Fortunately the heat and humidity wasn’t as bad as I was expecting to where actually it didn’t seem as brutally hot as yesterday. Thinking it was going to be another scorcher, I made sure to get as many of my outside errands run as early as possible. The bulk of my day was busying myself with preparing for closings coming up in the next week as well as getting initial paperwork started on homes that recently sold. I’m exceptionally happy one of them in particular has been sold and now approaching closing. Once in a great while there comes into my inventory a home that is a beast to get sold for no other reason than it just not wanting to let go of me. I think the home must have finally grown tired of all the showings and decided it was time to allow a new owner to live there. I mentioned to one of the bankers today that it has been my bane for far too long. I’m not a bit concerned about the buyer being happy there because it is a good home and should have sold many months ago. Could it be possible the house was waiting for its preferred buyer? Only time will tell.
Hopefully tomorrow will bring many delightful happenings. It appears the annual barbecue contest will be going on in East Park. I only hope the rain that is supposed to arrive will come early in the morning rather than during the afternoon and evening festivities. I would love to see something going on in East Park nearly every weekend of the year. Due to the size of the park, there is more than enough room to create portable kiosks where vendors can sell their seasonal wares along with a number of ethnic food vendors. I know it would become a hit as long as the activities are well advertised and kept relatively standard from year to year. People who live in North Iowa drive for hours on weekends to attend outdoor festivities in cities like Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Minneapolis. Because of our geographic advantage of being at that half way point between major cities, we really must start utilizing that fact by encouraging the promotion of week-end happenings in our City. With the flood buyout land north of the Winnebago on either side of N. Carolina Ave., there could be future outdoor vintage car exhibits, children’s festivals, and even possibly a river of lights promotion with anchored boats out on the Winnebago setting off fireworks. If the Parks and Recreation Department would look at what all the other cities in the Midwest are doing with their city parks during the four seasons, there should certainly be a handful worth investigating. We cannot rely on the Band Festival alone to bring in a large number of money spending visitors. There should be at least four major happenings a year—one for each season.
I had a much needed heart to heart chat with a dear client this afternoon regarding some of the recent happenings in our City. She’s a very well read and a bit salty individual who nearly always tells it like it is. We happened on subjects of how loyalty is nearly non-existent, the canned responses of salespeople, the selfish demands of customers who test endurances, and above all, the crude behavior and inappropriate language we find running rampant. We agreed it’s yet another sign of the times in which we now live. After hanging up I reminded myself, “In every day and every way there’s always hope.”
