BALANCE

Last week I was in beautiful Victoria, BC. 

My daughter and her High School Marching Band were there to march in the Victoria Day Parade.  They even made the front page of the local paper!

My wife and I were there to celebrate the beginning of 20 years of Marriage in the place we honeymooned.

While we were there we met so many very nice people and saw so many beautiful things.

You might know, I'm a hockey fanatic. 

The Stanley Cup is named after Lord Stanley.  He also happens to have a park in Vancouver aptly called Stanley Park.  We had to stop by and say Hi.

I also was able to go by GM Place, the stadium of the Vancouver Canucks.  The truth is they have never been one of my favorite teams.  Can you tell?

 

We had lunch in a cute little tea house up island called Adrienne's.

Who would have guessed it was owned and run by the parents of one of my favorite NHL Goal Tenders of all times, Ron Hextall!  Ron wasn't there but I did manage to get behind the cash register for a photo.

On the way back we had to stop off at Timmy's place.  No, I wasn't hungry for a Timbit.

Wait - did you know Tim Horton was a NHL Hockey Player?  Now you do!

Hey, I met another famous Ron along the way...

While touring the gorgeous Butchart Gardens we were able to recreate a picture my wife and I took almost 20 years ago, this time with a small addition.

It was a beautiful time. 

On the last day, my daughter surprised me with a little something.

A small pocket reminder in pewter. 

You'll recognize this as the symbol Yin Yang.  Good vs Evil.  Light and Dark.  Chose your own label.  My interpretation is simply, Balance.  In everything there is balance.

I was reminded of that balance on our return home. 

One of our best friends live in Colorado. 

Windsor, CO to be exact.

This is a video of her neighborhood. 

She wasn't hurt.  Her family is ok. 

Her toddler son was in the Day Care but came out ok (the restaurant next door was leveled).

Right now we're looking to help those that didn't.

Balance...

Citigroup "Global Community Day"

Saturday, November 17th: Over 58,000 volunteers participated in over 1,000 projects in more than 450 cities across 100 countries.

Really? That's the line from the Citi issues press release. Does that mean it really happened? I can't say. Is this just another large company pumping out pseudo propaganda in an effort to bolster it's image? Maybe.

I tend to be a little cynical when it comes to the big guys. Instead of throwing out wild accusations I'll report on what I actually witnessed.

The stage was set. Saturday at dawn, we were to meet at down at the old High School. The Kids were warned. The Parents and Teachers were notified. Would Citi even show? Only time would tell.

The plan was to band together to clean up the school. 55 Acres, 1,500 students, 2 district paid Custodians during the day. Outnumbered.

"If a piece of paper falls to the ground, and no one is there to pick it up, does it make a sound?"

Well... We brought our kids, our parents and teachers. Citi did show up. They showed up in spades! They brought Bank Managers (yeah Scott Sachs!), Tellers, Administrators, Personal Bankers, and even the Securities Guys! They even brought Breakfast and Lunch! We banded together with the Citi employees, separated into groups and went to work.

We picked up trash. We steam cleaned. We pruned. In the end, we made a real difference. We also learned along the way that sometimes it's not all about the company.

Financial statements , Dividends and Stock Prices all have their place in the world. But sometimes it's bigger than that. Sometimes it's all about the people.

My Picasa Album

Thank you Citigroup! You were wonderful! Absolutely Wonderful!

The ART of Giving Back

As you may know, I am an avid blogger. I've been so since early 2001. I also love to teach. The act of blogging can have an enormous impact on the business of real estate professionals, and in particular, real estate agents. I know this, you as a reader probably already know this. The problem I see in my own area is that so many of the agents I see don't know it. So I teach.

I'll teach one on one. I'll teach a class of 70.

I don't teach because I want to. I teach because I have to. It's a part of me.

I ask for almost nothing in return, almost.

When I teach a blogging class here in Walnut Creek, I'll usually hold it in a conference room of a local title company. One of my biggest supporters has been Linda Moss of First American Title. Linda understands that I am a "giver", she's also a "giver".

When I first setup the classes with Linda I asked her for just one thing, (besides the room and the internet access).

I wanted to charge for the class. Not money for me, but money to go to a local charity. I left the particular charity up to her. I firmly believe that in everything I do, something good should come of it. So if I'm teaching, I'm also fund raising.

Linda chose the Contra Costa Association of Realtors Scholarship Foundation as the beneficiary.

They are a 501(c)(3) organization led by Mary Chatton Brown, President, and Tom Hart, Vice President. Both wonderful "Givers" in the community.

So, I've been teaching local readers the value of blogging. I've taught over 200 agents so far. We've been collecting the money at the door. Everything was going along just fine.

But then I had an agent who had reserved space in a class but couldn't make it. I didn't know him, he was out of the area, but a week after the event, he sent me a check for his $10 donation! It touched me so much I even had to post about it. Thank you Ken Sorenson.

I dropped his check off at the CCAR offices and went along in life. Then, one day, out of the blue, Mary Chatton Brown called me. She was wondering why she had this check from Ken Sorenson on her desk from me. I explained the whole story of how and why, after all it is a great story.

She then surprised me by inviting both Linda and myself to the 40th Annual Scholarship Awards Luncheon!

The luncheon was held last Friday at the Blackhawk Country Club. We had a wonderful lunch, and then the various awards were handed out. In 2006, 20 students received a record $55,000 in scholarship grants. I was awestruck in the recipients of these awards. These "kids" were barely out of high school. Yet when they were introduced and took the stage, they exhibited such a level of poise and professionalism I even joked to Linda that we had better watch for them.

Here's the 15 Recipients for 2007:

Jimmy Diehl Arizona State University	Jenna Hamerling UC Davis School of Law	Niharika Singh Cal Poly, SLO
Kevin Freel Southern Methodist University	Samantha Poropat University of Oregon	Joshua Pitzlin Southern Pacific University
Alan Cummings Cal Poly, SLO	Jessica Ma Harvard College	Gregory Barco UC Berkeley
Michael Struempf University of the Pacific	Michelle Medeiros Chapman University	Marissa Shealor Cal State University Sacramento
Jennifer Carter University of Arizona	Brett Fawley UCLA	Shane Zuvella San Diego State University

As I mentioned, what a fine group of individuals!

I'm equally proud of our local real estate professionals and feel honored they included me.

Thank you to Mary, to Tom and to the nine other trustees who spend their time and energy giving back to the community.

Next year I plan to have a much larger donation. My goal? I plan on raising enough to make the Summa Cum Laude level!

I can't do it all by myself, I'll need your help.