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Local biz scores big in Boring vs. Normal TV battle

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[5]The Green Reaper stars in Boring vs Normal Toshiba campaign
By Dr. Nathan Otto

Boring, Oregon has been chosen by Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. to face off with Normal, Illinois in a reality series [6] which features a few local residents using Toshiba technology to prove that their town is the more exciting place.  Filming occurred over the months of June and July, and a new episode is posted weekly on the web. The town that uses its equipment in the most exciting ways (according to viewer votes) will win $15,000 of computers for their local school.

Elizabeth Fournier, funeral director and owner of Cornerstone Funeral Services in Boring, has been affectionately known as The Green Reaper within the state due to her long-time advocacy of green burial. Fournier is a proponent of educating the community about home funerals, home burials, and other green ways to lay your loved one to rest.

Aware that the public isn’t too familiar with green burial, Toshiba was impressed that Fournier had the ability to communicate its mission in very user-friendly terms.

“Natural burial means no embalming, no elaborate casket, no burial vault. Just a body returning to the earth. The concept is quite biblical if you consider the beautiful simplicity of ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

She also points out that there are different types of green by adding, “Green burials can also help save a different kind of green – the kind found in people’s wallets.”

Fournier’s human interest appeal and un-Boring persona has already garnered many online votes for Boring.  She recently published her memoir “All Men Are Cremated Equal: My 77 Blind Dates,” teaches Ballroom Dance at Reed College in Portland, and is the voice of the autopsy exhibit in the forensic wing at the United States National Museum of Medicine.

MTV Networks sponsored the reality show’s “Set Me Free” Toshiba event in Boring on August 15. MTV entertainment reporter Toby Turner, MTV indie rock band Lives of Famous Men, Comedy Central comedian Amy Schumer and UFC Fighter Nate Quarry were among the celebrities who visited Boring to support the competition with Normal to prove how laptop technology can change their lives. And a gaming lounge gave residents the opportunity to test what Toshiba laptops can do.

To check out The Green Reaper in Toshiba’s Boring vs Normal campaign, follow this link: www.myspace.com/boringvsnormal [6]