Merlin Berger: A framework of community service

Merlin Berger, a co-owner of Frame of Mind, has strong roots in community service. His past volunteer work has included the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo Foundation as well as the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association where he served as both a board member and president.

Frame of Mind, the gallery he owns with his wife and daughter, specializes in creating unusual framing options for family treasures and memorabilia.

What drove you to become involved in community service?

I've always said that if you are going to contradict, you must contribute. Community service is not an obligation - you need to have a desire to give back.

The way I was raised, the idea was that neighbors help neighbors, family helps family and friends help friends. You weren't supposed to just sit back and do nothing.

As my wife tells me, if you're going to be verbal, you need to get involved.

I've decided at my age, though, to pass the baton along to others. I'll still contribute, but not in a leadership role. There are a lot of younger people who have the desire and the passion to do this.

How did you get from Wisconsin to Coeur d'Alene?

I started a family when I was right out of high school. My aspirations at that point were just to be able to support that family. I came west for a year-and-a-half with my National Guard unit in 1961 and fell in love with the area. Afterward, I went home to Wisconsin, spent a miserable winter there and ended up in Port Angeles, Wash. working for Sears. They transferred me to Coeur d'Alene in 1972.

What kind of career did you envision at Sears?

My dream was to go as high as I could in management despite not having a college degree. I wanted to prove I could make it all the way to the big tower in Chicago - maybe all the way to national sales manager.

But a friend of mine in personnel told me I could probably expect two more promotions at the mid-management level and that was as high as I was going because of my lack of a college degree.

Did you stay?

No, I left Sears in 1974, went through a divorce and married Sharon, the love of my life. Then I became the proverbial traveling salesman for the building trades and worked as a manufacturers rep for the framing industry.

Whose idea was Frame of Mind?

After Sharon had worked for a local frame shop for a couple of years, we decided to go out on our own. She opened the shop and the rest is history - we've been on this corner for 31 years.

How much time do you spend together?

Both of us are headstrong people, yet we work together every day; we go home together every day and we do everything together 365 days a year.

We don't have arguments, we have aggravated conversations. I am extremely blessed that I am able to work with my wife/business partner and that we can work every day with our daughter. Between the three of us, we are able to touch a lot of people with the things we do.

Do you ever have disagreements among the three of you?

Oh yes we do. We have a tendency to override each other once in a while. My bride or daughter may say, "This is what I told them we're going to do." But then I may go right ahead and change things on them.

Sometimes a client will bring in something that's unusual - it's not the average painting, photograph or whatever. And my bride or my daughter will inform me that she's told these people we can do this for them. But then she'll say to me, "I don't know how the hell you're going to do this." Yet somehow, between all of us, we get the job done.

Have there been framing jobs that were really emotional for you?

So many things we've done have been touching.

We had someone who brought in some military memorabilia from World War II. Her father, a physician, had been captured and put in a Japanese POW camp. And this daughter brought in several articles of his from the military that she wanted framed.

While he was a POW, he had drawn on a handkerchief a map of the prison camp. He was planning, maybe, that when the stars were lined up just right, he could escape with as many others as could get out of there with him.

When the war ended, he still had this handkerchief - had never used it and had held onto it. The message to me was that he had never given up hope, even in prison.

Have you ever refused to work on anything brought in by a customer?

We had some people, once, who moved here and he was a photographer. He brought in some very obscene photos and Shane told him, "No, I'm sorry, I just can't do this."

It's a moral thing, I guess. And it happens very infrequently.

When it comes to artifacts, I don't think we've ever said no. We framed some military memorabilia from the Viet Cong. The customer who brought them in said his buddies were upset with him for taking them in the first place. My feelings are: Accept it or hate it, there was a conflict and there was a war. Like it or not.

Have you learned a lot about American history and culture from your framing business?

I love history and I believe that when you stop learning about it, especially in our type of business, situations will arise that will affect your success.

I grew up on a small farm in a small community with a large family. Many of the things we had - like the old washing machine my mother used - well, when it broke, we didn't buy a new machine. We had to fix what we had and make it work. We never had any money but we were never poor.

At the time, I probably hated all that stuff. But looking back, I know how fortunate I was to touch, fix and use those things.

You display some of your old machinery out at the fair. Why do you collect it?

I guess I cling to that part of my past, even today. Gas engines, tractors, agriculture machinery - some people call them antiques, but I mostly just call them "old." It's partly nostalgia and it's also preserving both the good and the bad. These things were really used.

How does Shane feel about your collecting?

She's supportive, but I can't say she does cartwheels about it. There are a lot of things I like and do that I couldn't do without her love and support. She's my pillar.