A bronze statue of legendary coach Ron Schipper was recently unveiled at Central College’s football stadium.

“X’s and O’s don’t win football games; people do.”

Ron Schipper, Central College’s Hall of Fame football coach, said these and many other inspiring words during his 36-year tenure at the helm of the Dutch football team. A moving bronze statue of the coach was recently added to the stadium in Pella, Iowa, which already bears his and his wife’s names. Dedicated on September 17, the statue is accompanied by a bronze plaque on a stand manufactured by Pella Engraving.

The black-painted aluminum plaque stand was manufactured and installed by Pella Engraving.

The bronze plaque lists the many accomplishments of Coach Schipper, among them 36 consecutive winning seasons and 18 Iowa Conference titles. The statue depicts him in a moment of mentorship with a player, which he is known to have valued more than any of his 287 wins.

The stand for the plaque, which PEC installed on site, is black-painted aluminum. Its durability and subtle yet solid presence is the perfect option for displaying the plaque honoring this legend.

See more from the dedication of the statue here: https://youtu.be/Fg6uHZCwZXE?t=54s

When most people visit a college campus, they don’t realize how much they rely on the many signs and plaques that guide them and keep them informed. Central College in Pella, Iowa, has turned to Pella Engraving Company many times for high-quality signs and plaques. Below are just some of these projects:

Soccer and baseball stadium donor nameplates

These Metalphoto^® donor nameplates were installed with rivets by Pella Engraving Company. In addition to the plates in the soccer stadium pictured here, PEC also did plates for Central’s baseball stadium—over a hundred for each stadium. The Metalphoto process embeds the dye permanently into the pores of the aluminum, helping the plates endure longer in an outdoor stadium environment.

Stadium donor nameplates

Central Dutch soccer donors sign

To thank their donors, Central asked PEC to create this customizable zinc sign. The foundation of the sign is one 23” x 35” piece of zinc—the visible silver portions are the natural color of the metal, while the rest is painted. As more donors contribute, PEC will engrave nameplates that can be mounted on top of the remaining silver rectangles. The pillars to display the sign were specially made by Pella Engraving.

Soccer donors sign

Douwstra Auditorium sign

At 6” tall, the letters in this sign create a striking impression. The ¼” thick acrylic letters were cut out on PEC’s laser engraver, then painted. Because Central wanted the paint to match the color of the lighting fixture mounted on wall above, Pella Engraving reached out to the lighting company to obtain a sample. For this job, PEC mounted the letters to the wall with adhesive. If a customer wants to mount cutout letters themselves, PEC can create a printed paper template for $15 to show where the studs should go, ensuring the proper spacing between letters.

Douwstra Auditorium sign

Bronze memorial plaque

This memorial plaque for Dr. Maxine Huffman was created with bronze casting, so the raised areas have a natural, classic bronze coloring. The plaque size is 16” x 24”.

Memorial plaque

Heritage Plaza dedication plaques

Because these plaques were to be mounted on concrete, PEC created specially made square stakes welded onto metal plates. Holes could then be drilled into the plates and concrete for screws. The plaques are bronze castings.

Dedication plaques

Heritage Plaza cutout sign

This sign created for the Heritage Plaza is more complicated than it first seems—to create a shadow effect, PEC cut out two sets of aluminum letters on the plasma cutter. The top set was left silver, while the bottom set was painted black. The letters were mounted with drilled and tapped studs.

Heritage Plaza cutout sign

You can view more photos of Pella Engraving plaques and signs at Central College on our Facebook page.

If you’re creating a memorial plaque destined for exterior display, Pella Engraving Company offers stake options to meet your presentation needs.

Life is full of people, places, and events that deserve to be remembered. One way to preserve those memories is with a long-lasting, personalized memorial plaque. With a memorial plaque, you can honor a company founder, commemorate a historical event, or pay tribute to a friend or family member.

