I am a fan of history. If you follow me on GooglePlus+, you might see a photo of me outside the Antique Archaeology/American Pickers shop. You might see me asking architect Steve Wilke-Shapiro questions about historic structures that reveal my ignorance. It’s OK to laugh at my lack of education. I laughed at myself yesterday, as a matter of fact.
Stumbling upon the pickers’ shop was “a happy accident,” in the words of Bob Ross. Not only did Mr. TellBlast and I watch public TV in our youth, we also grew up in antique store families. Perhaps we are products of our environment. I stumbled upon another happy accident this weekend, again with Mr. TellBlast. Most good things in my life circle around him 🙂
His cousin Rebecca married Mike this weekend. I hope we get to know both of them better now that they will live closer to us. And just as I’m looking to have a Certified Local Government Program in West Des Moines — they won’t be positioned perfectly in my eyes until they become certified, darn it! — I walk up to the wedding site, this building, in Fort Dodge:
It was beautiful and perfect for the wedding and an excellent example of adaptive reuse! Finding this building was affirming to me. In this time of my city’s growth, with its age and independence from other cities (we are NEVER re-numbering our streets, people), recent success with Old City Hall’s renovation, now is the perfect time to have a CLG Program.