The Akeley Stone Revisited

Well isn't that strange. A bit over 6 years ago, John contacted many of us. He was soliciting a donation of a minimum of $100 and that would pay for the stone as well as having the donors name engraved into a single brick which would then be placed around the memorial. I bought a brick.
Two years later (2019) my fiance' and I drove to Niagra Falls. When we readied to leave she said she'd always wanted to visit Cooperstown and see the bust of her old boyfriend, Warren Spahn. So we headed across New York. On the way, I saw the Akeley's hometown was about 30-40 miles north of the interstate. I called John about visiting the grave and he told me to call this lady. I did. No answer. I called John back and he gave me another number. No answer. I'm 3-4 hours into a ride and I got no answer to multiple calls and several messages. I get to town and I called John. I told him no one had called but since I was there, he could direct me to the stone. (Just as a note, the town has a HUGE cemetery. Some of the intricate stones are dated in the 1700s. It is divuded by a highway with the old area on the east side snd the modern on the west.) and he did. I was appalled. The stone was beautiful but it set on the very southern edge under a small tree, but the grounds were unkempt and there wasn't a brick in sight.
I took photos and posted them here. I asked where all the bricks were and started a shitstorm. The curator lambasted me as not understanding she had a life and hadn't been able to set the bricks herself or to get anyone to help her. John skewered me and screamed I was "dead to him" before slamming the phone down. About a month later, a picture appeared with all the bricks. None of them were inset, however and the photo conspicuously show my brick being the absolutely farthest from the memorial (I suppose karma didn't tell them by placing my brick there, my name would be the very FIRST seen and not the last as intended.)
Now I see a picture of a nice memorial with nice stones setting in a manicured area. Hmmm, wonder where all those donor bricks got to???

 

I was thinking the same thing before I read your post.

 

The first is the photo I posted when I went to Cooperstown and the second was sent to me a month later. See if you can find my brick.

 

The brick arrangement could be a monument by its self with the names of some of the greatest people involved in taxidermy of our time. I wish it was there for others to see.

 

It is unless they removed it.

 

Joe, I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure it's not cold enough for Hell to have been frozen over. I spent 30 years at a job where integrity and honesty were expected of everyone. I have an excellent memory but know that if I always tell the truth, I'll never have to worry about what I've said.
These days I sit on the board of directors at an Air Force museum for carrier airplanes. We survive on the generosity of patrons but most of all, on donors. When we solicit them, both parties understand their roles. When we get a donation, we acknowledge it with a certificate. We are a 501c(3) organization so we send them a receipt for tax purposes. If they donate a brick on our "Honors Walk" we send them a picture of the brick and one of the walk marking the location of their brick. We then post, quarterly, in our "Hangar Digest" their names. You see, that's how professionals do business.
Now John and Melissa both have personal ties to Akely and his legacy. They took on this project as a personal desire. They reached out to others. We all knew it was a project of limited scope with no tax credit and likely no publishing of gratitude. Yet we were promised that the monument honoring Akeley (he's actually buried in Africa for many of you who don't know) would be placed in his hometown along with bricks showing the appreciation for them making the wishes of John and Melissa come true. Each of us did our part. There was even a small ceremony where those of us who could make it could see the stone set in place.
When I went there, I had no preconceived notions. When I found it, I was a bit surprised that it looked as if nothing had taken place in the time since the stone was set. It was pretty obvious, from my photos that none of the bricks had been set either.
I know $100 isn't much by today's standards but after gifting it, I at least expected to see some return for what I'd been promised. So I just asked the question.
Instead of giving me an answer, both individuals unsheathed their claws. John has always been an honored friend who knew my ethics. I knew nothing of Melissa except what I'd been told. If you read my post, you'll see an exact chronology of events that neither of them can deny.
Now 5 years later you bring up an issue that was of their making. Obviously questions still remain as to "Where is the brick garden."
Now, IN MY VIEW, there are 2 apologies that are 5 years overdue apologizing; neither of which are mine. These 2 used our money without appreciation or recognition to advance their dream. I've donated thousands of dollars to personal "good causes" but have never been shown the disrespect of this one. And now Joe, you add a third party to that insult. I won't hold my breath waiting for that admission.

