An Exciting (and Scary) Day!

Friday was a big day for the Hasseman clan, as we finalized the purchase of the new home of Hasseman Marketing & Communications! The new office is on what I like to call "executive row" on 4th Street here in Coshocton.

The business has continued to grow and as we add employees, we need more room. We spent some time on Saturday mowing, cleaning, etc. as we get ready to move in.

As you can imagine, it's exciting...and scary! Wish us luck as we try to continue to do the voodoo that we do!

Summer Camp

The girls this summer have been going to "camp" each day at Montessori School here in Coshocton. It's a different theme each week...and the girls have seemed to enjoy it. Here is a shot of them on a day when they decided to be twins!

The Eagle is Back!

Any fan of nature, and especially my buddy blogger Bill, will be excited to read the article in the Coshocton Tribune today!

According to the article, "Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is expected to announce today that the national symbol is no longer considered endangered or threatened."

Check out the link!

Taking a moment away...

Lately things have been extremely busy. They have been busy with my business (thank goodness!) and they have been busy with Amy's job. In addition, we have been going to softball games where Skylar is playing a LOT! The regular season winds to a close late this week...but we have been playing slightly more than the Cleveland Indians.

So you can see why after a long day, Amy and I both decided to head to The Warehouse in Roscoe Village. We chose it because it would be something different, but were pleasantly surprised to find entertainment too! They had a great blues band playing and we were able to find a seat (though it was busy!) outside.



So every now and again it is nice to take a moment in the middle of the week to take a breath. And I will say the family all enjoyed the experience!

Back at home...

It is always great to get back from the Annual to see the family. This year we had a few minutes so we took the opportunity to go to Lake Park and take a walk as a family. It was slightly overcast with perfect temperatures...so it was great.

As we circled around the lake the girls saw folks on paddle boats and talked us into doing that. That's a little more like work than you think!



We had a nice time on the boat...and Scooter even took in the sites!

The Annual

As some of you know, this past weekend as "The Annual." The event is an opportunity for a large group of guys from varying walks of life to get together, golf, drink beer, tell lies, and generally try to recapture our youth.

It was, as usual, a lot of fun. Though I will say that this year (for me) was a bit more tame than normal. My age is showing!

A Great Blog

As you get into the "blogging spirit" you tend to check out other blogs in cyberspace. Some of them are fun. Some are kooky. And though I might have shared this before, here is a blog that I read each day to check in on a friend.

Bill Weaver is a former teacher, principle and former fellow Longaberger employee. I have often said Bill has a true zest for life and when I need inspiration I check out his blog.

He is fascinated with birding, nature, family and life. Check it out. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

http://livefrompleasantchapeli.blogspot.com

Bill is also the reason I got into blogging. So you can blame him for my rants!

A New Challenge

For many of us that are busy with work, family and life, staying in shape can be a constant struggle. I am certainly no different. And I have found that I do better with my workout schedule when I have a race to get ready for...so...

I have decided that I am going to get ready for the Cleveland Triathlon on August 5th. Right now I am going to sign up for the Sprint race since I have not been swimming or biking at all recently. The Sprint distance consists of a 1/2 mile swim, a 16 mile bike and a 5K run (in that order). None of those distances are insurmountable, but I want to get in better shape so that it is not a struggle!

The entire race will take place in downtown Cleveland, so it should be interesting. Here is a shot of professional triathlete Chris McCormack running by Brown's stadium on the way to last year's victory.



As I have told some of you before, triathlons are a lot of fun. Wish me luck in getting prepared!

Father's Day

So at church today, moments of the service were dedicated to fathers. It was nice...and as I think of my own...certainly it is nice to have a day when I recognize his influence in my life.

Then, from an introspective point of view, I thought long and hard about how I could live up to the praises that were being tossed about. So I will try to "do better" by listening more...spending more time...and setting better examples.

My father did for me. Thanks Dad!

Just to laugh!

Sometimes I like to share something funny. I found this quick 3 minute stand up routine on YouTube. It's clean...and fun! Enjoy!



What do you think?

Jade's Birthday!

My youngest is 6 years old today! Jade is a pretty cool little individual...so if you see her, please wish her Happy Birthday today!



Happy Birthday Jade!

And the final post from a Saturday

The final "event" for the Miss Jennifer's weekend is the pool party. The Miss Jenn gang takes over the Lake Park Aquatic Center for the evening. It's a great time to celebrate a great performance and a great year. And it's a great way to run the very last bit of energy out of the dancers!



We take the opportunity to mingle with friends and enjoy the atmosphere.



Though I may have said this before, it bears mentioning again that Miss Jennifer's Dance Studio is one of the great things about Coshocton County. The studio gives the girls experience they might not otherwise have in a small town like ours. And I have personally seen girls grow in confidence as the year goes on! It is truly great to see!

But now for the girls

So the girls had the starring role in the big dance recital. So let me give you some looks at them!

