Media Contact: Paige Montgomery

Senior Publicist | Five Hype Paige@FiveHype.com

FiveHype.com !INNOVATIVE CHRISTMAS TREE SPARKS NEW TREND FOR HOLIDAY SEASON!

Modern "Memory" Tree Pays Tribute to Designer!!Los Angeles, CA--One family's unique tree is quickly gaining wide-spread attention for its meaningful story and contemporary design, making it the perfect addition to any home this holiday season. In the last year, the tree has sold to customers all around the globe including Dubai, Chile, United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Denmark, as well as Canada and the United States. !

Inspired by 1960's "A-frame design" styled homes built by Denver engineer and designer, Lawrence "Bud" Stoecker, The Modern Christmas Tree started as unique holiday creation for his family many years ago. The Stoecker family, made up of five children and twelve grandchildren, are a traditional close-knit family who always spend the holidays together. However, this non-traditional holiday tree immediately became a family favorite. Bud's grandson, Matthew Bliss, now the president of Modern Christmas Trees, began selling the trees in 2011 and their success have now started to attract some international interest. !

Bliss says that the trees honor his grandfather who passed away about a year ago after suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. Bliss remembers his grandfather as, "a very funny man who liked to joke around and tell stories." The Modern Christmas Tree not only serves as a memory of Bud for the Stoecker family, but the trees also help raise awareness for Alzheimer's Disease, donating $50 of every large tree purchased to the Alzheimer's Association.!

The Modern Christmas Tree, or Memory Tree, was also chosen to be featured at Walt Disney Land's Christmas festivities in 2012. Disney Land approached Bliss to design custom trees for their hotel last year. They purchased seven trees last year and six this year, hanging them upside down like chandeliers. This was a very special occasion for the Stoeckers; many of the family members who live in California and could not make it to Colorado for Bud's funeral were able to celebrate his life and art in Anaheim during the holidays.  The Denver Art Museum has also contacted Bliss to display one of their new white trees to display artist ornaments in the gift shop, and might potentially sell them in the future.!

These unique creations come with 100 chandelier crystals, a rotating battery powered rotating disco ball, a choice of 100 illusion film ornaments or 100 glass bulbs, and a floor lamp which casts beautiful shadows on walls and ceilings. The trees stand seven and a half (7 1/2) feet tall from the ceiling when hanging one foot from the floor and decorated and weighs only 15 pounds.They sold out last year as a

different line of tree. Among the customers were families, high rise condo owners, Red Bull corporate office, and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim (the trees hang above Mickey and Minnie).!

!Concentric transparent acrylic plexiglass rings are available in four different colors including red, blue, green and white. These trees can be utilized for any holiday and enjoyed year-round as a custom art piece in your home. Customers can appreciate the trees minimal assembly and are equally easy to disassemble. Each tree also includes custom boxes and bag for storage.  Much like art, this contemporary holiday piece is limited in

quantity with only 300 trees available ($699 for the large tree and $499 for the medium tree). Shipping is free in the United States.!

For media inquiries, placements, and editorial email Paige@FiveHype.com!

For tree ordering and more information contact Mike@FiveHype.com or 310-514-6820.!

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SUCCESSFUL PLACEMENTS!

!!Modern Christmas tree born of Colorado engineer’s ingenuity, family’s love!Posted By Susan Clotfelter On November 14, 2013!

!Lawrence “Bud” Stoecker built homes – specifically, A-frames in the Rocky Mountains – but his grandson, Matt Bliss, considers his large and close-knit family to be the late engineer’s greatest creation.!Second greatest, perhaps, would be his Modern Christmas Tree, a hanging, conical arrangement of concentric hoops from which Stoecker every year suspended glittery ornaments. Now Stoecker’s grandson, Matt Bliss, 37, is memorializing his grandfather by selling Stoecker’s creation, also known as the Memory Tree, and using it to do good for Alzheimer’s disease patients.!!The versions of the tree that Bliss purveys on ModernChristmasTrees.com are a kinetic creations that, uplit from the floor, fill a room with dancing reflections of rich color. The large tree, 7.5 feet tall, sells for $599 (small for $199, medium $399). One of the trees will be auctioned this Saturday (Nov. 17) at the 2012 Fantasy Ball, which benefits The Adoption Exchange. Corporate clients such as Red Bull and Disney World also have them. And they’re made in Colorado by RMI Plastics Inc. of Denver! !

Money was tight, but the Modern Christmas Tree was always more about creativity than thrift, Bliss says. “My grandfather thought like an engineer, but he had an artist inside him. I stripped down and simplified (the tree) for today, and tried to highlight the most important pieces. But he understood all of that stuff, too. You can see that he played around with light.” Bliss is referring to the many family photos that fill the company’s website. Bliss remembers seeing the tree going back to about when he was only six years old. “Every year, he would code how he decorated the tree” to avoid repeating its patterns the next year. “He was an engineer, and his brain worked this way.”!!Which made it especially difficult for his children and grandchildren when Stoecker began to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Bliss still chokes up trying to talk about it. About a year ago, Bliss began the tree project, gathering a few creative friends to set up a website and help him market the tree at trade shows.!“My plan was to honor him any way I could, to show people who he was and tell people about him, how talented he was. Some of the last days that I saw him, he always tried to have a sense of humor.” Bliss says he’s been able to raise a few thousand dollars for the Alzheimer’s Association and hopes to raise more this year. About 20 percent of profits goes to the charity, Bliss says.!!Also known as the Memory Tree, Stoecker’s creation will be available at the Mod Livin’ store in Denver. And, says Bliss, each of Stoecker’s grandchildren will get a Memory Tree.!!Do you have a story about Bud Stoecker you’d like to share? Contact us at home@denverpost.com!

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