Issue 40.12
In a recent SereniCare Funeral Home article, we cited the competitive spirit we found in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. We cite the inscription found on the Olympic Torch: Citius, Altius, Fortius … Swifter, Higher, Stronger as a daily reminder of the dedication to excellence as we serve families in the Southern Utah Communities.
During the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne and the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, the Australians found a motivational centerpiece in a 100 year old Farm Water Wagon. This is the story that has inspired Olympic athletics and those of us at SereniCare Funeral Home to be the best that we can be.
The story takes place in a remote Western Victoria town of Shepparton, Australia. It began with an experienced blacksmith and wheelwright by the name of John Furphy. The year was 1878. Few houses of the time were designed to collect rain water from the roof, hence water needed to be collected elsewhere and transported for stock and domestic use. Thus, the idea of a Farm Water Cart was born. The first carts Furphy crafted found a ready market in Eastern Australia and eventually throughout the Outback, Western Australia, and then to Europe and the Middle East during WWI.
John Furphy was a pious man with a strong sense of duty and right. Recognizing the power of advertising, Furphy crafted large, round metal castings with the word “Furphy” and fastened one to the end of each tank on the water carts. Then in 1898 he added this inscription with raised lettering,
“Good Better Best
Never let it rest
Till your good is better,
and your better best”.
For many Australians the Furphy Water Cart has come to symbolize a rural past of simple moral values and individual enterprise. One of our SereniCare Funeral Home associates lived in the Shepparton, Australia in 2003 and visited the foundry which still produces the Farm Water Cart. He purchased one of the Water Cart cast end pieces and had it transported to Utah, where it is a centerpiece at a cabin at the Sundance Ski Resort. It is a constant reminder for us to strive for our very best.
Visit us at SereniCare Funeral Home, and let us serve your needs as we strive to be the very best. We are located just off Riverside Drive at 1316 S. 400 E., St. George, Utah (435) 986-2085 or visit us online at www.serenicare.com.