Pen for the President

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JohnGreco

JohnGreco

Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
740
Location
Sewell, NJ 08080
After being asked to make pens for Prince Harry and Gov. Christie, I was recently commissioned to make a pen for President Obama. That's the good part. The not so good was that I had a day and a half to stabilize the wood, turn and finish the pen and get it engraved. It's not as perfect as I'd like a pen for the President (or anyone who gets one of my pens for that matter) to be, but it was ultimately this or nothing. For all I know, it may never even be taken out of its case LOL.

The picture is an HDR image with 5 EV steps at -2, -1, 0, +1, +2. Made from a piece of Seaside Heights, NJ boardwalk wood (which it is sitting on in the picture), to be presented to the President Tuesday by the Mayor. Thanks for looking :)
 

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Having made pens that were presented to the likes of George Schultz and Henry Kissinger as well as the Vietnamese Ambassador to the US, I know what an honor it is. These are historic personages regardless if you agree with their politics or not.

good job and enjoy the honor.
 
Russianwolf said:
Having made pens that were presented to the likes of George Schultz and Henry Kissinger as well as the Vietnamese Ambassador to the US, I know what an honor it is. These are historic personages regardless if you agree with their politics or not.

good job and enjoy the honor.
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Thank you, I have to agree with you, it is a shame that I am getting messages from people saying this pen is being wasted.
 
That's cool, The best I can do in that category is I handed a drink to President Giscard d'Estaing of France back in the 80s when his daughter went to CMU...
 
Seriously? HDR? You don't need HDR to take photo's of a pen.

1 1/2 days to stabilize and turn the pen? They really do not appreciate your talent if that is all the time they gave you. Couple that where they are going should be good reason enough to turn down the offer, and no that is not political minded.
 
Really?

Congratulations on your pen a fine example of cooperation between friends for a true purpose.
I view your pen with admiration because it shows from a seemingly ordinary boardwalk such impressive grain and character can be revealed.

A great pity I felt compelled to start with Really? I address the maker whom I salute and the Pen I commend in every way in character. I deplore any attempt to denigrate your efforts and sincerity. Of course from so many thousands of miles away you may conclude what do I know well quite a lot really enough to know and separate facts from fiction.

Best of regards to you as the maker your friends with the historic timber, the presentation and honesty of your motives and abilities, may you prosper in that land of the free.

Kind regards Peter.
 
Still think its a great pen and a great story. Who cares what anyone thinks about the man in the position. It's still an honor to turn a pen for the position. Good on you.

Plus should t opinions in him be moved to casual conversation? And I think I remember reading something about those kind of comments and not being cool in here. :)

Plus imagine the power that pen might hold signing bills into law and what not!
 
edstreet said:
Seriously? HDR? You don't need HDR to take photo's of a pen.

1 1/2 days to stabilize and turn the pen? They really do not appreciate your talent if that is all the time they gave you. Couple that where they are going should be good reason enough to turn down the offer, and no that is not political minded.
Click to expand...

I was having trouble getting a good set of both low and high tones, so yes- I went with HDR. Can a better photographer get the shot without it? Probably, but I'm a pen maker, not a photographer :biggrin:

The 1 and a half days is because they will not release his itinerary far in advance. As of writing this, we still do not know for sure he will be in Seaside Hts, only hoping that he will be because Prince Harry and Governor Christie were there recently.

I'm not sure what to think about the "where they are going part". I'm a NJ native. My mother directly experience Sandy's devastation (fortunately my wife, children and I were safe). Many parts of NJ are still trying to rebuild, I'm sorry if you don't think it is...worth rebuilding? I'm not entirely sure what you are getting at aside from a shot at my home state.

Frankly, I'm quite amazed at the backlash this has generated towards so far me, my work, and now seemingly my state. Looks like I need some time away from IAP.
 
I have many bad things to say about people that would PM just to bash you for this. If you need time away that's what you need. I won't knock you for it.

Again great pen. I hope he does come through so you can have that honor.

This place is about pens everyone not politics. Who cares whom he gives a pen to. I'd personally love to give a pen to many world leaders. Imagine all the high end pen orders!
 
beck3906 said:
Certain rules go into effect for gifts to public officials.

PRESIDENTIAL GIFTS: THEIR HANDLING AND LEGAL STATUS

Obama
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Just to add to this and it's not intended as a dig against you so please don't take it like that. First hand I can tell you that the man gets so much stuff handed to him that the vast majority of it gets left in the limo for the limo yard staff to clear out. This typically ends up in a box in the corner of the shop and from there...well, anyway. While a nice gift and idea, if you want it to be used you're better off getting it to a senator or governor. I would have done this long ago if I thought it would be a cherished gift and not left out in a box or handed off to a staff member.

Nice pen though!
 
Nice pen, nice job! And CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Don't let the detractors and their PM's get you down, they are the ones that need to go away, not you.

Again, congrats and nice job.
 
In politics - as in life - most of us tend to focus on the negative and forget to focus on what's great. John ( and others) regardless of your politics this is a huge honor. And very few on this board I imagine have had a comparable opportunity.

Is some of it knowing the right people - most certainly. But that only gets you in the door, if your portfolio does not meet the standard you will not be selected. Period.

THIS IS A HUGE HONOR please enjoy the support of those congratulating you! Recognize those who are calling this a waste either as an undeserving recipient, an unappreciative recipient or some other complaint as saying far more about the commentator than your work.
 
I don't get some of you guys.

John tells us about his great honor, and you stomp all over his happy post.

