Welcome to the Spring 2023 issue!
“Spring is the time of plans and projects.”
Leo Tolstoy
I’d say Mr. Tolstoy’s observation is spot on – at least when it comes to Family Legacy Video®!
This Spring, our plans include debuting a new look for our legacy video and audio packaging AND taking to the Tucson airwaves to spread the word about who we are and what we do.
As for projects, you’ll learn about our efforts to share the story of a very special and sacred place.
I hope you enjoy this issue of the Family Legacy Video® e-Newsletter. Please e-mail me at steve@familylegacyvideo.com or phone toll-free (888.662.1294) with any questions or comments you have.
Cheers! – – Steve Pender
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A new look & improved functionality for Family Legacy Video’s packaging.
Family Legacy Video® has always prided itself on the creativity and quality of the custom legacy video and audio productions the firm creates for its clients. Equally important, though, is the quality of the packaging and the media on which those videos are delivered. President Steve Pender has always felt that the final physical presentation should reflect the importance of the life stories stored within.
During the company’s early years, DVDs were king. So, Family Legacy Video’s first offerings featured full-color, custom-designed DVD discs and cases. When standard definition video gave way to high definition, custom Blu-ray discs joined the repertoire.
Then, customers started moving away from discs. Family Legacy Video® adapted to the trend, introducing custom-engraved wood USB flash drives and storage boxes.
Now, the company has stepped up its game again, with a sleek and contemporary flash drive that sports two kinds of USB ports! Video and audio legacies will now come loaded onto custom-engraved crystal USB flash drives featuring both the new Type-C and older Type-A connectors, topped by a brushed gold-colored metal cap. Each drive comes cradled inside a classic black custom-printed box, protected by an outer slip sleeve. This deluxe packaging truly complements, and protects, the priceless life stories it holds.
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Family Legacy Video returns to the airwaves!
If you’re a Baby Boomer living in Tucson, you probably listen to The Drive. That’s the nickname for KDRI AM/FM, the number one station in the Tucson area for listeners 55+. Like most radio stations these days, The Drive also streams its programming, reaching listeners across the US and around the world.
The station prides itself on featuring live talent, music from the sixties through the eighties, a local focus, and limited commercials. And, on March 1, Tucson-based Family Legacy Video® joined the station’s roster of advertisers.
“I produced some radio commercials a few years back, well before The Drive existed,” says Family Legacy Video’s president and legacy video producer Steve Pender. “Unfortunately, there really was no station at the time that effectively reached the demographic I was after. So, I stopped airing the spots, used them in the Legacy Video Lounge podcasts for a while, and then stored the ads in the company archives for use another day. Seeing how well The Drive is doing with Boomers after only a few years on the air, I decided to bring the commercials out of storage and give them another try – this time with KDRI.”
Each heartwarming ad tells a story, while evoking the benefits of legacy videos. Take a listen to one of them:
“I’m a big fan of The Drive,” says Pender. “I’m looking forward to partnering with the station to spread the word about the legacy video and audio services Family Legacy Video® provides.”
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Telling the story of a historic frontier Jewish cemetery.
As a legacy video producer, I usually help individuals and families tell their life stories. But, I’m currently working on a video about a special place – the Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery, located in Douglas, Arizona, just feet from the border with Mexico.
Founded in 1905, Douglas, Arizona, quickly became a bustling place, with an economy fueled by copper smelters, agriculture and border trade. Jewish merchants figured in the town’s economic life from the get-go. By the 1920s, sixty-five percent of the stores in a two-block stretch of G Avenue were run by Jewish entrepreneurs. Douglas even featured Arizona’s only kosher restaurant. The Sons of Israel Congregation established a cemetery to serve the Jewish residents of Bisbee and Douglas. The cemetery’s first burial occurred in 1912. It’s last, in 1963.
Then, for over forty years, the cemetery was nearly forgotten. Weeds choked the grounds, vandals toppled stones, and the Arizona sun and monsoon rains did their damage. Finally, a small group of donors helped finance an effort to rehabilitate the sacred grounds. The results: A sturdy, wrought iron fence with a gate now rings the site; a crushed stone driveway provides a path for maintenance vehicles that keeps them off the plots; steel supports keep formerly toppled tombstones upright; basins dug into the ground capture rainwater that nourishes the indigenous landscaping.
An effort is now underway to raise the funds needed to preserve the cemetery for perpetuity.
That’s where Family Legacy Video® enters the picture. Our job: To create a brief video detailing the history of the cemetery, the restoration efforts so far, and the need for donations to maintain the sacred space going forward. Script writing and production are underway on this very meaningful project.
It just goes to show that places, in addition to individuals, families, and organizations, have stories to tell.
– Steve Pender
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On the Legacy Video Lounge Podcast: Talkin’ Legacy Videos.
If you ever wanted to hear a legacy video pro dish about all aspects of personal history videos, from the benefits to the production process and everything in-between, you’re in luck! You’ll find just what you’re looking for in Episodes 22-25 of the Legacy Video Lounge Podcast’s Talkin’ Legacy Videos series. Each episode features a spirited discussion, during which Family Legacy Video’s president, Steve Pender, responds to legacy video-related questions from Tucson-based writer Elena Acoba. They’ll help you to better understand what legacy videos are all about – and help you get to know the guy who is the driving force behind Family Legacy Video®. You’ll want to listen to these podcasts!