June 2012 Man of the Month - Father's Day Edition

Edward Marsack - Chesterfield, Michigan

Submitted by Tamara Marsack Harris, Angela Marsack Marshall, Steven Marsack

Our father, Edward Marsack, has spent his life going to battle for not only his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, but so many others who needed him through-out the years. If you are reading this than we are sure he has gone to battle for you. And by Battle, we mean Prayer!

He has blessed many newborns and when we were still tiny, he placed our hands together and taught us to pray. He taught us as teens that marital love is a beautiful thing, and we saw it day by day in the way our parents treated each other, spoke to each other, and touched each other. It was honor. It was respect. It was affection and a desire to serve. It was a mother and a father "in love" with each other. By our father's language and attitude, we saw what it meant to cherish, to lead, to protect, to serve, to be the strong tower for a wife. His affection for our mother meant our family was in God's hands.


 He was there when we were married and buried many of our loved ones. Our father has had exceptional courage through many situations and has been the Rock and Strength we have all needed at one time or another and has exemplified the meaning of integrity and honor.

As the years have passed from the time when his hands were so big that we could only hold his pinky finger, he has guided so many lives besides our own; and our relationships with him have developed into deep friendships. We would obey to the death any command of his, and he knows that. He would fight to the death for our well-being, our safety, our purity, our soul, and our hearts. Rather than giving us commands, he gradually began to give us advice. His instruction comes more in the medium of conversation and discussion, rather than verdicts. There have been times we have had to re-learn to honor and admire our father as we have struggled through doubts, weaknesses, and sins that caused us to forget our father's wisdom. Our father is not perfect, and he'd be the first to remind you if you mentioned it. But his heart has always been God, family, and church. His love has always been unconditional and non judgmental. But for us that is what makes him "Our Hero".


Our Father.......Our Dad...... has blessed so many lives that is why we must call him "Our Man of Valor".

Team Valor is Proud to recognize Edward Marsack as the June 2012 Man of the Month!

Valor is headed to the Emmy Awards - Again!

What a whirlwind the last few months has been for Team Valor! This past April, Valor was given the opportunity to have our Humidor scented candle included in the Swag Bags for the Sports Emmy Awards in New York city. As you can imagine, it was quite a surprise to receive the initial email inviting us to participate. After doing some checking to make sure it was legit, we accepted the invitation and worked around the clock to provide 800 candles for the gift bags.

Within days of the Sports Emmys, we received another invitation from Off The Wall Productions. This time, it was for the Daytime Emmy Awards in Beverly Hills. Not only have we been given the opportunity to have our products included in the Swag Bags, but this time we are going to be participating in the Talent Lounge backstage. That means that we get to walk the Red Carpet, attend the show, and best of all set up a display with our products in the Green Room for the presenters and performers of the show.

So for the last several weeks we have been working very hard to get products ready, signage and display pieces put together, and loads of other things finished in time for the exciting trip ahead. Our team has been so incredible and done such a great job of doing what it takes to make this happen!

One of the most encouraging parts of this experience for us has been the support we've received from local businesses and sponsors. C-C Photography from Perry, GA is sponsoring our Tuxedos for the Red Carpet so we can represent our home town in style. Embroidery Plus in Macon, GA has provided our embroidery services so we can represent Valor in the talent lounge with custom attire. M&R Marketing has provided design services for our display. And Gateway Macon has sponsored our signage for our display area. And finally, MaconYouTan is providing us with tanning services so we can look marvelous on the red carpet. How exciting and encouraging it is to receive such positive support from our local community.

Special thanks to the fans of Valor who continue to spread the word about our products. It's been an exciting year, to say the least, and we realize that our success is tied to your satisfaction and willingness to tell friends about us.

We'll keep you posted as things continue to progress. Be on the look out for live chat sessions in the near future as well.

Go Team Valor!
Johnny
President - Valor Candles

January 2012 Man of the Month

Jacob Wilkins - Fredonia, NY

Submitted by Clyde, Terry, and Holly Wilkins

How do you describe a Man of Valor? Who is he? What does he do and how does he act? We believe Jake Wilkins is the perfect example of a Man of Valor. He is strong. He is confident. He is caring and compassionate. He makes people laugh, but is there for you when you need to cry. His life is about helping others, caring for others and ensuring that the people in his life know how important they are to him. He is a great man, a great father and he exudes the strength that any man should seek to attain.

Jake has always stood out from the crowd. In his last year of high school, in addition to his high school classes, he was also enrolled in the local technical college, which allowed him to complete his LPN education only one month after his 19th birthday. He has since returned to college and received his Associate Degree in Nursing and is now a Registered Nurse. He has been recognized for his competence and compassion in his nursing career at every step along the way, and in fact was selected as the Employee of the Year for 2011 at the Home Healthcare agency where he works in Jamestown, New York.
Jake is a single father of three beautiful and energetic children: Braden, 12; Abbey, 9; and Emma, 8. He is involved in every aspect of their lives, from taking martial arts classes with Braden, to learning to dance so he can participate in the girls' dance recitals with them.

