Sunday, October 18, 2009

Bringing you up to speed

Since my blog started a bit after the project started I thought it might be important to jump back a little in time and bring you up to speed on a few things....

First and foremost I want to thank our initial group of sponsors!!! As soon as our offer on the building was accepted I had about a week to talk to a few businesses to see how they could help us get started. The response and enthusiasm for the project was overwhelming!

Have a look at what has been commited already!!!

  • Alton Memorial Hospital - Nintendo Wii Fit Arcade Game and Equipment
  • Atlantis Pools and Spas - Pool Tables and possible Foosball Table
  • Direct Floors - Labor and materials for oak dance floor on the main level
  • H2K Construction - Labor for 30 person home style movie theater with raised seating
  • Thomas Fahnestock, CPA -Incorporation of the new non-profit Community Center
  • Scheffel & Company - Consulting & labor to file for 501c3 tax exempt & charitable status
We have a long way to go and a lot of work ahead of us but if everyone in the communtiy is as giving and generous as the above group of initial sponsors we are going to have one of the best community centers in the nation.

We will be working on a wish list in the next week or two but if you can think of ways that you would like to contribute or if you know of others who are in a good position to help please spread the word and help us keep this project moving forward!

There are plenty of other things to talk about to bring you up to speed but I need to quit blogging for the moment and head back down to the center to get ready for some of our inital meetings. Check back soon for more details...

Riverbender.com settles into new offices at the Community Center

Well things have been a little quiet on the Community Center front in the past week or two because we have been very busy working on getting our offices settled into the new building. Most people wouldn't know it but we didn't actually close on the building until this past Tuesday October 13th. Fortunately, prior to our closing, we were able to hang some temporary signs, do a lot of planning, and really get the ball rolling on the community center.

If you haven't bought a old 7 story building or moved your offices in a while there is more there than meets the eye. I knew it was going to be a lot of work but you tend to forget about all the little details that really eat up your time. In the past week or two we have bought and installed a new phone system, setup our wired and wireless network, configured Internet connectivity, and moved a lot of heavy furniture and office equipment. We've also shopped for insurance, negotiated our janitorial services, done a lot of paperwork, and on and on and on.

Without boring you with too many details I just wanted to say....

IT'S OFFICIAL!!! We've bought the building and Riverbender.com has moved in !!!

Now we can get back to work :-)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Open Invitation

Consider this your open invitation! Anytime you would like a tour of building (and the Vault) please give me a call at 618-465-9850 x 226 or shoot an email to john@riverbender.com . We have not closed on the building yet but I do have a set of keys and the combination to the vault :-) There will be an open house / kickoff meeting soon after we close on the building (closing has been rescheduled for Oct. 13th)


If you would like an invite to the open house and kickoff meeting please join our mailing list




First of Many Posts (I hope)

Well I'm really not much of a writer but figured a blog might be the best way to keep everyone up to date with what is going on with the community center project. Since this is my first attempt at blogging I don't want to make too many promises as to how frequently or how long I will keep up with this blog. For most of you that know me well, you know that I have a pretty difficult time just keeping up with email and phone calls. As time progresses I would like others to join in on this communication. For now please comment as much as possible to help keep us moving forward!

I am very excited about this project and so I want to do everything I can to get things off to a good start. I believe Communication and Community Involvement are going to be the two key factors in our success so here goes....

1) Keep an eye on this blog
2) Keep an eye on our website (http://www.riverbender.com/communitycenter)
3) Join our mailing list (http://www.riverbender.com/communitycenter/mailing_list.cfm)
4) Please Help in every way you possibly can! (our kids and our community need this center!!)

More info to follow very soon...