| About Us And Why We Do What We Do |
First Generation: Chad's Great Grandfather
At the turn of the century, Reverend Paul Dean Ford fresh out of a
Pennsylvania seminary felt the calling to do missionary work. So he
and his young wife traveled to the Caribbean and established "The
Island Missionary Society". There, in a very small boat, they would
travel island to island establishing congregations and building small
chapels. When he passed away in 1961 he left behind dozens of
congregations, chapels, and one of the largest collections of
Bahamian handicrafts and scientifically cataloged shell collections
in the world. His love for God's beautiful and exotic creations led
him to discover three species of seashells that bare the Ford family name today.
Second Generation: Chad's Grandfather
Reuel Eli Ford, was one of the Reverend's five children. As a very
young man he found work on an ocean cargo ship, and within three
years he obtained his International Captain's License. He then
purchased a 110 foot freighter which he aptly named "The Island
Trader" and set up a route traveling to all of the smaller islands in
the Caribbean. He would buy all of their handicrafts such as hand
carved coconut faces, and all of their large pink conch shells. As a
young man I remember his ship coming into the West Palm Beach
Florida port loaded down with 10,000 large conch shells stacked up
two stories high on the deck. Gift shops from both coasts would send trucks to line
up at the port in order to buy coconut faces, seashell jewelry, and conch shells from
my father. If you are an older person and you remember seeing coastal tourist shops
with huge stacks of pink shells outside with a for sale sign on them.....Now you know
where they came from. During World War II, he joined the U.S. Navy, and served in
the South Pacific where he discovered the beautiful seashells and handicrafts of
the Pacific tropical islands. Upon his return to civilian life he began to import these
exotic treasures from the French Polynesian Islands, The Philippines, Indonesia, and
of course the Hawaiian Islands. He did so until he passed away.
Third Generation: Chad's Father Wayne
Having traveled to 37 foreign countries has increased his
understanding and appreciation for the wonderful and diverse
cultures that our world has to offer. He, and his lovely wife
Jane (of 36 years), seek out and obtain the finest in original exotic
handicrafts and reproductions from around the world. They
incorporate their love of the exotic into all of the products that
Seven-Seas-Imports carry. If it is tropical and exotic, it will get
their attention. And they promise ......They Will never offer an item
whose quality would not warrant it going in their own home
Fourth Generation: Chad Ford.
Chad is a special child, and was once a "Make-A-Wish
Foundation" recipient because of an uncontrollable
seizure disorder. He is mentally and physically handicapped
and functions on the level of a two - three year old. Even
though he has just turned 22 years old he still lives in the
world of Winnie The Pooh, Sesame Street, and Mickey Mouse.
He is the real reason that Seven-Seas-Imports was originally created. Should
his family pass on before him, no one wants to see him become a financial
burden to a family member, or become a ward of the state and be placed in an
institution. For this reason, two years ago a group of his friends and family
members banned together and with donated items created Chad's very first
auction. With Chad's father's unique ability to locate and procure these hard
to find and sought after exotic items, and with you, the buyers support,
SEVEN-SEAS-IMPORTS has literally exploded into what is today.
Fifth Generation: Chad's Nephews and Nieces
Joshua Jacob Jordan Kaleb
These kids are all involved in the business
in one way or another and as you can see
they make great little models. All of the
Seven Seas Imports Products are presented
by models in much the same way that a quality
magazine would present them. This gives
the shopper the ability to compare an items
size with a real person. To present our
products we use: Ethnic Native Models,
Professional Print Models, and Family
Members. We do hope you enjoy viewing
our product pages photos.
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