Business Pulse: Ms. Wheelchair loses title when she stands
If there’s ever a day you need to be on your toes, it’s April Fool’s Day. Unfortunately, I can’t say I fooled anybody with a great gag this year.
I guess my days of pretending to set myself on fire, or pretending to be trapped under a tractor have caught up to me. Now I’m like the boy who cried wolf. If I ever jump from a plane and have my parachute malfunction, no one will believe it.
Richard McGregor tried his best to fool us at the newspaper with an elaborate April Fool’s prank about how a dinosaur fossil was uncovered during digging on Main Street. He even said CNN had heard of the story and was sending a crew. Fortunately, we’re not that gullible which is why I’ve always said if you read it in the Southern Standard, it must be true.
In addition to April Fool’s Day, April is also National Humor Month. I only hope that doesn’t mean people will start telling me knock-knock jokes.
In keeping with National Humor Month, I’ve made an effort to track down a couple funny stories for your enjoyment. The first is the scandal surrounding the Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin pageant, which is an actual contest and not something I just dreamed up.
The controversy erupted shortly after high school teacher Janeal Lee was crowned Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin and earned the right to advance to the national competition. But during an innocent picture for The Post-Crescent newspaper, Lee was photographed standing among her high school math students. To make a long story short, once this photo made its way to the pageant committee, Lee was stripped of her title and runner-up Michelle Kearney now gets to travel to New York to vie for the national crown.
Said Ms. Wheelchair official Judy Hoit, “We can’t have title holders out there walking around when they’re seen in public.” That’s a good point.
Lee fired back, “I’ve been made to feel as if I can’t represent the disabled citizens of Wisconsin because I’m not disabled enough.”
I say it tarnishes the otherwise spotless image of the Ms. Wheelchair contest to have one of its participants – let alone one of its winners – walking around her classroom. Lee shouldn’t be mad. She should be ashamed of herself.
As for other things unusual, I dip into my deep bag of tricks to bring you the latest dumb criminal. The story involves a 32-year-old San Diego woman who was taking her dog on an afternoon stroll. Trying to be a good citizen and a good neighbor, this lady was courteous enough to bring a bag along in case her dog, you know, had to visit the nearest tree.
The woman’s dog, Misty, had just visited that tree and the woman was carrying around a bag of poop (and I guess it’s OK to say poop in the paper). It was about that time an armed robber approached with a handgun, demanded the woman’s bag and ran down the street. It was about a block later when the thief realized he had just stolen a bag of you know what. So he chased down the woman, pointed his gun at Misty and pulled the trigger twice. Fortunately for Misty, the gun didn’t fire and the robber again ran away.
San Diego police detective Gary Hassen said there aren’t any prime suspects, but with criminals like that, I’m not so sure the community needs to worry.
Now I bring you the long-awaited, highly anticipated Business Pulse.
Curves for Women plans to move atop bowling alley
Regular Business Pulse readers have heard about the renovation work Mike and Doug Patrick have done above the bowling alley. The cable company has moved into one of the newly renovated offices there and so has a neat collectible shop called Visions of Beauty. There are also several hair stylists who have moved into what’s called Salon Suites International and I’ll get to more on that later.
But what I want to talk about now is the news that Curves for Women is moving above the bowling alley. Curves owner Kimberly Hunt tells me her fitness center is scheduled to open at its new location Monday, May 2.
“We’re excited and I think this will freshen things up a bit,” said Kimberly. “We felt like it was time for a fun change and this will give us a chance to attract new members.”
Kimberly said with all the hair stylists located above the bowling alley, and with her business which caters exclusively to women, the area is becoming sort of a “girly place.” From a personal standpoint, I’m a firm supporter of physical fitness. The more folks who make an effort to stay in shape, the better.
Kimberly says her business is getting bigger all the time and she hopes to draw from the steady stream of foot traffic that goes to the cable company.
“I was told the cable company averages 400 people a day who come in to pay their bill,” said Kimberly. “Maybe we can get some of those people.”
The number for Curves for Women is 507-2878. It is currently located in Chancery Plaza.
Farmers Market opens for the year
I was wondering what kind of things would be available at the Farmers Market during opening day festivities yesterday. I didn’t happen to see earmuffs, but if available, they would have sold quite well.
