2/27/06 Gerri and I drove to Chicago and back last weekend for Coffee Fest 2007. We go to this almost every year, it is a really good chance to keep up with what is happening in the coffee business and to try new products. We left on Thursday and came back Monday. The weather was good except for an ice storm Saturday night which made things a little exciting Sunday morning on our drive out, but we had no problems. It was held in downtown Chicago at Navy Pier. We attended seminars on running the business and found some new products that we will be trying out in the store. Check us out.
Among some of the things we are going to try are organic cookies made by Immaculate Bakery in North Carolina. These cookies are great and the packages feature folk art mostly from Alabama folk artists living in the Black Belt. I am still searching for a great organic espresso and will have some samples sent here for us to try. I really like my present espresso beans, but trying to find a comparable organic so far has been impossible. We also gained some tips on marketing and branding which we don't do well but must if we are to survuve in the face of increasing competition. It was avery worthwhile trip. We didn't do much siteseeing, but drove the Miracle Mile a time or two and ate at our favorite Italian restaurant Maggachianos (?). We had troulble finding a room at a reasonable price, there were several conventions going on, and the place we normally stay was booked full. Expedia, or one of those similar deals, found us a room at the Lakeside Ramada for half the price of others and it was just what we needed. Long trip back, we made too many sightseeing stops.
2/20/07 I spoke to the Kiwanis Club yesterday, I hope I can figure out how to display my notes on the Green Page. But I talked to them for 45 minutes or so about Alabama's unique natural resources. I mainly covered our forest and water resources and the tremendous biodiversity of plant and animal life that inhabits them. i tried to show them how we, as a state and local area, are in transition and that the decisions we make over the next ten years about how we develop will determine what remains of these jewels for our children and grandchildren to experience. We can develop in ways that protect these things or we can lose them. And the choice is our to make now. The bottom line message is that we have to begin to plan for our future now, we cannot just let events move however they will. If we do we will wake up one day and our state will have changed into something that none of us of want. And our kids will hold us accountable for their diminished lives. Planning is the key, we need to make sure our leaders hear this from us all now, before it is too late.
2/16/07 I have tried to update this blog several times in the past week but have had internet problems and was kicked out. I would like to commend the Cullman Ausubon Society for the program they presented last Tuesday during their monthly meeting. It was a powerpoint presentation on global warming that was really good. A lot of facts, figures and photos, and whether you belive in global warming or not, you have to know that things have changed, our weather is not the same, and that we as individuals and groups need to do something about it. Hopefully I'll have more to say when I get the Green Page up and running.
2/11/07 My editorial letter was printed in the Cullman Times yesterday. So far I have several favorable comments on it. One of my regular customers plans to follow up in a week or so with a similar letter to reinforce the need to take actin on this subject. Also, maybe you noticed that I started a Green Page. So far there is nothing on it, but hopefully that will be changed as soon as I can get to it.
Erin mentioned to me that I had not written anything in this blog about her wedding. She was married to Josh Brooks on Jan 12 after a 10 day engagement. They were engaged New Years and somehow Gerri and I we managed to throw together a full blown wedding in ten days. What was supposed to be a small intimate wedding for family and a few close friends blew up to something much bigger. The wedding was beautiful and very unconventional. I appreciated Erin's desire for the ceremony to be simple, but meaningful. There were no bridesmaids or best man, I didn't walk her down the aisle. The wedding was at at the First Methodist Church where Josh is youth minister. It was supposed to start at 7 and pictures were taken at 6 in the sanctualry and what happened was that everyone came in during pictures and got to hang out with the families. Erin and Josh and the rest of us spent the time before the wedding talking joking , etc with the guests. It was really neat, everyone felt part of what was happening. We even took some pictures of the guests as they came in. At 7, or maybe a little after, Erin grabbed Josh by the arm, said "Lets get married" and escorted him to the alter where Jason Elam, the presiding minister went. The ceremony was nice, they took communion and just before the vows, Josh went over and picked up a guitar and seranaded Erin who sat down on the alter rail. She didn't know he was going to do that. After the wedding we held a reception in the church hall. Andy Camardella from the old Clabria restaurant catered it, chicken parisian with all the trimmings, it was great, I recommend him highly. Adam Lloyd's band performed for two hours during the reception, they were great, a good mix of traditonal, popular and bluegrass, and everyone appeared to have a great time. All the kids were break dancing in front of the stage while the grownups talked and carried on. Erin and Josh stayed until nearly everyone left, no big fanfare with rice or anything. She didn't throw the corsage she gave it to a friend. They did reluctantly cut the cake. Our thanks to Joe and Julia Bright who took over and managed the reception and Lauren Heatherly who helped in many many ways.
2/6/07 I submitted a letter yesterday to the editor of the Cullman times about protecting our natural areas during Cullman's rapid development. I'd be interested in your comments if you happen to see it. I am really concerned about the future of Alabama, I see things beginning to happen here just like they did in California in the 1970's with unrestricted growth. Once you pave it over, it's gone and you can't get it back. We need to plan for a future that we can all be happy with, both ourselves and our kids and grandkids. I plan to start a Green Page on this web site as soon as I can figure out how to do it. Also if any one is interested in becoming a Water Watch volunteer there is training in Arley next Saturday, and if enough folks are interested I'll get some here. I presently monitor 17 creeks in Cullman county and would like to do more, but will need help for that.
2/6/07 We had a good open mike night last night. Had some new faces, specially a great group of Wallcae State students in attendance. John Mitchell, a Marine recruiter here in town played guitar and sang accompanied by Zac Smith on jimbe drum. Zac had a great drum, handmade in Ghana with a sweet sound and he knew how to play it. Dennis Kaylor sang several of his great originals, Jason anderson did stand up comedy and poetry, Carlo did two old songs in his unique style. Since we had extra time I played several old folk songs and even two original, I have written some songs, but I seldom perform them. Robert sang some country and Meliah and her dad and brother rounded out the evening. sn enjoyable night.
2/5/07 Larry Woellhart performed here last Saturday night, it was a great concert. In fact one of my customers said today that it was what coffee house music should be. Larry performs popular folk and traditional music mainly from the 60's and 70's and lets the audience use his song list to make requests. We had good attendance and everyone had a good time. By the way Larry was voted the second most popular male singer in Huntsville recently, quite an honor.
