it's all about communication.

I know, I know--it has been awhile. It's probably no secret that the excitement of river city eatery is consuming my life, but it hasn't deterred me from my quest to make Windom a little better than the way I found it. I'm trying to parallel my life now to things I can do to make Windom a destination city. So, with that said, I'm looking forward to our very first "Business Caffeine" meeting tomorrow. With the help of other eager Windom business owners, we are going to start meeting once a month to talk business in Windom, and most importantly how to promote ourselves and downtown Windom. A little communication never hurts!

it's official.

It's official River City Eatery can sell STRONG BEER or should I say REAL BEER as of midnight tonight, January 1st, 2012.  What a great start to the new year!

energy.

Another day has passed.  I'm enjoying the quiet in what was once the walk in freezer of Mix Bakery, but what I like to call the water heater closet/eatery office now.  I'm definately feeling the hustle and bustle of the holiday season that so quickly approached, so it feels good to just sit with only the somewhat unsettling sounds of an old building's personality to listen to.  Somebody pinch me, this blessing can't be real. 

Now that I feel like I'm getting into a groove of organized chaos here at River City, I'm looking forward to making some New Year's resolutions.  On my priority list is to help organize a Retail Association of sorts for our local businesses.  I've made some great contacts and together we are going to get the ball rolling to a great 2012 in downtown Windom, and I couldn't be more excited.  There is an energy coming back to our downtown--I can feel it, many are starting to feel it, I think.  It's the energy that keeps me going here at River City and the energy that makes Windom such a great place to be.

nice and warm.

Saturday turned out to be one of the most beautiful snows I have seen in a long time (okay, maybe since last year at this time).  It was beautiful because I didn't have a place to be except River City Eatery, the holidays are among us, the lights on the trees across the street on the Courthouse Square, the smell of coffee and warm desserts were in the air and people enjoying them, and traditional holiday tunes made the perfect backdrop.  This afternoon was right out of a storybook, I swear. Although I shouldn't glorify the snow so much, as I know to those who were driving were probably not enjoying the big, white flakes as much as me. 

Just as I thought my afternoon in downtown Windom couldn't have felt any more warm, cozy and just plain perfect, two young couples came in to order coffee and desserts.  As they sat at Table 7, sipping warm drinks, they continued to get out a deck of cards and continued to laugh with eachother, enjoying their company across from the table.  I was on cloud 9 knowing these people came into River City Eatery in Windom, Minnesota, to be with friends.  It wasn't long after finishing their card game that they approached me with my favorite question--what else is there to do in this town?  I told them how excited I was that they had found River City Eatery, and they told me they found Windom on the map because it was between the two places they now live and came to spend the afternoon with eachother. 

I continued to tell them about our bowling alley, which is a unique bowling alley because you have to keep your own score. I told them to check out the deals around the downtown square and the new store that just opened on the corner, Enspired. I told them to take pictures by the courthouse because its so very photogenic.  I told them that Abby Park was a wonderful place to go sledding (I wish I could have supplied sleds!). I also told them to come back to River City Eatery because we were having live music that night.  And of course I gave them a City of Windom brochure and a Cottonwood County Visitors Guide that I like to keep on hand specifically for this reason.  I'm sure you can imagine how tickled I was by this time because there was so much more I wanted to tell them, but refrained because I didn't want them to think I was too crazy.

After they left, I continued on my merry way with River City to-dos, a skip in my step and smile on my face.  It was a few minutes later when I looked out our big front window to witness yet another beautiful sight...they were having a snowball fight and taking pictures by the courthouse as the breathtaking snowflakes came down...

I love this place.

Occupy Windom.

Talk about a holiday weekend...although Thanksgiving was a mere few days ago, it's hard to remember since 3 more "holidays" follow so closely after--Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. 

During Small Business Saturday, River City Eatery offered to give away a free soda or coffee to anyone who brought in a receipt from a local downtown business in order to encourage shopping local.  So I celebrated one of these holidays following Thanksgiving, I guess.  I have also vowed to do my Christmas shopping right here in Windom...and it can be done because I have almost everyone checked off my list already, only a few people left...

Well anyway, I caught a little bit of the late news on Black Friday and one story grabbed my attention.  A group in Seattle, WA, called "Occupy Seattle" was peacefully demonstrating to the public to remember what the holidays are really all about.  Let's just say shopping isn't high on the group's priority list and they weren't afraid to remind the public about how out of hand these crazy shopping "holidays" can be.

After watching the story, of course the first thing that ran through my mind was that Finding Windom is similar to "Occupy Seattle" because we are a group of people with opinions and ideas about our community and not afraid to voice these opinions and ideas in order to make the quality of life in our community a little better than we found it...and of course I was relieved to know that I'm not the only crazy person insanely passionate about the community in which I live.

And then I thought about how ironic it is that here "Occupy Seattle" was discouraging people from spending money on Black Friday, and that I would love nothing more than to see a crowd of people in downtown Windom frantically shopping the stores around the downtown square to make sure they get the best deals.  I mean, wouldn't that be a fun sight!  Of course I wouldn't wish pepper spray or stampeding or for anyone to get hurt, but a little hustle and bustle in beautiful downtown Windom during the holiday shopping season would be nice...

So, yeah, go ahead and Occupy Windom...Happy Holidays!