September 2022

Page B6 September 2022 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on B By Mike Jamar Your Source for High Quality Funeral Vehicles on my phone, but was not to be found, Marcia said simply, “You need to print them.” At that time and place I realized the immensity of her statement. She is right, I need to start printing our pictures. I know my kids will say they are safe, and they can be saved to the cloud, and any time you need them they are at your fingertips. Plus, they will say, you can also make them a slideshow. I see these slideshows all the time at weddings, birthday parties, and funerals. But as I looked around the room at her life in a tapestry of pictures, I realized that a computer slideshow could not begin to replicate emotion and memories that was on that wall. As I mentioned, my wife took many pictures as we traveled to Idaho. Are these to be like the rest of our pictures, simply snapshots we look at once and then filed away in some soon to be forgotten folder? No, I think it is time to start printing our life’s tapestry. Mike Jamar is founder and co-owner of Advanced Integration Technology. Mike has been working with computers since the early 80s and started Advanced Integration in 1994. Advanced Integration specializes in Internet inventories designed for specialty vehicles and equipment. HearseHub was created through a collaboration between Advanced Integration and Nomis Publications, and is now in its fifth year of service. HearseHub brings together funeral vehicles from a number of dealerships that specialize in high quality funeral vehicles. HearseHub offers funeral directors a large, and easy to shop inventory, of funeral vehicles. You can reach him at Mike@AITAdvantage.com. F U N E R A L H O M E & C E M E T E R Y N E W S w w w . N o m i s P u b l i c a t i o n s . c o m Monthly Columnsonline at We recently took a trip to Idaho. We went to a family event for some friends of ours, at their cabin in McCall. McCall is a very beautiful and scenic location. As I write this I am looking out over the lake from their deck. It is early in the morning, everyone else is asleep – I think that goes for the entire lake as it is very quiet – and the lake is like glass. McCall is about a 23 hour drive from where we live, if you take the Interstate Highways. Interstates may be the fastest, but they are also the most boring. I won’t go into details about the trip, but we drove the scenic route, passing through South Dakota and Wyoming, and adding uncounted hours to our trip. We saw mountains, gorges, beautiful rivers, picturesque towns, interesting rock formations, antelope, buffalos, and so much more. I had forgotten how big and beautiful our country is, in many places. My wife took many pictures along the way, but I know it is not possible to capture what we saw and experienced in a picture. The trip was for a surprise party planned for our friend’s mother, Marcia, as she was turning 90. She is still as spry and beautiful as she ever was. The children and grandchildren had started planning this party several months ago. They had gone through Marcia and her husband Don’s many photo albums and pulled out many of the more memorable pictures. These they planned on putting up around the room, as a kind of a tapestry of her life. But the plans were more elaborate than that! As a twist, everyone attending the party had to come dressed as one of the pictures. Those that could not attend were still included, as they were asked to send in pictures of themselves dressed as one of the pictures, so they could be part of the celebration. It was quite a party, as well as quite a trip down memory lane for Marcia and Don, seeing pictures they had not seen in years. The pictures included friends, moments and places long gone. I had the opportunity to ask her about some of them. She would pause as she looked at each photo, you could tell she was reliving some part of that picture, before she went on to tell the circumstances of it. But words could never describe the feelings, emotions and memories that are included with those past times. We were privileged to be the only non-family members at the party. We have been close friends with one of her daughters, Annie, and her husband Glen, for years, and they had long accepted us as part of the family. A very high honor indeed. During the party, Marcia asked if we had any pictures of the four of us. I’m sure that was brought on by the many pictures on the wall, which included a couple that was very close friends of theirs, very similar to our relationship with Annie and Glen. I showed her some of them from my phone. But, as almost always happens, a picture I wanted to show her was just not to be found. As I pondered her question over the next few days, I thought about all the places and experiences the four of us have had. I know there were pictures taken, but none had ever seen the light of day. They are only shining pixels on our respective phones. I also thought about all the pictures we have lost or misplaced on our phones. How many of those pictures may now be gone forever? We still have the memories, but memories fade. How many times have you run across a picture, long forgotten, and in that moment, you are taken back to that time and place? Without that picture, that memory, like the picture, may be gone forever. During one of my searches I for a photo just knew was Memories Revisited in Photographs The late J. Caulton Mays founded MAYS Printing in 1946 in Detroit, MI after serving as an original member of the Historic Tuskegee Airmen. The second-generation CEO was passed to his son, Professor James C. Mays; who in turn, passed the baton to his daughter, Elizabeth Mays, the current CEO. As a nationally recognized obituary printer, MAYS Multimedia has developed a state-of–the-art online obituary website dedicated to legacy programs including nationwide delivery. Families can place orders 24/7/365 days a year. Services include uploading copy, photos and selection of various programs. Their services also include online proofing, professional editing, and personal QR Codes printed on programs along with online placement to share with family and friends worldwide. Customers are able to save up to 20 percent off the publishing prices when ordering online. MAYSMultimedia offers 5-Star AwardWinning Graphic Design Services. Print ready digital program files can be sent directly to the customer or to a local printer for reproduction. MAYS’ newest product is Legacy Books, which are perfectly bound books for memorial services. They are full production paperback books in full color with laminated covers. These books that normally require weeks to print, are now available within days. Our theme: “Everyone’s Life Story Is A Book.” MAYS offers full production of programs, ranging from 50 to 50,000 copies. The largest production program produced was for the late Rosa Parks. That historic project gave MAYS international recognition as a major commercial printer. Her obituary production run of 50,000 programs was produced within days for the memorial service in Detroit as well as delivery to churches and organizations nationwide. For information and to place online orders, visit www.MaysMedia.us or call/text 248-281-6524. Continued from Page B1 MAYS Printing & Multimedia Celebrates Chosen Payments Acquired by Corsair Capital TEMPE,AZ— Chosen Payments has been acquired by Corsair Capital. The prominent credit card processor has been a fixture in the funeral industry for nearly a decade. Chosen Payments has working partnerships with many funeral industry associations. The company serves as the endorsed credit card processor for members of the Washington, Virginia, Missouri, and Illinois Funeral Directors Associations. They also have a strong working relationship with the California Funeral Directors Association. Chosen Payments has been a past sponsor of the NFDA and ICCFA annual conventions as well as sponsoring state and regional funeral industry meetings. Chosen Payments and its parent company, Aurora Payments recently announced both had been acquired by Corsair Capital. Aurora Payments was founded in 2005 and serves as a network of processing, technology, software development and payment services. In 2018, Aurora acquired Chosen Payments. The company is headquartered in Tempe, AZ and serves more than 29,000 merchants with a combined annual processing of $10 billion. Chosen Payments offers convenient payment solutions for families including text-to-pay invoicing, website payments, in-home payments through a mobile app and integration with popular industry software. The technology-based merchant services provider excels in helping funeral professionals accept electronic payments. Chosen Payments and Aurora Payments will continue to be led by payments industry veteran, Brian Goudie who formerly worked at FiServ, the largest processor in the world. Aurora Payments offers unmatched industry knowledge and capabilities and provides top level, United States based world-class support. Chosen Payments has long been recognized as a leader in payments for the funeral industry with offices in various states nationwide. Each company will continue to operate under their respective brands while combining powerful marketing and technology synergies. The merger with Corsair Capital delivers a new capital partner with a well-respected name in financial services. Chosen Payments specializes in serving the death care industry. www.nomispublications.com call 1-800-321-7479 or visit www.NomisPublications.com To Place Your Classified Ad ADS Classified Online Scan QR for our website 1-888-792-9315 • mymortuarycooler.com Mortuary Coolers starting at $5,899

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