December Blog

Hello everybody. This past month had a few exciting occasions. December 18^th we picked up the rain garden sign frames from the Columbia Career Center. They are currently in storage until the ground thaws enough for installation. Before storing the frames we brought one to the office and gently placed the glorious sign in the frame. It looked very nice. The City of Columbia said we could help out their sign installers to see how they do it so we can repeat the process on our own. I cannot wait to see the signs in front of the completed rain gardens.

The second occasion I will discuss was New Years Eve. Columbia has a New Years Eve celebration called 1^st Night. It has been going on for years, but this was my first time, and I really enjoyed it. I communicated with the organizers my ideas for an educational booth and children’s activity, painting on a rain barrel. I was told to set up at one of the theaters on Stephens College campus. The entertainers at this venue included a magician and several bands. I set up in the lobby and waited for the crowds. 1^st Night started at 7:00pm. At 6:50 crowds of people rushed the doors. It was frigid outside so I thought people might hang out in the lobby, but I was wrong. The festival goers went from one event to the next at full speed. So, hundreds of people saw the display but only a few stopped to talk. I was happy anyway, it was New Years Eve. I learned later that there was an all kid’s centered fun arts and crafts event at one of the church’s downtown. This will be where we try barrel painting next 1^st Night.

I am currently organizing the Healthy Watershed Series, an educational event focusing on; you guessed it, healthy watersheds. There will be four guest speakers, one a month starting in February.

The last item I am really excited about. At our last MRCN meeting we discussed the MR340 and what or how to use the event to promote AmeriCorps. The MR340 is a race on the Missouri River for 340 miles, from KC to the St. Louis area, for slightly crazed individuals. One idea was to be a ground crew for some racers and talk somebody in the Journalism School to tail us and write an article. Another idea was to convince someone to take video of the race and ground crew and create a promotional video. Something about this makes me smile.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Lance