Monday, January 21, 2008

We hosted an adoption celebration Saturday at the homestead. We wanted to share in the joy of having Jordan officially one of the clan. Somewhere around 50 people showed up. This crowd of crazies ranged from folks in their late 50's to kids in the early twenties. They all have at least one thing in common... Jordan. I think everyone had a great time. Jordan hung in until about 2:00 am... he must be one of us.

It's been quite a while since we've had a party like that at the house. In the 80s, we had parties like that once or twice a month. It was cool that some of the people who came to those parties twenty-some years ago, joined us for this bash. It's those friends that keep us in Sioux Town. Lord knows there aren't many other reasons to stay. But the friends we've enjoyed for the past 30 years are worth the trip.

The people in this little cow-town are definitely the strength. When the powers-that-be realize this and capitalize on it, the quality of life will improve. I'm not sure exactly how to go about this, but events like Riverssance and Saturday in the Park are a good start. Supporting local businesses with the same enthusiasm that an "Olive Garden" gets would be a good step. I think we overlook the good people in this town. Hopefully, this will change and our little town will turn the corner and become the cool place that it has the potential to be.

1 Comments:

Blogger Chris the Hippie said...

Olive Garden... Here's a thought.

My wife and I will drive a considerable distance to get "unique" food. We'll go to Le Mars for a hot dog from Bob's, or to Martinsburg, Nebraska for a hamburger -- those places are locally owned and make their own food, and it's good. How many people from, say, Sioux Center will drive to Sioux City to go to the Olive Garden? Not many -- they can go to Sioux Falls for that. We're not going to get people from south of town, either, as it's closer to go to Omaha.

Will people eat at Olive Garden once they're in town for another reason? Sure they will. But will they travel to get to the Olive Garden? No.

The sad thing is that we lost at least two good locally-owned restaurants when the Olive Garden came to town. Bottocelli's didn't do nearly the volume of business as Olive Garden does, but it was unique. People would drive in from miles around to eat there...

I think it's sad that we traded an historic, locally-owned business for a chain restaurant. Too bad we can't support both.

Sat Jan 26, 01:45:00 AM

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home