Columbus Junction

Community Development Center

e-update

November 12, 2008

From the Newsletter Editor: Olivia Romero

         Hello. I am enjoying creating these newsletters and business profiles. I would like to remind you that if you have a business that you would like seen in a profile contact Mallory or me. Have a good rest of the week.

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Family Night

     The time is coming for our Main Street Christmas Family Night. This event will take place on

Wednesday, December 3

5:00-8:00 p.m.

     There will also be a Soup Supper at the

American Legion

4:30-7:00 p.m.

This will be hosted by the 4-H Go-Getters. There will be a travel exhibit of photos by the 4-H members on display.

      Come out and enjoy the Christmas tree decorated throughout downtown, live Christmas music performed at the Community Bank, Christmas goodies for all at each store, door prizes from each business, and Santa Claus at Robertson Real Estate.

       This will be a fun night to start your Christmas season with your family.

Shop Louisa

       With all the businesses that are coming back to the area we should take advantage of things we have available to us instead of traveling longer distances.

       Shop Louisa asks you to spend five dollars more a week in Louisa County that you would normally buy elsewhere like candles, light bulbs, ornaments, plastic, window cleaner and batteries. For twenty dollars you can find dog food, oil changing for your car and    clothes.

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United Fund Payroll Deduction

You can conveniently support United Fund of Columbus Junction by designated a donation through your payroll deduction either directly to United Fund or through the United Way that serves the area where you work. Please call or email if you have questions.

First Impressions

It is said that the first impression is the lasting impression. Well First Impressions groups similar sized communities together. This is so that they can be trained and so they can come away with a useful evaluation of things in their community. First Impressions is looking for volunteers for the Columbus Junction First Impressions Team. An orientation  meeting will be held

Wednesday, November 19

3:00-4:30 p.m.

Civic Center

232 Second St.

If you are not able to attend but are interested in participating in this project, contact the Community Development Center 319-728-7971 or cdc@columbusjunstioniowa.org

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§  Please forward this message to others you think might be interested.  Please send an email to cdc@columbusjunctioniowa.org if you would like to be added to the email list.

§  If you would like your address removed from the distribution list please email cdc@columbusjunctioniowa.org with “remove” in the subject line.

§  For more information about Columbus Junction visit www.columbusjunctioniowa.org.

 By Jeff Raasch
 The Gazette
  CEDAR RAPIDS — If you don’t know what a “tweet” is, there’s a good chance you paid full price for your lunch at Riley’s Cafe on Tuesday.
  The local restaurant is using Twitter, a fast-growing social networking Web site, to lure new customers and to keep current patrons in the loop. Tuesday was the first “Twitter Tuesday,” when customers who mention the concept get 25 percent off the breakfast or lunch special.
  Twitter users post “tweets” — up to 140 characters — on the site that answer the question, “What are you doing?” Riley’s, 836 First Ave. NE, is using the free service to announce breakfast and lunch specials and to answer customer questions. National businesses also are using Twitter to market their products, and staffers at The Gazette use it to connect with readers.
  Riley’s owner Phillip Pankey said he became more interested in the idea when he noticed people he knew using the site.
  “I had nothing to lose by putting more advertising out there,” said Pankey, who doesn’t have a Web site and doesn’t pay to advertise the restaurant. Pankey’s wife, Lori, actually had the idea. She started using Twitter recently, and noticed that Starbucks was using the site to reach customers, so she decided to see if Riley’s could use it the same way. They plan to offer a differ ent promotion each week.
  She created the account Monday afternoon and announced “Twitter Tuesday.” While at work Tuesday morning, she got a phone call from a friend telling her about the buzz the announcement had created.
  “I had no idea that it would get this big, or have so many people talking about it,” Lori Pankey said.
  By 1:15 p.m., four Twitter users had been to Riley’s for breakfast or lunch.
  One of them was Sarah Wood, a 21-year-old Coe College senior. Hours after learning about the promotion on Twitter, she skipped class to eat at Riley’s for the first time. “If there’s a company that’s going to use Twitter, I’m going to check them out at least once,” Wood said before her spaghetti arrived.
  Wood, originally from Milwaukee, Wis., fiddled with her iPod while she waited for her food. She calls herself a “Twaddict” — a Twitter addict.
  It’s part of the clientele that the Pankeys are hoping to attract.
  “It’s a totally untapped market,” Lori Pankey said.
 Contact the writer: (319) 3607035 or jeff.raasch@gazcomm.com