Why Do You Love the Midwest?

I live in the Midwest. Along with 60 million other people.  That’s a lot of people.  Yet we often get referred to as the fly over states.  The payusnonevermind location.  The “why do you want to go there” states. A group of us (Iowans) think the people that believe like that are wrong.  Just plain…

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Southwest Iowa with Adam and wine

Adam Lee is a client of  Debworks.  Adam is a singer and guitar players of great skill.  He lives in Omaha and performs as often as he can in the Midwest.  Last weekend Mel and I met up with Adam on Saturday and took a wine trail tour and started building Adam’s portfolio for marketing.…

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Classic Cafe

This little spot in the small town of Malvern, Iowa is far from classic. Unless you define classic as: best breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon ever eaten, Americano to rival those in Italy, artwork bigger than life, ambiance that every woman dreams of, conversation with people who work there that made you feel right at home,…

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Why Admiral Leahy?

Who Is Admiral William Leahy? It’s easy to forget that history happens all around us. And when we grow up in the midst of it, it becomes simply the “normal” background of our lives. Anything unfortunate enough to happen in that background is “ordinary.” This explains why some of William Morris’ hand-printed wallpapers have been…

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Share Your Story

Every so often I get a press release that bears repeating.  The following is one of those.  I love how Latham Seeds supports our community and I think we can help them. Fundraising Campaign Underway to Endow County 4-H Scholarship SHARE YOUR STORY, HELP BRIGHTEN THE FUTURE OF FRANKLIN COUNTY 4-H’ers HAMPTON, Iowa – February…

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What are your stories?

These silos were built by POW’s from Germany. You can find them in Belmond, Iowa. You know there’s a story there somewhere.  Yet, I can’t find it online anywhere. It’s a time to look at what stories of yours are not being told to a larger population. Get these stories in writing, before there’s no…

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Gypsy Chics

It’s a good idea to refresh your brain and learn new things. Saturday a group of us (gypsy chics) traveled to Randall, Story City and Gilbert to visit various resale shops and have lunch.  I took my phone camera and many pictures were taken.  I found some marvelous ideas for decorating.  If I had my…

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Iowa Tourism

I receive a brief enewsletter from Iowa Tourism.  They always send things most people and businesses around the state can use.   WINE AND BEER VALENTINE’S DAY PROMOTION  The Iowa Tourism Office and the Wine & Beer Promotion Board have launched a Valentine’s Day promotion encouraging travelers to visit Iowa wineries and restaurants. The “Iowa Wine &…

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Grants

I learned about a grant today for our community — on Facebook.  Shelene Codner posted it. http://www.itseasytorecycle.org/grant-program.cfm I also learned about grants last month – several in fact – from my Google Reader.  Because I receive notifications whenever http://www.mccrayandassoc.com/ posts a blog entry. Most grants are for nonprofit organizations with a 501(c)3 designation.  However, via a Google…

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Itineraries in the Country

Tonight I went to a meeting at TownsEnd Winery.  There were 10 of us from different businesses that sat around, drank some good wine and discussed itineraries.  We call ourselves the Partnership Group (I know, but all our creativity is going into creating working partnerships). We meet once a month, roughly, and build relationships and…

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