Atlanta Veterans' Day Parade Features 'Reflections'

November 6, 2009

Mobile Museum Honors Veterans, Public Safety Officers, Presidents and Celebrities

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Museum of Patriotism has invited "Reflections: The American Funeral" - a mobile museum on funeral customs - to participate in the 28th Annual Atlanta Veterans' Day Parade - America's largest - on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta on Saturday, November 7, 2009. The parade starts at 11:11 a.m. "Reflections" will be on display and open to the public at 123 Marietta St. after the parade.

Visitors can tour the 1,000 sq. ft. mobile museum featuring nearly a dozen thoughtful display areas:

    --  "Arlington National Cemetery" honors our country's veterans and the more
        than three million Americans buried in our national cemeteries.
    --  "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" showcases President John F. Kennedy's
        rider-less horse - empty boots reversed in the saddle - trotting briskly
        in his funeral procession and civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, who was
        the first woman to lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda.

    --  "The Lord is My Shepherd" is a poignant tribute to fallen public safety
        officers killed in the line of duty.

Recently added tour exhibits include an official commemorative Abraham Lincoln Funeral Buckle, cast in brass to memorialize the slain president. His widow, Mary Todd Lincoln, approved the buckle's design, which was reportedly made from captured Confederate guns and distributed to Congressmen. Lincoln is a featured attraction of "Reflections." A reproduction of his casket appears in a prominent display that traces his railroad funeral procession, which lasted nearly three weeks.

The tour also acquired a mint-condition embalming kit from the Civil War era, manufactured by the renowned Joseph Gray & Son Truss Works in England. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), one of six current tour sponsors, loaned the Lincoln buckle and antique tool kit to the exhibit.

"There are intriguing stories of funeral practices throughout the centuries and this exhibit educates people on those stories and enables them to connect to the universal human experience of death," says Harry Kurtz, President of MRA, a leading mobile exhibit and event producer. "The displays on Arlington and fallen public safety officers move people to tears."

The mobile exhibit has attracted tens of thousands to date. Kurtz expects twice as many visitors in 2010 with an expanded schedule that includes major events, such as the Northeast Exchange Club's Ribfest in St. Petersburg, Fla. Anderson McQueen Funeral Home will sponsor "Reflections" at the event, which could draw 60,000 people.

During President Barack Obama's inaugural celebrations in January 2009, "Reflections" appeared at both Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Md.

Reflections receives support from the American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE); the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA); the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice (APFSP); Federated Funeral Directors of America (FFDA); Get-Etched, a manufacturer of distinctive, custom memorial products; and Kates-Boylston Publications, the parent company of American Funeral Director magazine, a leading independent trade magazine for funeral directors and other funeral service professionals.

High resolution images available upon request.

MRA, Inc. is a leader in mobile exhibit and event marketing tours. It specializes in custom design, construction, vehicle sales and leasing, tour equipment and logistics management services for experiential marketing and exhibiting. MRA serves the needs of museums and many Fortune 1000 firms, either directly or in association with leading agencies and exhibit builders worldwide.

Contact Heidi Korte at MRA, Inc. at 800.676.3520 or visit www.goMRA.com.

SOURCE MRA, Inc.