The Big Show

As I have mentioned previously, this weekend was the time for the Miss Jennifer's Dance Studio Recital. It is big stuff here in Coshocton!

Over 400 girls participate in classes all year long to get ready for the big day. And the Coshocton High School Auditorium (which seats around 1,000) is always packed. They have two large recitals...and one just for the littlest girls called the Twinkle Star Matinee.

For the big show, my girls performed in various places. Skylar (8) is really coming into her own as a dancer and a performer. Jade (5, nearly 6) is beginning to find her stride as well.

But what I have probably failed to mention up until now, is that I was the opening act. The theme of the show this year was "All Aboard Miss Jennifer's Dance Cruise" so all the numbers were "boat related." I opened the show with the theme from the Love Boat.



Yes. I am the cheesiest man in Coshocton County.

A Severe Clear

Saturday morning was glorious! I was up early (as promised) to get some footage of the Hot Air Balloons flying over Coshocton County!

Just to make sure I was not getting out of bed for nothing, the Chamber Director Carol Remington called me to let me know they were going to fly! The target that I went to was our Coshocton County Career Center, and several balloons made it. I got some great footage...and here is a still!



Want to see more? Check out next month's Inside Coshocton!

A Memorial Service

As I mentioned on this blog a few days ago, this weekend was a memorial service for a very good friend of mine. I was asked to give the Eulogy. I was honored to do this...but wow.

If you have never had this experience (and frankly, I hope you don't) let me tell you it is draining. First, you have the challenge of putting some sort of coherent thoughts into words. This can be tough during this trying time of course.

Then you have to hope that it touches people. And finally you have to hope (at least if you were close to the person) that you can get through it without sobbing uncontrollably!

Kevin Johnson was a great friend to me. And I hope that I did not embarass his memory.



The Memorial Service was kind of therapeutic for me. It was a great opportunity to remember Kevin as he was. He was the life of the party...even after he was gone!

A Busy Week

My lack of posts usually either means a really slow week...or a really busy week. This week it's a busy week followed by a REALLY busy weekend. So preparations for the weekend have taken on most of my conciousness.

Friday marks the beginning of the 26th Annual Coshocton County Hot Air Balloon Festival. This is a great event here in Coshocton County and spans Friday, Saturday and Sunday. At one point in time I was the co-chair of the event...but I have pulled away from those duties because of my girls involvement in Miss Jennifer's Dance Recital.

And you guessed it...that is this weekend too.

So on Friday I will head to the fairgrounds to hopefully catch some balloon footage for Inside Coshocton (your favorite show and mine!). Then I will head back to the rehearsal at Miss Jennifer's so that I can get a lay of the land for videotaping the next day! I also have to rehearse myself...but I don't believe I will share why!

If I am a dutiful videographer I will be up at 5:30am the next morning to see if the balloons fly in (all dependent on the weather of course!). I will spend some time then in the morning shooting video there at the festival. But soon I will head to the High School to set up for the Recital.

For those of you who are unaware, the recital is an event all it's own. The day starts with the Twinkle Star Matinee. That show is approximately one hour and features the smallest dancers at the studio. This will begin at 2pm.

Before that event, however, will be the Memorial Service for my friend, Kevin Johnson. Kevin passed away a couple of weeks ago and his family has asked me to give the Eulogy. It's an honor...and I am glad to do it. This starts at 1pm.

So after the memorial service and the Twinkle Star Matinee, there will be an hour or so of respite. The "Big Show" starts at 6pm.

The Big Recital for Miss Jennifers features all of the rest of the 400 dancers at the studio and usually runs approximately 3 hours in length. Hasseman Marketing & Communications video tapes the event and sells the copies. We setup a 2 camera shoot to capture the entire process, then we go back to the studio and edit each individual number. It's a process...but the girls really seem to enjoy it.

Finally, when that show is over, the Hot Air Balloon Festival has a "Night Glow" each year. If everything goes according to plan, there is a possibility that I can get back to the fairgrounds to catch that too!

Whoo! And folks say there's nothing to do!

A Day at the Memorial

Yesterday was the final day of the memorial and I was lucky enough to get a ticket! It was my first time to attend the event...and it was beautiful!

You might know if you watched the news that K.J. Choi was the winner of the tournament this year. But the crowds (as you would have guessed) followed Tiger. All in all it was a fun day.

And you were not allowed to have phones or cameras...but I just had to prove I was there!

An Educational Day

Yesterday I had the opportunity to be a part of an educational exercise that explored statistics in the Appalacian region. It was presented in a "map" format that was extremely interesting.

I was the only one in the room that was not an "educator" and enjoyed the process. I will say it did give you some insight into the reason "why" we need to re-evaluate the way we educate our children.

I think this might be an interesting tool for explaining the "why" to the community at large.

There is an article in today's paper...so check it out!