It has taken a staggering two years for me get this blog going. I am not sure why, I guess time slipped away. So the first few might be about some outdated projects, so bare with me and the time lapse.
I have always believed in giving back. The opportunities are endless. However I tend to follow my intuition on where and when to act. A little over one year ago I was given an opportunity to give back to a place that I am for indebted to for what they have given me. That place is Long Lake Elementary. There they have a special needs/early child development program, where my oldest son had been attending for delayed speech and now my youngest son is enrolled.
Through some mom to mom networking it was brought to my attention that their chainsaw carved mascot had been removed because of decay and rotting. It was also brought to my attention that the children at the school were upset about not having a mascot and that a new one would cost a decent amount of money for the same thing that would only age and fall apart like the one before it. My wife was asked if I could do something for them that would last longer.
My initial response was sure I can make one, the catch for me was that I was experiencing tough financial times at my business. I really wanted to donate it because I knew that the school did not have much money to spent because of cutbacks, but at the time it was hard to look at my situation and be OK with donating it.
After talking it over with my wife and digging deep within myself I went ahead and made a three dimensional 8′ long and 3′ foot tall powder coated panther. With some help from Wheelock and Sons Welding (who donated the powder coating) I was able to give the school back their mascot at no charge. Little did I know that the greatest payment was how proud my son was of the panther. He actually called it his panther, ginning from ear to ear.
To top it all off the Traverse City Record Eagle ran an article about it, two actually. It was amazing the people coming up to me and my family shaking my hand and congratulating me on a job well done. In life there are things we do that change who we are. Many times it can never be undone, this was one of them for me. I have left a foot print in time and took one more step towards being the man I hope to be.e
Tags: Left Foot Designs, Long Lake Elementary, scultpture, Traverse City Record Eagle, Wheelock and Sons Welding
Hi! I like your srticle and I would like very much to read some more information on this issue. Will you post some more?
Awesome post! Job well done, indeed! Choices we make do change us, and also impact others in ways we may never know…but it is wonderful when we can actually “see” some of the effects that we have on people that are aligned with our highest intentions! Thank you for sharing!