From telling him that he didn't need to use HDR to take a good photo, to pointing out that the pen will end up in a box in the limo garage for whomever to take home, you've done an excellent job of raining on his parade.

There are some cases where mom's old adage applies; "If you don't have something nice to say, ZIP IT." There are plenty of cases where constructive criticism or even a dressing down is called for, but this ain't it.

So, John:

You made a gorgeous pen from beautiful, historic wood.
The photo is great no matter what you did to create it.
It's a honor to make a pen destined for the President of the United States.
You should be mighty proud of all those accomplishments.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing it with us.
 
I wanted to comment on the pen. I like the great big knot on the barrel. It gives the pen a lot of character. Its amazing how an old piece of dock lumber can look when its been worked over.

And you should be proud that you got the call to make a gift which will represent your city. Congrats.
 
Great!

Congratulations, on being chosen for such an honor. It is a unique privilege to be considered a capable enough artist to produce an item for such a distinction. The pen itself looks just great and who cares how you got the picture, it shows the pen just fine. My hat is off to you.

That being said I think the you could have omitted the post referring to derogatory PM's you received. That has no place in this thread.
 
Congratulations John. Its an honor to make something for the president, whomever they might be! This is a pen making site ,not a political site.

Paul
 
As has been said many times you can't fix stupid or ignorance. What an honor.
JohnGreco said:
Russianwolf said:
Having made pens that were presented to the likes of George Schultz and Henry Kissinger as well as the Vietnamese Ambassador to the US, I know what an honor it is. These are historic personages regardless if you agree with their politics or not.

good job and enjoy the honor.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I have to agree with you, it is a shame that I am getting messages from people saying this pen is being wasted.
Click to expand...
 
JohnGreco said:
edstreet said:
Seriously? HDR? You don't need HDR to take photo's of a pen.

1 1/2 days to stabilize and turn the pen? They really do not appreciate your talent if that is all the time they gave you. Couple that where they are going should be good reason enough to turn down the offer, and no that is not political minded.
Click to expand...

I was having trouble getting a good set of both low and high tones, so yes- I went with HDR. Can a better photographer get the shot without it? Probably, but I'm a pen maker, not a photographer :biggrin:

The 1 and a half days is because they will not release his itinerary far in advance. As of writing this, we still do not know for sure he will be in Seaside Hts, only hoping that he will be because Prince Harry and Governor Christie were there recently.

I'm not sure what to think about the "where they are going part". I'm a NJ native. My mother directly experience Sandy's devastation (fortunately my wife, children and I were safe). Many parts of NJ are still trying to rebuild, I'm sorry if you don't think it is...worth rebuilding? I'm not entirely sure what you are getting at aside from a shot at my home state.

Frankly, I'm quite amazed at the backlash this has generated towards so far me, my work, and now seemingly my state. Looks like I need some time away from IAP.
Click to expand...


Believe me it is not you. I recently took the same abuse but right in the open forum. I too am from NJ. People just do not realize what devistation took place all up and down the coast and also inland because of tributaries and rivers. My sister had 8 feet of water in her house and her neighbor lost the entire basement. All this adds to costs that Fema or any insurance companies will not pay. Money does come out of homeowner's pockets.

I would like to see the President sign more bills to dedicate even more money to this state without all the pork attached to it. Love to see him use that pen too. :smile:

Nice pen. Glad to see some of the boardwalks coming back to life. But the surrounding areas will take a long time especially when the local governments can't make up their minds as to the regulations they want to put in place. Makes it hard for the homeowners to do anything because they do not know what the rules will be. Too much feet dragging as usual.
 
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What this site needs is a "block" feature.

ANYONE who has sent John any kind of message that hasn't been "good words and well wishes" needs to be blocked. Personally, I wouldn't want to be associated with anyone like that. (I have enough faults of my own.)

John, Please ignore the simple minded people. Don't let them waste your time.

I also want to say that Jeff said it best. Well Done Jeff.
 
The pen is gorgeous that is not the issue that I brought up. Honor? If you really value someone's honor then he would have had more than 1 1/2 days for the job. As it is there are plenty of things that could go terribly wrong. 2 days is not long enough to offgass a block of wood from being stabilized, so what is that going to do to the finish over time? How about how it is kept for the next month or 2? As for that matter goes why not just pull out the old papers like the constitution and just do a rush job on that to clean it up, as well as all the other old historical documents. They put some considerable time and effort into that process to ensure that it is done right. Shame that was not the case with this historical wood.

Also I would like to point out that this has nothing to do with politics or tragic events or even individual people. This solely is based on respect and honor of skill, talent and material.
 
I would like to recognize you for the honor you've received. I, too, had the honor of having a young lady select 2 pens for presentation to the president a couple of years ago when he visited Dallas. She chose a koa being from Hawaii along with a stars & stripes pen. I never knew which she actually presented.

To explain further....

Your gift will be closely examined to ensure it can do no harm to the president. Just don't include a jar of your mom's world famous preserves as it probably won't make it.

After the examination, it will be allowed for presentation. The president will graciously accept the gift. A staff member will probably take it for cataloging and reporting as described in one of my earlier links. The president then has to make a decision about keeping it. I gave a link about the process.

Your pen could very well end up in the presidential library as an exhibit for generations to view. It will not end up in a box for the limo staff to peruse.

Just remember it got to the president. Honor of itself.
 
Wow! Not an Obama fan myself, but making a pen for the President of the United States would definitely be an honor. Congrats on having the chance to do this. Pen turned out great.
 
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