So, as you can imagine, we are very proud of Jake. We hope you’ll recognize him for what we see him as: A true Man of Valor.

Team Valor is Proud to recognize Jake Wilkins as the January 2012 Man of the Month!

Man of the Month - Dec2011

December Man of the Month

Paul Brooks

Submitted by Joshua Brooks

Paul Brooks has always been taking care of people. He’s been a coach by day, a government employee by night, and a father to his children always. Paul has coached 107 teams throughout his life; soccer, adult softball, and basketball were the main three sports. Sports have always been a passion of his, and it shows by all of his devotion to his teams. Coaching that many teams is a feat in itself, but coaching them on an unconventional schedule made it even more inspiring and reflected on how truly goodhearted he is.

Coach Paul taught many boys what it meant to be a man. Some of the things he instilled were staying committed to the team, learning the rules of the game, and being a good sport no matter what the outcome of the match was. He didn't coach to win, he coached to help develop players and make them better in any situation. Anyone who has played under Paul can tell you that he trained them with drills on the basics the majority of the time. From all of his knowledge and direction, it developed players who could play on any side of the field and men who would be respectful and gentlemen in life.

Now that he is older, instead of coaching, he helps out by registering players and acting as the office administrator for a local soccer association, CGSA. Paul spends many hours a week at CGSA while continuing to work full-time. CGSA has already honored him for all of his hard work coaching and doing administrative work throughout the years by naming a field after him. Paul devotes so much time to helping, teaching, and caring for others. These qualities make him a true man of Valor. Coworkers call him Paul, players call him Coach Paul, and I am blessed to call him Dad.

Here's to you dad! The Valor Man of the Month!

Josh Brooks

Man of the Month October 2011

October Man of the Month

Barclay Frankenfield

Submitted by Jeffrey Frankenfield

As I thought of submitting a story for the Valor Man of The Month page, I immediately knew that I wanted to write about my dad, the hardest working and most selfless individual I have ever known.  He has been a shining example to me in the areas of responsibility, work ethic and being committed to one’s family.

My dad, Barclay Frankenfield, grew up working in his father’s garage and “filling station” as they were called back then where he learned the values of hard work and character.  As a young boy he would hurry home from class to help his father and each Saturday morning and summer break he would open the garage and put in a full day’s work even though he was just in grade school.  

The work ethic that my father learned as a young man was consistently demonstrated as he raised his family.  As I grew up I watched my father work 3^rd shift in a meat packing plant for fifteen years, twelve hours a day, sixty hours a week, month after month, year after year in order to provide for his wife and three young boys. He selflessly gave of himself so that my brothers and I could have a better opportunity in life.  Even with his grueling schedule my father somehow made every single one of my basketball games in high school. To this day I still don’t know how he did it! 

At the end of this year my father is retiring again at the age of 72.  I say again because he retired at the age of 62 from the meat packing plant only to go out and work another ten years in order to continue providing for my mom.  My father isn’t a man of many words but he is a person of commitment and character.  With over forty three years of faithful marriage and over sixty years of selfless hard work he is unquestionably a Man of Valor!

So here’s to you Dad, the Valor Man of the Month!

Jeff Frankenfield

Vice President Team Valor

15 Manly Smells

15 Manly Smells
From Art of Manliness - By Brett & Kate McKay

Smells can conjure up some powerful memories. The smell of pine needles can take you back to childhood Christmases or the smell of a laundry detergent can remind you of home. For me, there are certain smells that I’ve come to associate with manliness. Whenever I smell them I think of my dad or grandpa or some aspect of my boyhood and my initiation into the rites of manhood.
And apparently, I’m not alone. For fun last week, I asked Art of Manliness Facebook Fans and Twitter followers what smells they thought were manly. The response was overwhelming. I decided to pick a few of my favorite responses and make a post out of it. So without further ado, I present 15 manly smells.



Hardware Store

September 2011 Man of the Month

Man of the Month

Sergeant Daniel Jagodzinski, Ranger, United States Army

Submitted by Cyndi Jagodzinski

I was so honored when asked to write about my son Daniel Ryan Jagodzinski to be highlighted as the “Man of the Month”. I have to be one of the proudest parents on the planet to have been blessed with a son who has achieved so much in his 22 years.

Daniel (as I call him, my privilege as his mommy) was an average boy, knocking teeth out and breaking bones, giving me a heart-attack every chance he got, until he decided that there were bigger and better things to do.

Daniel became an Eagle Scout at the age of 14, earning 50 merit badges and five Eagle Palms in Troop 245 in Memphis, Michigan. He served in many leadership roles including Assistant Scoutmaster until he enlisted in the Army. While in high school, he was also a member of the Memphis Varsity football team and received the Unsung Hero Award, Team Captain Award, and the first ever presented- Jimmy-Jag Award, which was named after him and a fellow teammate.