Jennifer Drinkwater Came to Town
Her goal was to develop new community partnerships around a cultural community vision incorporating art and natural resources for economic development over a multi-year plan. Simpler put: bring artists, naturalists and businesses together to showcase the Webster City area and improve our economy into the future. Creative Placemaking is an evolving field of practice that…
Sunday Update: Happy Mother’s Day
My mom watches over me. She says things like “Debra, get up and do something.” ” You need to stop working so hard, Go have some fun.” “Take care of those little kids of ours. Play with them.” Yes, I miss her. This is my first Mother’s Day without her. Yet all I have to…
Hanging Out with the Pork Queen
Last night I got to hang out with the Pork Queen and the kids from the FFA. It’s just one of the many reasons I love living in a small town. For the cost of $5 here’s what I received: A pork burger with bacon, chips and a drink great conversation with local FFA boys…
It’s Never About You
Building Relationships vs. Networking Networking is important, we all know that. We need to meet people to advance whatever agenda we are working on. Networking is the buzzword of this century. You hear it everywhere. It means to interact with each other to exchange information and develop contacts. You’ve been to networking events. Usually there’s…
Start Ups
Maybe We Could Do That In A Small Town Tuesday six of us traveled to Kansas City and met with several businesses and leaders to see what their start up community was doing. The picture below is John Hawkins-mayor, me, Nate Olson, Zach Chizek-attorney, Brian Miller-city council, Maureen Seamonds-artist, Logan Welch-city council and Adam Arredondo. Nate…
The Past is Done
The Past is Done The days of working at one job for 35 years are gone. We no longer punch in, work 8 hours, and punch out. Some of us work for ourselves, and work long days and often 6 days a week. Some of us work two or three part time jobs. Young people don’t…
Two Boys Two Nights
My great nephews spent the weekend. It rained all weekend. It didn’t matter – we still had fun. All it took was a plan, and patience. Friday night we went to the store around 9:30 when it was pretty empty. They had to test the cars to see which ones were the fastest. Saturday morning…
Rural X Summit
Rural X A Summit for Small Towns #ruralX stands for Rural Experience; a “come as you are” convergence of thinkers and doers with a desire to share creative energy, positive motivation and compelling new ways to “ruralize their potential” in the places they call home. The lively, inspirational summit will inspire critical conversations, connect people…
Sunday Update: Fighting Gout
Good Lord, this aging thing isn’t for the weak. First of all, I firmly believe that taking care of my health – exercising, using Melaleuca products and adapting my diet – is saving my life. I had the good fortune to inherit the gout gene from both sides of my family. If you’re not familiar…
5 Stories Session 8
This was a fun week! Becky McCray and I share 5 stories relevant to small towns and discuss them on blab. Here are the links along with my short commentaries. You can also watch the blab video below. The state of South Carolina is using official road signs to help rural businesses thrive: http://buff.ly/1qIOZF5 TODS Tourism Oriented Directional…