Are you ready for Red Ribbon Week?

This year’s Red Ribbon Week is coming up!  From October 23-31, Red Ribbon Week, the nation’s largest annual drug prevention campaign, will take place in schools and community centers across the country. For 25 years Red Ribbon Week has helped to preserve Special Agent Kiki Camarena’s  memory and further the cause for which he gave his life.

Here at Hodges Badge, we’ve designed new red ribbons, a new multicolor flag wristband, and a new multicolor ribbon in honor of Special Agent Camarena.

 Any ribbon or roll with one of our 30 stock designs can be customized with your school or sponsor’s name.   Take a look at our full range of Drug-Free products on our website.

While pinning red ribbons certainly makes a statement, what else can you do?  The National Family Partnership has designed a planning guide, which includes ideas such as decorating your classroom’s door, having a red shirt day, or having a poster contest or essay contest. 

If you need a current Red Ribbon Week flyer, or have any questions, contact us at info@hodgesbadge.com

It’s Back! 3W Rosette Special

Earlier this spring we had a promotion that turned out to be quite popular.  Due to customer request, we have brought back the 3W Rosette Special.  From now through November 30, all Empire3W, Ideal3W, and Trent3W rosettes are on sale.  These are our classic rosettes with a twist to cut costs.  They feature a white gold rim center with any stock logo, a white center streamer with customized gold print and the rosette top and side streamers in your place color.

Your custom print cannot change from ribbon to ribbon (that means no placing or divisions can be printed).  Thinking of ordering multicolor or specialty side streamers?  Add them to your 3W rosette (standard charges apply) to take advantage of the savings.

In a hurry?  Rush orders can still take advantage of this offer.

Have a question? Leave a comment, send an email to info@hodgesbadge.com, or call Customer service at 800-556-2440.

Reminder- Equestrian $2500 Cover Contest

For readers that have been following the blog for a few months, I apologize for the repeat, but for those of you that are new, I’d like to remind you all about our 2011 Equestrian Catalog Cover Contest.  Yes, entries must be postmarked by October 1st, which as of this posting, is a week from Friday.  The first prize (cover) photo gets $2500, and ten Honorable Mention photos will be featured inside the catalog and receive $100 each.

Here are the details:

Each entry must be the owner’s own photograph and must show a Hodges Badge Company rosette, ribbon or sash.  Photos cannot be altered, retouched, or enhanced.  Digital photography is fine, but you still must mail a print of the photo.  Multiple entries per person will be accepted. 

For full, legal rules and an entry form, visit: http://64.14.24.22/images/art/CoverContest2011.pdf  We’d also be happy to answer your questions- just send an email to info@hodgesbadge.com with “Cover Contest” in the subject line.

Hodges Supports Local Therapeutic Riding Group

For several years, Hodges has supported a local therapeutic riding group, Ponies as Partners, with ribbons and medals for program participants.  I was curious to find out more about the program, so I spoke with its Director, Sabina Silvia, who filled me in and shared some photos (below). 

Since 2005, Ponies as Partners has offered equine therapies to children and adults at their Middletown, R.I. farm.  They currently work with Tiverton High school, the Portsmouth School Department, and other Aquidneck Island agencies serving special needs individuals. 

During the summer, Ponies as Partners offers a summer program to Looking Upwards, a local nonprofit agency working with children with special healthcare needs.  The students not only receive assitance riding, but also frequently “make a connection” with an animal grooming and doing ground activities. At the end of the eight week program, there is an awards ceremony for campers and their families, during which all of the students who participated at the farm receive certificates and medals.  

“The kids are really proud of the progress they made during the summer and the medals gives them a tangible symblol of their success.  They hold on to their prize and proudly show it off to whomever is close by” said Silvia.  “It makes me smile to see the faces of the children as they chat about the farm and the horses” she added. 

Some students make use of the wheelchair ramp and special high-backed saddle

 

    

It takes a full team of ground support to assist many riders

 

The instructors end up having just as good a time as the students

 

at the Awards Ceremony

Have you “liked” us on Facebook?

Shameless bit of self-promotion here.  Hope you don’t mind…

If you haven’t already “liked” Hodges Badge Company on Facebook yet, head on over and check out our page.  It’s where all the tidbits of Hodges and award-related information goes that isn’t quite hefty enough to make a full blog post.  Just this week we posted:

• A link to a New York Times article about the Yorktown Grange Fair where you could see some Hodges ribbons.
• Our weekly Friday Funny- this one goes out to our agility and dog enthusiasts.  Check out previous weeks for fair and equine funnies.
• A sneak peek at a very special equestrian order we have put together (I’m not saying- you’ll have to check it out for yourself)
• That our blog post on awards and ribbons of decades past was part of September’s Blog Carnival of the Horse.
•  A dress covered in rosettes.  You never know what you’re going to find!

Visit to the Spencer (Mass.) Fair

This past weekend was a great time in New England to spend with family. Our E-Commerce Manager Jenn headed to a local fair and decided to share her experience:

Over the weekend, we headed to the Spencer Fair to enjoy the exhibits, rides, competitions and awesome food. Italian sausage, my favorite, for some reason never tastes better than at the fair!

We started off early to avoid the crowds. After all the Spencer Fair is Central Massachusetts’ largest fair and one of the oldest agricultural fairs in Massachusetts.

I dragged the kids to the agricultural exhibits first before they could go off and have their fun. The exhibits were pretty extensive from Adult Arts & Crafts to Youth Eggs.

I wasn’t even thinking about “work” but as soon as I walked in to the exhibit hall I realized that ribbons and awards are part of my life. I knew right off that Hodges supplied their awards. Hodges ribbons were everywhere and they were beautiful, a great compliment to all the hard work in that exhibit hall.

I was pretty proud to be part of the fair in my own small way and of course I had to show off the rosettes and flat ribbons to my family, proudly turning them over to reveal the Hodges name.

I only took a few photos but they don’t do the fair justice. For more click here

Web Special- Round Weighted Base Trophy

For one week only (September 1-7) our new Round Weighted Base Trophy is available on the web for the special price of $5.95.  Choose any top and design your own free engraving!  For those of you that may not have read our new athletic catalog or checked out the new trophies, there are figurines available for just about every sport (from riding to volleyball to bowling and everything in between), as well as tops for academic achievement, music, dance and other activities.

The trophy discount is only available on the web, and cannot be combined with any other offers. Standard minimum order still applies.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesistate to contact Customer Service at 1-800-556-2440.