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The Tip is 'Where They're Proud' I recently saw an ad in our local newspaper for a big box home improvement store. Their newspaper ad had USA made products and American flags all over it. Several weeks later, I checked the ad again and sure enough they were still advertising their American made products. It was obvious they are proud to carry products Made in America. Their competitors made no mention of things Made in America. I have been to this store and asked what products are made in the USA? A clerk told me they primarily carry imports. Obviously they are not proud. I now realize you can buy many Made in the USA building supplies, including tools Made in USA and appliances Made in USA., in stores that are proud to carry brands Made in the USA. Here is another example of a store proudly carrying products Made in the USA. I was shopping for men's shoes in a local department store when I tried on three different pairs of shoes. I couldn't decide which pair I wanted so I went out on a limb and asked the clerk, "Are these shoes imports?" The salesman said "yes they are" so I asked, "Do you have any Made in America shoes like these?". To my surprise he said, with GREAT PRIDE, "yes sir, we have a whole line of Made In USA shoes". He brought me the same color and style with the Made in USA label. These Made in America shoes were less expensive, came with a better warranty, and were more comfortable. Looking for companies that are PROUD is simple and can have a great impact on our country. I encourage you to try this some time- just ask. You will love it when you realize you are making a difference that all of us will benefit from. With your help America will be ours again and that is a good thing. Buying Tip Continued - Read more on Made in America Products by Trappist Caskets In July 1849, Abbot Dom Bruno led a small group of Roman Catholic monks from Mount Melleray Abbey in County Waterford, Ireland to their newly acquired property southwest of Dubuque, Iowa. Taken by the beauty of its densely wooded hills and open prairie, he named the place, Our Lady of New Melleray. The ravages of the Irish Potato Famine caused these pioneering members of our community to seek a place in America. Bishop Mathias Loras, who ministered to Catholics in an expanse that ran from the Mississippi River to the Missouri River and north to Canada, offered 500-acres of land and support to help establish our community. Combined with our own investment in another 560 acres ? which at that time sold for $1 per acre ? over time it became known as New Melleray Abbey. For more than 160 years, we have experienced the ebb and flow of good times and bad, from surviving our first frigid Iowa winters and near starvation to lucrative sales of grain and livestock and the construction our landmark limestone buildings. We have lived a life of self-sufficiency, relying on the land to grow our food and at times provide crops and animals for sale and stone and timber for building. We are Trappists ? also known as Trappistines ? members of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, and can trace our roots back 900 years to France. We follow the ancient monastic Rule of St. Benedict and lead a sequestered life of silent prayer, community liturgy, and manual labor. The life of a Trappist monk ? which begins each day with morning prayer at 3:30 a.m. ? is guided by the mandate to, Let nothing be preferred to the work of God. We live simply and support ourselves by the work of our hands. To that end, New Melleray Abbey launched Trappist Caskets in 1999, when we began selling caskets and urns directly to families at wholesale costs. Our casket business is a sacred ministry and a corporal work of mercy. Though it provides a vital source of income for our community, we are not a high volume manufacturer. We work at a monastic pace, paying close attention to detail. Our skilled craftsmen employ old-world techniques that have been perfected through generations ? producing caskets and urns of unique quality. A Trappist monk ringing bells to signal beginning of monastic activities Throughout the course of a day, the sound of bells call us to prayer, to spiritual reading, to manual labor, or to simple enjoyment of the company of our brothers. We were sustainable before it became a strategic marketing term. Since the beginning, we have been guided by the spiritual mandate to practice responsible stewardship of God's natural creation, even if it means less profit or slower production. We harvest only as much wood as we can responsibly glean from our 1100 acre forest, acquiring the rest from like-minded sources. We manage our forest to be a diverse eco-system and plant far more trees than we will ever harvest. In fact, a new tree is planted as a living memorial to every person who uses a Trappist casket or urn. To learn more about New Melleray Abbey please visit: www.newmelleray.org If you would like to learn more about the Trappist order, please visit www.trappists.org |
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