Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451382
3 8 G R A P H I C S P R O • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M A P P A R E L D E C O R A T I N G 3 8 G R A P H I C S P R O • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M S O F T W A R E T O S U B S T R A T E Printing found himself in a pickle once again over Father's Day. We asked him to share the experience and tell us how it went down from his perspective, as the situation went from bad to worse. Here's his lightly edited version below. It was a Wednesday. I had just lost my last artist. So, I was relying on friends in the business to help me get through this difficult time. We were trying to output separations for one of the largest events we do all year called the Festival of Hope. For many years, we have printed the merchandise for this event in support of those unfortunate people bat- tling cancer. This event is near and dear to my heart and the organizer is Ty's, my nephew and right-hand man, grandma. We couldn't get the printer to work to output film separa- tions. It was out of one of the color cartridges. Shouldn't have been a problem. My artists were trained to always keep extra on hand. Well, that was not the case this time. So, I called the factory to get a cartridge sent to us overnight. They didn't have any. I went to Amazon, but they wouldn't be delivered until Saturday. Did me no good. But if I bought all 10 car- tridges, I could take delivery on Thursday. So, I paid $850 plus freight. Thursday morning, I tracked the package, and it hadn't even shipped yet. So, I called my longtime friend in the industry Lon Winters. I asked him if he can output some stuff for me. He says, "We don't use film anymore. But I may be able to find someone who does." He finds an awesome lady in Arkansas. Tracy from Running Threads – a friend of Lon's. She made the films and took them to FedEx for arrival first thing Friday. We tracked this package, and its last scan was in Memphis the night before. So, I drove to my FedEx to see what the deal was. The plane broke down. I called Lon back and begged him to make screens. He informs me he headed to see his daughter in Sidney, Nebraska, which is only an hour away from my shop. This was perfect. I could meet him. He talked with Jason to make sure they even have enough screens. They were able to image 11 screens for me, which was all of the Festival of Hope and the Father's Day baseball tournament screens for the scheduled events over the weekend. I met Lon, his wife Jane, and Jaxx, their Siberian Husky puppy, in the Cabela's parking lot and drove back to Scottsbluff. I got to the shop at 5:30 and started the Festival of Hope job that finished at 4:30 the next morning. After a 22-hour day, we got two hours sleep, and headed back to the shop to print the Father's Day shirts. We sold out of two locations. Ty and I cut and heat transferred names and numbers on over 500 shirts over the weekend from 8 a.m. Saturday until 4 p.m. Sunday. Without Lon as my great friend and colleague, I would The Father's Day Classic is an annual baseball tradition. After a 22-hour day ensuring the project could be completed, Scottsbluff Screen Printing got two hours sleep, then headed back to the shop to print the Father's Day shirts.