[BWNA] Neighborhood Picnic

[Rob Vaughn]

Thanks to everyone who made this happen, esp. Jeff & Roger the grillmeisters,
Jim Karlock for stepping in to do last minute checks, Bill Markwart for
getting police and fire for safety *and* a chance to meet & greet the folks
who help protect our homes and families, and countless others I'm forgetting.

Also big ups to Umpqua Bank for bringing an Ice Cream Truck (if only I wasn't
lactose-intolerant - but darn I just can't stand those lactii!)

I am in the process of switching all of my banking: savings, checking, credit
card, from Bank of America to Umpqua after almost 15 years of BoA due to their
causing me nothing but endless problems this past year, and since Umpqua
opened a local branch on Fremont, I decided to check them out, since one of
our neighbors (and a friend of mine) worked in the branch in The Pearl.

I can't recommend Umpqua highly enough.  The do things right, the first time,
and their employees are empowered to get things done, without wasting a lot of
time.  And their branch is more like a store, featuring local musicians' music
being played and for sale, as well as local shops being featured every two
months I think, plus their own coffee blend roasted in Eugene, and computers
you can use for online banking or even to just surf the Web!  Even the change
over has been painless - they really do all the work for you.

I bring Umpqua Bank up in part because they would really like to start some
sort of monthly event, similar to First/Last Thursday, in the BWNA area,
rather than just the yearly Fremont Fest, so any suggestions people have as to
how their coordinator can go about that would be great.  I suggested a BWNA
meeting first, then perhaps the board, and the BW Biz Assoc.  They're ready to
put time and money into making it happen, and I think it could be a huge boon
to our neighborhood businesses.  I don't know if it will pan out, but I'd like
to help them try.

Thanks again to everyone who made last night happen, and made me feel welcome
despite my absence for most of the last three years.  I wasn't able to bring
any friends along but when I have in the past they're always amazed at the
turnout and neighborhood spirit, and I feel very lucky to have landed in such
a good neighborhood (coming up on 10 years soon!)

See some of you on Friday for movies in the park I hope!

Cheers, Rob V.

--
robv at sound-o-mat.com
http://sound-o-mat.com/~robv
http://robv.sound-o-mat.com (blog)