Spectacle, Redneck Xmas, Crop Tour '12

By Pete Burmeister on

News From The Coffee Shop

June 22, 2012 11:33 AM

I've been chastised by some in the past weeks for the absence of my weekly tales about the situations I encounter and the reactions I have to them. So without further ado....

The family and I loaded up the SUV the first part of June with our good friends AJ & Emily and their son for a long weekend vacation. When I say loaded, I mean tourist style loaded. Every seat in the vehicle had a body in it, the stroller was ratchet strapped to the roof, and we had a cargo rack attached to the receiver hitch on the back of the Tahoe. We set our sights on the largest city in Nebraska and their renowned zoo. I figure you can tell a lot about the quality of a zoo by how well they hide the fact that the animals are really just in cages. The Henry-Dorley Zoo did it up right and I'd recommend a trip to see it with the family in the near future.

While the animals were the main attraction and the giraffes the highlight of the day for my daughter, I found the people watching to be most spectacular. It's hard to describe the cross-section of our society the Omaha Zoo represented that day, but I'll give it a shot. Young & old, yuppies & county folk, the obese, tramp stamped, & nose rung, and a sprinkling of what appeared to be normal-pull-your-own-weight adults and their families.  Most of the critters who live in the zoo usually appear less than impressed with the countless wandering humans that stroll in front of their pens each day. Still, I can't help but wonder what must be going through those monkey's minds when the front gates open each day and they witness the ever deteriorating physical appearance our culture has become. While I'll never know what the chimps are thinking, this much I can tell you... if I wind up in a nursing home, it's going to be like a scary zoo haunted by flab and faded-blue tattoo ink!

Every summer my wife's family holds Christmas in June. It's a great time for a large family to get together and enjoy each other's company without killing one another. The numerous young children can run and play outside and it gives the parents and grandparents more space to enjoy the day without being couped up in the house in December. Each year the Xmas has a theme, this year it was Redneck Xmas. You may have seen these photos on the blog over the last week showcasing some of the costumes the relatives sported. If not, it's worth another look. Attached are two of my brother in-laws and their git-ups for the day. Matt, bringing back the throwback Chariton Chargers track jersey and Jeff, playing the Turtle Man. Surprisingly, they're both off the market ladies! What can I say other than--you can pick your friends, not your relatives--all in good sport, of course.

Just a quick update on the 2nd Annual News from the Coffee Shop Crop Tour '12. We're well underway on the planning and sponsorship portion of the event. I had the chance to get together with a dozen others late last month to bounce ideas off each other for this year's tour. While everyone didn't agree on everything, we were able to get a rough draft together to start planning from. So far, we've got a great crop tour/yield estimation planned along with a multi-brand corn/soybean plot for evaluation at the Henderson Event Center, an evening happy hour/meal and tour results presentation followed by an up and coming County Music Artist, Scott Shelby from Bells, TX to wrap up the day. More details to come on the exact timeline of events. If your reading this, you've probably seen the countless updates I've been giving about the many sponsors that have already stepped up to support this event. There will be more to come, but I want to say thank you to each business that has supported this idea so far, we couldn't do it without you. If anyone has questions about sponsorship opportunities, just give me a call 319-327-0806. Within the next week, you'll be seeing a few highway banner's placed on heavily traveled roads throughout Buchanan County in an effort to help spread the word about the crop tour. As always, details will be released as they are finalized right here on News from the Coffee Shop. As we get into July, we'll be looking for area farmers who are willing to allow use of their fields. Again, if you have interest in this portion please call me at the number above. With that, I'd like to personally invite you to attend all or part of the day's events on August 24, 2012 and enjoy the company and interests of other crop tour enthusiasts.