In our ongoing pursuit of promotion for our renovation and restoration project, a couple of the Friend Historical Society ladies joined the PHouse staff and we took off to toot our horn on June 8. Destination Fairbury. "What?" You might ask? Why was Fairbury a potential "big deal"? It was, after all, a repeat performance for the Pour House to do a wine tasting at the Stagecoach Antique Store. But, baby this time we pulled out all the stops. We catered the event (no I will not do it again... really... I mean it) and paired a lovely smoked brisket and horseradish crostini with a fantastic Barista Pinotage, Boursin and Beef puff pastry with the Arenal Sauvignon Blanc, blanched asparagus wrapped in crispy prosciutto was lovely with our Betty White, and of course we had various fresh fruits, savory cheeses and charcuterie, olives and sweet raspberry bars that topped off our new Bramble Berry Bliss. Boy, did we put on the Ritz! What was generally unknown was that we were hot on the heels of the field editor for Nebraska Life Magazine. I got a tip that he was going to be there covering the First Friday in Fairbury event.
I have been pursuing the magazine for several months now, trying to convince them that there is a fantastic story to be told. The story, of course, is the success of our renovation efforts of the Warren Building; the increasing popularity of the Pour House, the never-ending room flipping process to accommodate the many reservations for the San Carlo Room, the inquiries about making donations of art and artifacts to be placed on display in the Welcome Center, and the lovely art that hangs in the Mary Mary Quite Contrary Gallery, welcoming people to private events hosted there. And, of course, the next major phase of our efforts... our grand-daddy grandiose grand plan to restore the Historic Warren Opera House to be both a theater for performance and film. Much to my chagrin, as the many munching and sipping guests magically separated and the room cleared, there he was. My target. Off I went, to sell, sell, sell.
We talked about why I decided to put a wine bar in the middle of Busch Light country. Why a town of barely 1200 people would support such a major project, and how a tiny non-profit historical society group (average age 67) could make such an impact on a town called Friend. Impact, I explained, that was more than improving half of a city block. This is all-around impact. Economic benefits, tourism that never existed for this town, community promotion, support for the school arts programing and probably most important to us personally, building friendships. Women of varied ages and life experience have found their way to Maintenance Monday (M&M day), even if it's on a Wednesday evening, or an early Saturday morning and many who do not even clean their own homes are in the Warren Building scrubbing toilets and mopping floors, dragging fifty pound garbage cans that wreak of stale beer and ceremoniously bitching about it. We are all scraps of this odd, but lovely patchwork quilt that is the force behind the project. "Yes!" I proclaimed... we're a little weird.. no... quirky, but we've all got our eye on the proverbial restoration ball, and we mean business. We are self identified as "Women of High Caliber". We're gun owning, toilet scrubbing, cuss-word tossing over-achievers. "Down right inspirational," I told him. He looked at me like I was a nut. Yet, on Monday, Nebraska Life Magazine contacted me to ask for more details, in writing. I immediately obliged, probably overwhelming the poor editor, but we are now in the hunt and I am hopeful.
That evening, after a lot of hard work and hot air, I followed our caravan of support back to Friend... my foot on the dash, drumming to my favorite REO songs (I'm a rock star when I drive)... thinking about what an inspiration we are. Inspiration to each other, to the community, and to others across the state who are literally "WOWED" by what we've accomplished thus far. I'm proud to be a part of this M&M Day (although I could really do without scrubbing the men's room) group and I have great confidence, as I sit in my new antique "chair of inspiration" I traded the Stagecoach Mall in lieu of mileage, that we are on the verge of great things. Naysayers and undoers be damned! Get out of the way, because the Women of High Caliber are on a roll!
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