Dexter Iowa Community Site

Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

We are halfway through 2017 so let’s find some time for a few random thoughts…

1. We seemed to have mostly survived the first Independence Day with legal fireworks. Yes, it has been a pain in the rear for anyone who has a job that requires them to go to bed at a decent hour, but I would guess that as time goes on and the novelty of it wears off it probably won’t be like living in a war zone.

2. The urban creep continues and has ramped itself up lately with nearly five new housing developments going on in Adel. I am all for our communities growing, but I feel that there are many important lessons to be learned from what is happening there now and hopefully our city and school leaders are paying close attention. While tax abatement can spur extreme growth, one still has to be able to pay for services delivered to those areas of growth.

3. Preliminary discussions about driving tram at the Iowa State Fair have hinted at some major changes happening at the fairgrounds. I’ll try to keep you up to date the week before the Fair.

4. I’m certainly not a fan of the hot weather, but I am a fan of sweet corn.

5. While doing some cleaning in my office over the weekend I came across and advertisement for the Des Moines Interurban trolley from 1908. It was five cents a ride to anywhere on the line in the city you wanted to go. Although it seems that we all either drive or take a bus when in Des Moines I wonder if at some point some type of rapid transit wouldn’t be an interesting alternative. They have started testing this in Kansas City with very interesting results that show ridership is much more than they expected.

6. It’s coming close to county fair time. Just a reminder for all you Mom’s and Dad’s out there who will sit up the night before with you kids finishing projects to take a deep breath and remember you also did this when you were a kid. I can remember many a late night of writing note cards and putting final touches on projects while my poor mother tried to keep me on task.

7. Finally this week… remember to stay cool out there and try not to get yourself too worked up over little things. Before you know it, the snow will be flying and we will all be looking forward to winter being over, so think cool thoughts. See you next week…remember, we’re all in this together.