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Uncle Bill 1985
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Bill Sapsis, president of Sapsis Rigging,Inc. is astonished, ecstatic, flabbergasted, overjoyed, relieved, tickled pink and downright thrilled to announce that Sapsis Rigging, Inc. is celebrating it's 30th anniversary this week. Bill noted that he began the company in 1981 on a Friday the 13th, in the middle of a recession. "I figured, what the hell, I had nowhere to go but up, so why not start a rigging company?"
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Mike Sapsis in The Dungeon
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From its humble beginnings in the basement of Bill's home in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia, Sapsis Rigging soon graduated to a shop that was not so affectionately dubbed "The Dungeon". A succession of increasingly more pleasant locations led to the 20,000 sq ft permanent home that the company now enjoys -- right across the street from a cemetery. "Our neighbors are really quiet and they don't mind our trucks going in and out at all hours of the night," jokes Bill.
Sapsis Rigging has always been committed to providing the best products and services and the safest installations to its customers. Some of the many highlights over the years are...
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Goodhart Hall pre-Fall Arrest and, apparently, clothing-optional.
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1982: Bryn Mawr College. Our first bias cut house divider curtain hung in a gothic arch.
1985: Palladium Nighclub and the Times Square Marriott Marquis Theatre. Rigging installations in New York City.
1993: Philadelphia Academy of Music. Our first rigging safety inspection.
1993: Celeste Bartos Forum, NY Public Library. First fashion shows in repertory.
1993 - Present: Christmas in New York. New Yorkers have enjoyed our holiday cheer at the Solow Building, Bendel's Department Store, the IBM building and other locations throughout Manhattan.
1994: Product catalog that included not only rigging hardware but also 100% post consumer paper supplies and other environmentally conscious products. Yes, we carried recycled toilet paper.  1994: First industry-wide newsletter, HEADS!, featuring products, information and helpful tips on rigging problems and totally unrelated issues. The issue covering how to build a proper PB & J sandwich was a huge hit.
1995: Start of the SRI Maintenance Division offering owner's manuals and maintenance programs.
1997-99: Rigging for the White House holiday season.
2004: Suspended the Wright Brothers plane for the Grand Opening of the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum.
2006: The first in a long series of projects suspending people and things on the outside of skyscrapers including Naomi Watts on the Chrysler Building for Condé Nast, Mikhail Baryshnikov on west 37th street for Vanity Fair, a Formula 1 race car for Target in Indianapolis and entire fashion show at Rockefeller Center.
2008: Die Soldaten. Rigging for the opera in the Park Avenue Armory.
2008: Bill Sapsis produces the first NATEAC.
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One of our stellar Fashion Week Crews, circa 1993
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None of these projects would have been possible," noted Bill, "without the hard work and dedication of the SRI staff and crew. This includes the full time folks and the freelancers. Over the years we've been very fortunate to have some of the best of the best work for us and I am very grateful for their contributions."
We're all very excited to have reached this milestone and we're looking forward to the next 30 years. Bill, however, was quick to point out, "The younger folks on the staff are looking ahead that far. I'm not. One of these days I'm going to need a nap."
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