A handful of Farmers Market merchants showed up to battle cold temperatures and a nasty wind yesterday morning for the first official day of the year. Anyone who braved the weather was apparently a serious customer and ready to buy because merchants reported OK business despite really low crowds.
“I’ve probably only seen 25 or 30 customers out here, but I’ve sold a lot of stuff. The canned goods have sold real well,” said merchant James Brymer. “I think the people who came today were your diehard Farmers Market fans.”
The Farmers Market will be open on Saturday mornings for the rest of April. In May, it will be open on Saturday and Wednesday mornings. And in June, it will be open on Saturday and Wednesday mornings, and on Friday afternoons.
“All signs are this is going to be a busy year,” said Farmers Market representative Brent Bain.
“Last year we had a peak of about 42 or 44 vendors and that’s overflowing for a 30-stall market,” Bain added.
AmSouth has a new bank manager
There’s a new bank manager in town and his name is Jamie Green. Jamie works at what I have to call the friendliest bank in town, AmSouth, and I’m not just saying that because I have an account there. OK, so that’s part of the reason I’m saying it. I wouldn’t want to give anyone at the bank a reason to hit the wrong button and – poof – all my money disappears.
Jamie comes to AmSouth after working for seven years at Citi Financial, which is a finance company so it’s a little different than a bank. But once you get used to working around money, there aren’t too many differences.
“We didn’t have checking and savings accounts or investment services,” said Jamie. “So I’ve had a few things I’ve needed to learn. But banking is what I wanted to do from the start. Before I started working at Citi Financial, I wanted to go into banking but I didn’t have any experience.”
Jamie says AmSouth puts a tremendous emphasis on training and is a great company to work for. He says he has training sessions in Chattanooga three days this week and has to travel to Nashville another day.
As for the main question surrounding the banking industry, that revolves around the current interest rates which are inching higher and higher. That means better returns for people who have money to invest, but it also means higher payments for anyone looking to borrow money.
“I think you’ll probably see the real estate business slow down as the rates go up,” said Jamie. “It’s going to get real competitive with the banks on the CD offers that are out there.”
Generations to construct six Alzheimer’s cottages
This isn’t the most delightful of topics, but Generations/ Gaither’s Group held a groundbreaking ceremony last week on what will eventually be a six-cabin community for people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia.
The community will be located on 15 acres on Crisp Springs Road near the Centertown community. The current building on the property, the former home for DCS kids which gained notoriety for alleged sex acts which occurred there, will remain standing and be used for offices.
It’s the goal to have the first cabin, a 16-bed facility, built and operational by the end of the year.
“After the first cabin is finished, we’re thinking, tentatively, that it will take about six months after that for the next one to be complete,” said Generations regional vice president Buffy Gaither. “So we’re probably looking at around a three-year timetable for the whole complex.”
The complex will officially be called Generations Estates and it will be a regional facility that serves not only Warren countians, but also residents from nearby cities like Murfreesboro, Manchester, Tullahoma, Spencer and Smithville.
“It will give the people of Warren County a chance to keep their loved ones close to home,” said Buffy.
The six cabins will all provide a different level of care. As the disease progresses for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, they can be moved to a different cabin to receive a level of care suited to their needs.
It’s an unfortunate fact of life we need such facilities. On the flip side of the coin, it’s reassuring to know we have caring people in this community willing to provide these services.
New stylists join Salon Suites International
I told you I would talk about the new stylists located over the bowling alley and they are Miranda Knox and Leslie Pack. The two, both formerly of Fantastic Sams, have been at their new location about two weeks.
For those unfamiliar with Salon Suites International, each stylist has her own private space. They don’t work for a company, but instead work for themselves.
“I really like having an enclosed space and being in here by myself,” said Leslie. “At Fantastic Sams, I worked right by the window. In here people don’t feel like they’re sitting on a pedestal when they’re getting their hair done.”
Miranda says she too enjoys the greater privacy, along with having her own personal work space.
“You get to decorate it yourself and make it look the way you like,” said Miranda. “My customers seem to like it a lot too. For me, it’s a lot more freedom.”
To reach Leslie for an appointment, the number is 507-4048. Miranda’s number is 507-4110.
That’s all folks
I’m anxious to hear all the business news you want to tell me. Give me a call at 473-2191.