So yesterday I posted the start of this series, catch up HERE.
Design has power.
Most homes in the United States are not designed. What I mean by that is to design a home you need to know the occupants, their dreams, habits, customs, and way of life and then develop a design to facilitate future goals. You also need to know the site, slope, climate, weather patterns, and even typical soil composition to “design” a house. Most houses are simply built and we (big we meaning society as a whole) have accepted that to the point where we adapt our living habits to the house not designed to facilitate the lifestyle we want to live as normal. Public buildings on the other hand are almost always designed for a specific use, group of people, and location (I wish more of them took into account climate and environmental impacts).
When we look at the making of a “place” all the buildings, streets, sidewalks, bike lanes, stormwater management, even porches, and fences have impacts. A residential community with no sidewalks or front porches and instead large rear yards and decks struggle to build community. A residential community with sidewalks and deep front porches tend to introduce neighbors to each other. This is a powerful tool in design.
In non-residential design, a building can also help create community. Think about how you feel sitting in the windows at Billy Jacks on a nice day when they open up the windows vs a hot day with closed windows. Another example is how Harrisonburg’s downtown feels with sidewalks and storefronts (the majority of parking in a deck) vs how East Market St. feels in the area of the mall where there are sidewalks, but parking lots are in front of buildings and there is a lot more traffic. All of these examples create a sense of place, but which builds belonging and a pride of place for you? Which is welcoming for you?
As we think about where to put our design energy for the future of our city we need to decide if we want to celebrate the unique aspects of our town or the chain restaurant any town USA part of our town. Building pride of place requires that people feel like they belong, are welcome, and have a purpose.
I have decided that this coming year I am going to do 365 intentional acts of kindness. Please join me in making our world a little brighter for others. #rocktownresilient #365actsofkindness
This year has been filled with a lot of negativity and challenges. On a personal level, I know I am blessed to have enough, maybe even more than enough. I did not go hungry. I have a home. I have stayed healthy. While work slowed tremendously for a few months our small business is surviving. While 2020 was filled with negative things, there were lots of silver linings and blessings.
The opportunity to work from home, spending more time with my girls this year, is incredible. I am still able to serve my clients and be with my family more than I ever imagined possible. The interactions I have had with friends this year have been special, whether through zoom or distanced in-person. Not having the ability to see anyone anytime makes the few meetings much sweeter. There have been so many positives in this year.
Finding ways to support others this year also has brought me incredible joy. Rotary Club of Rockingham County has not had in-person meetings since March and many of our service projects were cancelled. However, that did not stop our #serviceaboveself. I was fortunate to be able to deliver meals once a week to First Step on behalf of our club for a couple of months. I participated in a food drive for Our Community Place, cleaned up a highway, picked up trash along blacks run near Purcell Park, helped hand out food to Harrisonburg school families, and planted tulips at First Step and NENA Community Center. I supported local business by eating at locally owned area restaurants once a week at least and showing love to the servers and delivery drivers.
I also wrote positive online reviews for local companies, donated to local fundraisers and food pantries, purchased music and swag from local bands, and sent notes of appreciation to essential workers. I have tried to remember every day to wish a Happy Birthday to friends on Facebook and have sent out more thank you notes and gift cards this year than any other year before. I helped install solar panels at Eastern Mennonite School in a solar barn raising project. I found places to help others by creating online resources for home schooling, researched and published tips to make buildings safer, and created stress relief coloring pages. I also created amonthly young professionals networking group and hosted monthly education sessions for other architects. In order to support the local arts community I designed an outdoor stage that was used by both EMS and Harrisonburg High School.
I had not thought about all the good that these actions were doing for me until I watched this Ted talk that Nadia posted to Facebook.
So now after seeing this video, I am going to be intentional this coming year about putting #serviceaboveself. I will pledge to do #365actsofkindness over the coming year. Please join me and help spread kindness through the world and bring yourself happiness through action.
Join us for a SWEET Pints for Polio event at the Harmony Square Dairy Queen located at 1755 Virginia Ave. Harrisonburg, Va. This event is a fun way to treat your family and support Rotary in their fight to eradicate Polio worldwide. Just show up and buy dinner and a medium (PINT) blizzard for everyone in your entire family and bring your friends too!
Harmony Square Dairy Queen has generously offered to make a donation based on % of sales between 5pm and 8pm on October 22. Lets fill their restaurant and enjoy doing good in the world together.
Polio is a crippling and potentially infectious disease. It is caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis.
Harmony Square Dairy Queen is located at 1755 Virginia Ave, Harrisonburg, VA 22802.
History of Rotary
Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business professionals in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is non-political and non-sectarian organization open to all people regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, or political preference.
It is that time of year again, The Rock Rotary annual Car Raffle Party! Get your tickets for the Rock Rotary party supporting local non-profits today! This annual event is hosted at JMU’s Bridgeforth Stadium Club Levelon February 23, 2019 from 7:00 pm – until. The event benefits several local non-profits that do great work in our community including First Step, Generations Crossing, and The Rotary Foundation. Your donation of $150 provides one pass to get into the party and one chance to win a 2018 Ford Fiesta Hatchback while helping your community. This must attend party includes an vast spread of food and drink along with some of the best networking in the valley. Join us this year for a special scale Soap Box car race event. Just send me an email or call for your ticket. I would love to see you there.
First Step: A Response to Domestic Violence believes that all people have the right to live without violence or the fear of violence. This organization is dedicated to empowering survivors of domestic violence through support and education. First Step says abuse is not always physical. Threats of violence, destruction of property and / or pets, name calling, humiliating you in front of family and friends, putting you down – all of these things are abuse. Abuse is not caused by alcohol. It is not caused by stress. Abuse happens when one person seeks to hold power over another. First Step supports people who are living with violence or the threat of violence in their lives.
