Welcome to the Friday mailbag, where you will find comments, questions and ideas that were sent recently by many of you.

“If you're taking the family for a Sunday drive (March 14, 2022), you have to turn off the in-car video entertainment and leave the traveling gaming systems and mobile devices at home as well. The art of just ‘being’ with others is now elusive.” – Brad

Does that mean us adults, too? - Shane

“Thanks for the trip down memory lane with your article on Sunday drives (March 14, 2022). My Dad owned his own business and worked six days a week, so Sunday was his day to relax with a Sunday drive. Occasionally along the way, Dad would drive very slowly, and the rest of us would scan the ditches for pop bottles that had been discarded. When we spotted one, he’d pull over and stop, and Mom would jump out of the car and retrieve the shiny, but often filthy, treasure. We didn’t need the money, it was just something to do. You can imagine that gas was pretty inexpensive compared to today in order for Dad to justify the cost of stopping the car and waiting for Mom with the reward of cashing in those 3-cent bottles. And no one honked at us for stopping along the side of the road!” - Bob 

Our ditches could use more people like you and your parents, Bob. Thanks for the note. - Shane

“I walked to kindergarten every day thru a park in Lincoln that had a bomb shelter (Wednesday, March 16). We did the old hide under the desk routine! Glad we never had to use it.” - Richard

Me, too. – Shane

“Remember that all too well. We were practiced in the duck and cover (Wednesday, March 16) under our desks, but we also practiced lining up in the hallways with the classroom doors closed to help protect from the glass windows. I don’t remember any of us being scared. Just one more thing we needed to do. More important was it got us out of class!” - Mark

Oh, to be young and naïve again. Well, at least young. – Shane

“If you have wall space, how about displaying them by hanging them up? (March 23, 2022) Call it ‘electron-chic.’ ” - Diane

You might be on to something, Diane. Thanks for the note. – Shane

Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305

CITYVIEW announced its 2022 Best Of Des Moines readers' choices Feb.1. You can find all the results from the poll in the February issue of CITYVIEW magazine!

Best Local Brewery
1. Confluence Brewing Company
2. Exile Brewing Company
3. Lua Brewing

NEIGHBOR
Richardson is lovingly known as “Band Grandpa.”

By Becky Kolosik

Gary Richardson has been playing music for as long as he can remember, starting piano lessons at age 8 and the trombone in fifth grade.

“Piano playing has been continuous my whole life,” he says. “The first major purchase my wife and I made after buying our first home was a piano.”

Richardson set his trombone aside after high school but picked it up again at age 44 and has been playing ever since. After his retirement in 2015, he even went back to school to earn a degree in music.

Today, he’s putting that degree to work giving back to the community he has called home since 2018.

[...]

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Happy Birthday Levi Goodman!

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