United Way

Last year I was invited to join the board of the Randolph county United Way. I'm quite proud of what the UW does for our community and love the insight I receive into our agencies and partners.  In a world full of bad news, these folks are doing truly great work and I'm glad to be part of their support. Our board is full of wonderful people who are a blast to work with; who really believe in the difference we're making.

This year's fundraising goal is $290,000 and our theme is Find Your Inner Hero. I got the opportunity to collaborate on the scripting & shooting of the campaign's promo video with our executive director, Gina Fowler, and Shawn Ames, a local creative consultant. We set up at the College to do some headshots and then Gina & Shawn did some really nice location work with Gina's grandson. I think Shawn really captured the vision we developed in the final edit. Cooper's got a cameo and I think he did just fantastic... cape, mask and all!

Our kick-off party featured our board in red capes, all swooping around the conference facility; superhero theme music greeted arriving guests... it was all super fun. Here's the obligatory newspaper shot to prove it!

So, if you're local to Randolph county, find your inner hero and help us reach our goal to make a difference. If you're somewhere else, find your local UW chapter at www.unitedway.org and get involved.  Watch our video below...

Randolph County United Way 2013 from Corban Artist Studio on Vimeo.

Trading an Old Friend

In 2003, I was driving a 2-door Accord and trying to haul popcorn machines and giant inflatable cell phones in the back seat to area US Cellular stores.

Leather seats.

It wasn't working.

I was driving through Kirksville one day and noticed a yellow 2001 Ford Escape. The popcorn machine fit perfectly in the back and that began a 10 year affair with a truck that has been a wonderful friend to our family. It's literally traveled across the States, hauled any number of supplies, pulled plenty of folks from ditches and snow banks, and been incredibly reliable.

But after 180,000 miles, the maintenance list of need-to-do got long, and it was wearing thin in too many places.  It was time to trade.

I was determined to buy a vehicle locally and went to work with Moberly Motors to find exactly what we needed.  There aren't a lot of all-wheel-drive Escapes with less than 50K with dark interiors floating around, but they found a 2011 in Chicago.  

So, here are a few shots of the Yellow Escape in action and our last time in the driveway, before bringing the new guy home... Greg at Ford took an obligatory new car shot for us (Notice how he got both trucks in the frame).

We love the Grey Escape just the same. I added roof rails, painted the old rack and put it back in place; I (proudly) installed a new trailer hitch and wiring harness. It's not missed a beat and pulled our trailer with ease last weekend.  We're pretty grateful for the years of the old and the promise of the new... here's to more road trips!

Hoorah!