 

It is a nice stone, but, not to beat the proverbial dead horse, the stones that were promised need to be there. I have donated a sum to the new Anchorage Mushing District being built in Anchorage, AK. With each $500 or $300 donation to the project I have made, there will be an engraved bronze disc inset into the walkway through the area that shows my support. When I get back there, I intend to walk and look for my medallions. I donated money to build a boardwalk in a town here so folks could now access a beach that had almost no way to get there but for a few. That donation included a plank on the structure across the marsh with an engraving of my choice into the wood. If I never got to AK or visited the finished boardwalk, I would never know if what I was promised as a perk for my support was ever done. But, not doing so would just be disrespectful of all the people that showed they cared. Honestly, the big block of bricks is kind of ugly. Might be prettier if they were arranged in a circle around the stone.

 

I had to get after one of our church board trustee members at the last church council meeting. We have been sitting on a donation from an elderly member for a building project for over a year. I told him we need to get it done before she dies so she can see her gift in use. (She is in her 90's)

I don't have a dog in this fight, but over 6 years to get some bricks in the ground is inexcusable if you are going to take on a project with donated money. Volunteers or not.

 

Can't believe I'm reading what I'm seeing. Everyone talks about young generation being selfish and needing participation trophies. Whatever happened to doing something nice or the right thing without the fame and glory. Just because it's doing the right thing ? If I'm doing something for someone or something I don't want anyone to know about it and I keep it to my self . That's a memorial for a dead guy not yourself. If you need to attach yourself to someone else and ride there coattails then by all means write a book about them. When my grandpa died and I paid for his grave I didn't put my name or likeness on anything . Donations come from the heart not as a transaction,I give you this you give me that

As an aside not to hero worship the guy did some great stuff . But there should be more focus on others currently making innovative changes. No one remembers in the general public who invented the lightbulb ,but they remember who brought it to market for the masses to afford and have in there daily lives.

 

well....if the bricks are not being displayed as promised. then the money for those bricks must be returned.

its a really nice looking memorial, well done, but......it wasnt done as promised

 

I'm assuming you've never actually been a part of a contract (either written, verbal, or implied.) You've obviously never contributed to a non-profit fund. Your statement is silly if you had. I'd have gladly donated to this project with no expectations. Yet when approached, the brick was offered as an incentive, not something I'd asked for. At that point, the brick became part of the verbal contract. I daresay none of us even got a letter of thanks. So go play your little shaming gang on someone who didnt expect a promise not to be held in the same regard that the gift.

 

This is something the main taxidermy suppliers should paid for a way of showing respect anyway looks awesome, hope the you all get the bricks soon.

 

Joe, I'm not taking anything from Akeley like you're taking away from the industry today. Akeley was still boiling skeletons and building armatures. He was using glass blobs "that followed you around the room", jawsets made from the real bones, and using chemicals (like arsenic soap) that would have your property condemned as a toxic waste site. Today's innovators were taxidermists who diversified into other fields and seldom get credit. According to Larry Blomquist, Richard Christifo was the first person to carve out a septum on a deer mount. Then there's Archie Phillips who first used foam, Tohickon who converted human glass eye quality into animals, Rick Krane who combined cosmetic tints, colored pencils, and chalks into painting fish, Steve Steinbring brought epoxies and super glue. We don't know who brought in paint-on tans or cast duck heads (but we should.) Guys like Calley Morris revolutionized turkey mounting while Brian Hendricks gave "snap together " a new meaning. And let's not forget J.W. Elwood who created dreams in every young hunter with Calorex or Burt VanDyke for creating a source of "everything" in one catalog that also taught those young guys with product narratives decades before the internet. Akeley was an exceptional self- promoter and might well have been ahead of his time, be he wasn't the last in an exceptually long line of people he wouldn't even recognize today.

 

Who ever came up with that bird fleshing rake from Research Mannikins is owed a huge about of gratitude from me.

 

Works for me on deer and mammals also.

 

George, I'm not doubting you one bit, however shed some more history into that. I was always told and thought that the first to use foam was Sam Touchstone.
Regardless of did or didn't, Sam should have made your list. Nothing was better back then and today still hasn't been bested.
"Bess Maid Presertive "
Another that was ahead of there time, sadly it just didn't catch on. Today with the cost of foam, his approach should be looked at again
My Chandler of Jackson Mississippi. With his hollow deer head mankins.
Some may grimace with the mention of Mr Dan Chases name. But back in the 1980s his catalog of supplies was second to none. What transpired way later was just a bad misjudgement on his part. Everyone in millisecond forgot all the good that he had done. I knew him personally, and haven't forgotten!!