Pella Engraving offers several types of memorial plaques—the right one for you will depend on your specifications. The type of material Pella Engraving will use for your plaque will depend on the environment in which it will be installed, whether you’ll want to include a picture or artwork, and the overall feel you want for the final product. Give us a call at 877-549-5447 and we’ll help you decide what material is right for you:

• Magnesium – An economical option perfect for detailed artwork, but exclusively for indoor use.
• Zinc – Great for detailed artwork and indoor or outdoor durability; an excellent lower-cost alternative to bronze.
• Bronze – A classic option that conveys a sense of importance.
• Metalphoto – A nice, less expensive material for a lasting plaque. Whether it is all text, or includes a photo, Metalphoto is for you. These plaques can be used indoors or outdoors and resist weathering, fading, and abrasion from UV rays, heat, salt spray, and cleaning products.

A cast bronze plaque is a long-lasting option for both indoor and outdoor use. Choose bronze any time you want your plaque to express a sense of respect and high esteem—such as dedication plaques, veteran plaques, sports plaques, memorial plaques, and recognition plaques. Bronze is also perfect for indoor and outdoor signs, commercial signs, and business signs.

A bronze plaque is created through a poured mold process. The raised areas on a bronze plaque, such as letters or a design, are the natural bronze color of the metal. Usually the bronze plaque has a concave back, and is 1/4″ thick in the center and 1/2″ thick at the edges. It is also available in 1/8″ thickness. Incorporated into the mold is a concealed stud area where threaded rods can be used for installation.

Read more about bronze plaques, including engraving and installation options, here.

Call 877-549-5447 or email orders@pellaengraving.com to place your order today!

You can order either a zinc or a bronze casting plaque from Pella Engraving Company.

A bronze casting plaque is created with a poured mold process and the font size must be at least 1/4″ tall. The raised areas on a bronze plaque are the natural bronze color of the metal and cannot be colored silver. Usually the bronze plaque is concave, 1/4″ thick in the center and 1/2″ thick at the edges. It is also available in 1/8″ thickness. Incorporated into the mold is a concealed stud area where threaded rods can be used for installation.

A zinc plaque is created with an acid-etched bath process, which allows for much smaller font size and more graphic details. The raised area on a zinc plaque is naturally silver, but can be given a gold or copper-tinted clear coat. This type of plaque is available in two thicknesses—0.064″ or 0.125″. The holes and screws mounting option is available for both thicknesses, and blind-mounted studs are available on the 0.125″ thickness.

At a glance, here are some of the differences between the two types of plaques:

• Cost – Typically a zinc plaque is less expensive than a bronze casting plaque.
• Font and design – Due to the zinc acid-etched process, a greater range of font sizes and more detailed graphics can be etched into a zinc plaque than a bronze casting plaque.
• Installation hardware – Zinc plaques can have holes and screws or blind-mount studs welded onto the back. Bronze castings typically have concealed studs poured into the mold.
• Color – The raised areas on zinc can be gold, silver, or copper colored. Bronze castings can only have a natural bronze color on the raised areas.
• Turnaround time – Zinc plaques are guaranteed to ship in 10 working days and bronze castings in 21 working days.

Zinc plaques—great for detail, quick turnaround, and outdoor durability.

A bronze casting plaque—a classic option.

 

The concealed stud area for
installation on a bronze casting plaque.

 

How many colors can be used on a magnesium or zinc plaque?

Many customers want multicolored plaques, often to duplicate a graphic logo or artwork. We have two options for painting plaques. Because magnesium and zinc are two-level plaques, we can paint-fill the recessed areas or tip (roll over with ink) the raised areas.

Recessed areas can be filled with one of our stock paint colors, or we can match as close as possible a PMS Pantone color number provided by the customer. Raised areas can be tipped with a limited number of primary colors.

Artwork provided for a plaque will have to be worked—we create raised lines that will hold the paint in place and keep it from mixing.

To summarize, the color options for magnesium or zinc plaques are unlimited!

Original artwork used to create the plaque to the right.

The recessed areas of the logo on this plaque were filled to match the colors desired by the customer.