Voting Opportunity: Shine a Light
Hello Bloggers,
With voting opportunities over for the next few months as considerations for Blog Cabin 2010 are being made, there are other chances to cast votes. Run My Renovation needs your voting choices for future remodeling projects, plus there’s another neat project that came across my desk.
Shine a Light is a partnership between NBC Universal and American Express highlighting inspiring small businesses: businesses that have demonstrated innovation and resilience through challenging times, continue to give back to the community and have a customer-first approach.
Over 4,000 small businesses were nominated to potentially win a grant and marketing support totaling $100,000 from American Express, but now the list is down to three finalists. And in true do-it-yourself spirit, we want to recognize Beacon Paint & Hardware in New York, New York.
A neighborhood hardware store that has been on the same block for 109 years, they have “become a household name to the entire school community, donating vast amounts of paint, lighting and materials. Beacon also sponsors a walkathon for the Xeroderma Pigmentosum Society and a community cleanup day to paint over any graffiti on mailboxes or lampposts.”
I love stories like these, and currently Beacon Paint & Hardware is in third. I know you all can change that by voting today. It is my duty, however, to alert you to the other two deserving finalists: Sacred Wind Communications and HAPPYBABY (you can find more info about them in the HGTV Dream Home blog and Rachael Ray’s blog).
Of course, you’ll have to register before you can vote, but once that formality is out of the way, please read more about Beacon Paint & Hardware and lend your support. It’s a great cause and will burn a few moments before Blog Cabin gears back up!
Cheers,
Watson, DIYnetwork.com Manager
Editorial Disclaimer: This post is in conjunction with our sponsor American Express in partnership with NBC Universal for Shine a Light.
Watson — Thanks for the info and the opportunity to cast a vote! And for the new thread! Your last one generated over 300 comments in just a very few days — must be some kind of record.
Thanks for the heads up Watson. Congratulations to all three finalists. It will be a pleasure to read up on them and cast my vote.
(Thanks for the new thread too)
Watson,
I wish you would have told us sooner about Shine A Light, because (today) Friday Oct. 16th is the last day you can vote.
Again good luck to all of them.
Watson: Thanks so much for the info on Shine A Light. What a great way to give back to the community. Congrats to the three finalists.
Thanks for the new thread.
I hope everybody moves to this new thread now, but I see new posts still on the old one — too bulky with over 400 posts!
Hubby and I are packing this weekend for next week’s vacation time in the Smokies. I’ll wait and say ‘bye on Tue. before we head cross-country to our wee cabin for about 10 days just soaking up peace and brilliant-leafed beauty. Carrie’s account of her trip just whetted my appetite even more, as our little shack is on the boundary of the National Park, not far from where she was staying. Carrie, you made me so eager to get there I can hardly wait!
Sure hope the girls find their way here. Wonder if they stopped by the 2009 BC on their journey and cooled off in the Koi Pond awhile.
LilB you are welcome, I wish we had coordinated our stays a little better. It would have been fun to have met for a chat somewhere and got a big friendly bear hug from you. I heard a few people at the mall on our way out say, the upper mountain areas were shining with colors, like I said I didn’t leave the cabin and I didn’t really get to go into the mountain driving trails, but I could see colors popping. I sent the hubby with the kids out for groceries for cook outs on the screen in porch. I stayed behind to enjoy that porch swing or the tub or nap on the couch next to the fireplace. We really enjoyed our time there. Chris brought his guitar, Christen her violin and together they are learning to read music DIY style, they have been learning some old church hymns. I will treasure that forever. Hearing them compromise notes and put forth a sweet little melody. It was alot of fun swinging on the porch swing snuggling with my little man Carter, it was chilly and raining and him LOL at the silly squirrels bouncing through the trees and coming to the edge of the porch checking us out, was so relaxing too. I miss it already and am envying you mightily for your return to the Smokies. Everytime I go back and see those God gifted mountains! I leave a little piece of my heart behind and it tattoos a wonderful memory in my soul. I do hope you enjoy your mountain time.
Little reminder, but it was pretty busy at times so be sure & go to the potty before you hit the traffic jam from the, PF/ Sevierville strips toward Gatlinburg. You may get stuck in the traffic and then have to wait for the potty line or watering hole, when you finally get over to get to the bathroom entrance anyway. Hee hee!
We did stay at the other end of the area, We stayed at Oak Haven Resort, nice & clean places, every time we stay. I recommend them highly. We love that place. They have their own pool, playground, and walking trails. You don’t even have to leave the cabins to have a good time. The color was just about 1/2 way to me. This weekend will be the prime veiwing time. But it rained alot while we were there. We didn’t get to go to Cades Cove for our picnic like we wanted. Maybe we will get to head back in a couple of weekends. Everything was so cute decked out with the harvest themes, scarecrows and pumpkins every where. On the way out I noticed the Tn workers had started putting up some of the Christmas lights at some of the light poles and bridges. So it will be even cuter soon.
Watson, I saw the Run my Renovation website a few weeks back! I like that one too.
And I like the company you suggested above, wish we had known sooner about the voting. We bloggers could have helped the company we liked out. The Shine a Light program is a great project put forth and any small business that is impacting their communities deserves a chance for the $100 k. that would make such a difference for them.
What a nice, peaceful, new thread. thank you Watson. Hope the next announcement is about one of us winning the BC09 cashpot. LLL
Thanks, Carrie! I think we’ll miss the potty lines, because our tiny cabin is 30 miles north of Gatlinburg — it’s on the northwest boundary of the Park, north of the Gatlinburg–Sevierville tourist area (but close enough to go if we want to). It’s very remote — I mean very! As in, “on the back side of nowhere”, way up a not-very-populated mountain on a small one lane dirt not-quite-road with ruts deep enough to make a stranger just turn back (except there isn’t room to turn around!). If you wander past our place, you either live on top of the mountain, or you’re hopelessly lost. The nearest grocery other than a one-room campers’ supply post is 17 miles. But that’s actually why we bought it — we wanted genuinely remote, genuinely rustic, genuinely simple living. We’re never intended to buy a vacation cabin (could hardly afford 1 house, and definitely not 2). We bought it because we had to have a house when Tom retires in the next 4-5 years (we don’t own our present home), and we happened to find it a couple of years early, so now we vacation there till we can move in permanently.
Carrie, since we get to our cabin from the NC side, taking I-40 west from Asheville toward TN, we have to cross the entire Blue Ridge to get to our cabin. The potty wait happens if you forget to make a pit stop at the last exit before the mountain pass — there is no potty-rescue on that steep, winding strip through the mountain pass and over the Blue Ridge. Fortunately, just the 2nd exit on the TN side of the pass takes us to the little 11-mile parkway and then the small county road that wind their way back into connection with smaller and smaller roads till you hit the glorified wagon track up our mountain. But those needing potty stops quickly learn to stop while still in NC — the trip through the mountain pass can seem even longer than it is!
That was way too much information, wasn’t it?! Mountain potty stops have never before been worthy of such attention…