2011 Lifetime Achievement Awards Winner

Robert D. Vanderminden, Sr., Telescope Casual Furniture

The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the casual furniture industry and to their individual communities. The 2011 honoree was Robert D. Vanderminden Sr. of Telescope Casual Furniture. Vanderminden, now 83, was a teenager when he began designing products for Telescope Cot Bed & Novelty, the company founded by his grandfather in 1903. For more than 60 years, he created innovative product, machinery, process and plant designs that transformed both the company and, eventually, the entire outdoor furnishings industry. His designs helped the company win many awards over the years, but the 2008 Design Excellence Award for his popular Windward Sling Collection design is worth special note, since the designer was not only in his 80s, but also by this time was suffering from macular degeneration, a disease that renders him legally blind. Vanderminden was named to Telescope’s Board of Directors in 1967 and became executive vice president of the company in 1971. He was CEO from 1989 until 2001, when he was named Chairman of the Board.

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