So much has happened since I last bored you with my newest opinions.
Azuma: An African Celebration was held and I thought it was wonderful. Learning new things and meeting new people just beats all. Certainly better than sitting at home thinking negative thoughts.
JuliAnn Graham at Tri-County Electric wrote a story that ran in the Oklahoma Living magazine. That really did some great things for Azuma. One couple I met came in from Shawnee, Okla., to see the festival. I got another phone call from some on the following Monday who said she lived three hours away that wanted to know how it went and wondered if we would be having it next year, so she could come.
Then there was the reporter from the Tulsa magazine who came for the festival. She was great. She heard about Azuma at the Oklahoma Main Street Awards Banquet and came out. She came out early and helped our Ethiopian cooks make the food. I can hardly wait to read her story because she knows aspects of the festival that I have no clue about. How fun is that going to be?
Lots of good things happen when you work together. You know, the harder you work, the luckier you get.
Oklahoma Main Street had a mandatory training for Main Street folks. It was on fund raising. That is not one of my strongholds. But there was a comment in the class that really struck me hard: “Do you do your fund – raising by inspiration or desperation?” There is some heavy thinking in that one.
They also reported that Baby Boomers (aged 46 to 64 years) give 43% of all giving. That makes sense. There are more of them than the over 64 years + and they have more money than the ones younger. But are we doing our youth justice and teaching them about the joys of giving? I hope you are. I try.
There was also a new word explained for me. You know when a person volunteers … well, if you voluntold, then you volunteered because you were told to. Nothing wrong with that, I’m saying. Or, I mean, I’m told.
Remember, give a little change. Change a lot.
This week is an autograph signing by Sara Richter for the new Guymon History Book. That takes place Thur., Aug. 21, 5 pm in the Main Street Guymon office, 116 NE 5th Street. Same day, same time is the reception at OPSU on the grounds by the bell tower for the OPSU Rodeo Team. Both great things to go to. Yee haw.
Then on Fri., is the Kick Butts 5K Glow Run / Walk, a benefit for Panhandle Partners. It is planned and put on by Dylan Portillo, a Guymon High School sophomore as part of his Main Street Transformer program. See, we try. That all happens after dark. I hope I can stay awake to do my registration duties.
Coffee. That will have to be part of the evening.
Did you know when scientists fed bees nectar containing caffeine, which occurs naturally in coffee plant flowers, the bees were three times more likely to remember a flower’s scent than those that received sugar instead.
Well, that makes sense. But how did they ask the bees what they remembered? So, bee number 4284, on a scale of one to 10, 10 being more intense …..
It’s a good week and I hope part of your week is on the bricks!