Generations Crossing‘s mission is to provide high quality, innovative adult and child care for our ethnically and economically diverse community. Unique to this program is an opportunity for adults and children to develop meaningful relationships with all ages within their loving, inter-generational setting.
The Rotary Foundationtransforms gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. This foundation enables our club to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. This fund supports our local club’s grant program that has in recent years supported a grant for On the Road Collaborative, Big Brother Big Sister, and Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation.
So get your ticket as soon as possible before they are sold out. This event allows you to help three non-profits, attend a great party, and gives you a chance to win a new car!
At this year’s banquet I was given the Community Champion award by the Harrisonburg Rockingham Chamber of Commerce. It is humbling to get recognized for something that others are doing more and better than you. There are so many in my life that give their time to good and deserving causes, organizations, and movements and do it more and better than I am able. There are many that I know that have made their life mission service to others. There are many that give so much more than I am capable or willing to give, each of them volunteering for a better community.
I am fortunate to work for and now own a business that for the past 31 years (20 of which I have been part of the organization) has made serving others a primary focus. In fact, everyone in the business has a cause they are passionate about from church to civic organization to animal rights to law enforcement to education to soccer to women’s rights. I am surrounded by people who get life through giving to others in time, money, and talent. So to get recognized for the little I do is greatly appreciated. Just to be nominated by one of the hardest working business leaders in our community is an honor in itself. I so appreciate the circle of support I have in this industry and community.
Volunteering for a better community, in my opinion, is the only way we are going to achieve just that. We cannot wait on regulations, laws, or politicians to make it happen. We each need to reach out to a brother or sister and help them up that next step. It can be as simple as a smile to warm a dreary day or it can be joining an organization like Rotary to magnify your efforts around the world. You could join an organization likeShenandoah Valley Partnership with the idea that a rising tide raises all boats and work to build an even stronger economic future for the valley. Maybe your passion is for Harrisonburg’s downtown, you can join, volunteer, and support the efforts of HDR as they support the healthy growth of our downtown community. Want to make a lasting impact – offer to provide job shadow opportunities for a student at Harrisonburg High School– just contact Bethany and she will set you up. Want to share your passion with a larger group of students, check out the amazing work being done by On the Road Collaborative. If you think technical education is important, find ways to support Massanutten Technical Center through sharing time, donation, or talents. Like to bowl, consider helping Big Brothers Big Sisters of Harrisonburg-Rockingham County by bowling for kid’s sake. If you want to support local music, Red Wing Academy is one of the best I have ever experienced for instrumental knowledge and the Shenandoah Children’s Choir for vocal musical talents. There are so many opportunities to help, we have started putting links to organizations we love hereto make it easier for you to find them. It does not take a lot of effort to make a huge difference, from wearing pink to swinging a hammer, there are lots of opportunities to do good in this community.
Thanks to all that do so much to build a better community, especially to those that offer kind words and gestures of support like taking time to write a nomination or just reaching out on a gloomy day!
If you bring in a colored Depot on the 1st we will have a Gaines Group flashlight for you (while supplies last).
December 1st
That same day there is an art market at Larkin Arts from noon – 6pm, photos with Santa at Hardesty Higgins Visitor’s Center from 1pm – 3pm, Polar Express at 4:30 in Court Square Theater (shop at a downtown retailer during the Winter Wonderfest and get into the show for free), Caroling throughout downtown, and the Grinch will be on the prowl. It sounds like an incredible day of fun downtown.
December 7th
Art Opening and Holiday party at the Depot – join us for our annual Holiday Party. Visit with Santa in the R.S. Monger & Sons Window and Door Showroom, then come upstairs to check out the goodies.
Of course, bring your colored depot to get a Gaines Group flashlight (while supplies last). We are hosting student artists in December from Eastern Mennonite School to benefit the EMS Interact We Serve Club. This club does at least one service project for the community through the school year!
We are also thrilled to welcome back Red Wing Academy students to our space again this year.
Red Wing Academy is hosted by Eric Brubaker of The Steel Wheels as a four-day intensive camp held at Eastern Mennonite University on July 7-10, 2019.
Red Wing Academy is open to non-beginner violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, mandolin and banjo students. Students will receive individual and group instruction from highly trained music teachers and will also be coached by members of The Steel Wheels throughout the week. Daily curriculum will include group classes, mini lessons, improv and jam sessions, technique and tone development, stage performance, electives, recreation, panel discussions, and more. Each day will close with a camp wide rehearsal to practice for Red Wing performance.
Throughout the 4-day workshop, students will learn several tunes to perform collectively. On Friday, July 12th, 2019, the Academy experience will culminate at Red Wing Roots Music Festival with a live, on-stage performance with The Steel Wheels.
Holiday Parade Downtown – the 2018 parade is themed Capture the Magic. Starting at the Rockingham County Office Building at 7:00 am this annual event brings together the entire community. Claim your space along the street route early in the day for the best views of the floats, trucks, and the big guy at the end.
December 8th
Christmas at Crossroads Gingerbread House Contest is returning this year. During this annual event at Crossroads Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center you can experience the small strength and beauty of candles in the still and silent darkness allowing respite from the hubbub of commercialized Christmas chaos. Take this time to reflect on the experience of Advent preparations as they might have taken place 100 years ago. For tickets and more information go HERE. This annual event also includes a Gingerbread House Contest – don’t limit yourself to the traditional house – go all out and design / build something cool. We are going to serve as the design judge again this year! There will be more information coming and a good chance you will want to be named winner!!!
In addition to the traditional candlelight tour there will be hands-on family crafts, live music and singing, and holiday refreshments.
