News and Notes 4/23/2018

​Mellow yellow. 
      May our temps (and attitudes) be mellow and Kansas sunshine abundant for Lindsborg in Bloom, Saturday, 4.28, 10-4.  Families are celebrated this day!  Check out the Lindsborg Community Library book sale, as well as activities at Scott’s Hometown Foods.  Warm thanks to everyone who is helping make Lindsborg an ever-more attractive place to live, learn and visit.  
        From 2-4 p.m. Sunday 4.29, plan to tour Lindsborg’s newest vacation rental property, Skönhuset, at 124 S 3rd.  Thanks, investor Jim Prugh, construction manager Brian Freeman and the incredible array of craftspeople and artisans who make local historic buildings into new economic engines and the envy of our region.
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       Need more reasons to celebrate? 
      •  New construction starts soon at Lindsborg Community Hospital.  It will accommodate a new clinic physician and patient-centered renovations for both the hospital and clinic.  There’ll be a reception late afternoon Wednesday, 5.2, with ground breaking at 5:30 p.m.  Please take a moment to thank the late David J. Nutt, who made the expansion possible because of long-past kindnesses to him and his family.  The ripples continue.
      • A free one-time arts experience for children on Saturday, 5.5, starting at 3 p.m.  You’ll want to say you were at the Lindsborg Landmark Concert that invites children and families to *step onto the Presser Hall stage* to listen and do art projects — up close — as the Bethany College-Community Orchestra does its thing. Then at 5ish, everyone will gather for hot dogs at Swensson Park, then at 6 p.m. stay for the crazy- popular Drum Safari with our own pied piper, Bethany College alum Brandon Draper of Kansas City and the world. No cost to families because of generous sponsors. Mike Dreier of the Fuqua Agency, please take a bow for organizing. 

•  Don’t forget that May 5 also is Millfest and the City-Wide Garage Sale with its early morning kick-off biscuits and gravy breakfast at First Bank Kansas drive-through. And it’s Cinco de Mayo, everybody.  Put some salsa on the menu, as well.
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       This morning we pondered the musical question “What are parts of you/your business/Lindsborg that must change but you/we have avoided it?” 
      Fairly quickly out of the gate came this nugget:  store hours.
      Lindsborg seeks to further cultivate as customers its own residents as well as visitors. What are we doing to serve them when they need/want us?  
      We talked about the time it takes for people to get into habits and how easily those habits are broken. 
       We talked about Memorial Day-to-Labor Day opportunities with travelers leaving town earlier than stores are open — or arriving late afternoon to find that store closing hours are just past.  
       We talked about possibly committing to consistently keeping longer hours and ways to drive traffic to Lindsborg because of it — such as creating incentives for browsing in partnership with our restaurants and coffee shops.  
       In a world ever in search of five-star satisfactions, how can we respond to this challenge?
       Another nugget:  demographics. 
       We see distinctly different buying and participation patterns in younger people. They seek more experiences, less stuff.  What seven-day-a-week experiences does Lindsborg  offer?  How do we keep this experiences affordable and doable?
        Younger audiences shop on line for commonplace items; what about prospects for buying one-of-a-kind items there, too?  Are we prepared? 
       Younger audiences use the corners of their days, especially those with children.  What does this mean for our future?
      So we ask you:  What do we know needs to change but we've been avoiding it?
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       We’ll keep talking and thinking, and we hope you do, too.  Here’s to a productive and satisfying week, everyone!