts shaped like espresso cups with little espresso beans on the top that were absolutely worth the wait in line to get them.