Welcome To Wisconsin!

Someone needs to make sure that representatives from the Lake Geneva Visitors Bureau, the Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Wisconsin Department of Tourism and the Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce read this blog. By doing so, they will become aware of the best advertising tool they could ever dream of. Seriously, this blog will bring to their attention the greatest destination-marketing implement they could ever hope for. Want to know what it is? I won’t make you wait.

It’s my friend Michael Chagdes from Lake Geneva.

You are probably asking yourself why some guy from Lake Geneva would be some a marketing boon for drawing people to America’s Dairyland. Let me explain by starting with a quick background of Michael Chagdes.

Michael hasn’t always lived in Lake Geneva, or Illinois for that matter. Up until last year he and had resided in Illinois all of his life, the last eight in the western suburb of Lisle.

He and his wife Rose, run Wacker Hardware Company located in Chicago on West Jackson Blvd. Michael is the President/CEO and Rose is the Vice President of this highly successful company that has been in business since 1936.

Wacker Hardware is the Midwest source for security hardware, locksmith supplies, and master keying specialties. The company not only serves locksmiths but also, hardware stores, industrial supply houses, building contractors, and many other types of businesses.

Michael is much more than an accomplished businessman. Although he is a self-proclaimed curmudgeon, he is also funny and a very straightforward kind of guy. What you see is what you get with Michael Chagdes.

I first met Michael and Rose on facebook a couple of years ago. I finally met them in person when they came to Sister Act Painting and Creative Treasures for my book singing this past July. You couldn’t ask to meet two more charming people.

Okay, now that you know a little a bit about Chagdes, chances are you are still wondering why he should be the Spokesman for the state of Wisconsin. Maybe these two quotes will help you see why:

“I’m 60 and have been in Illinois for 59 years and Wisconsin for 1 year. I have met more nice people up here in 12 months than in the previous state in almost 6 decades. Just sayin’…”

“I’d say it's a great day to live in Wisconsin, but then again, EVERY day up here is great!”

Both of those remarks were made on facebook when talking about how he liked living in Wisconsin. Most of the people he was talking with were from the Land of Lincoln.

Wait, it gets better. Not only has his residence changed in the last year, also has his sport allegiances. Oh, yes.

According to Rose, Michael has been a Cubs fan since he was 5 years old! After last season he had enough and decided to be a total Brewers fan. He has already bought hats and will assuredly be acquiring more Brewer items, as the season gets closer.

Not only has he converted to the Brewers, he is also a Packer fan. I bet you think he was a Bear fan, right? Wrong.

Recently, some of Michael’s Bear fan friends were giving him a hard time on facebook for cheering on the Green and Gold during their Super Bowl run. He responded with, “No “flipping” here. I have NEVER been a Bears fan and I most assuredly never will be.”

He went on to say, “I’ve been a Dallas Cowboys fan since 1967. I jumped on the Packers bandwagon this year mainly because it annoys so many Bears fans. But I really do admire the organization and my neighbors are happier when they win.”

There you have, Lake Geneva, Kenosha and Wisconsin Visitor Bureaus, a former Illinoisan who has nothing but wonderful things to say about our great state. He is a successful businessman, loves the Packers and the Brewers and genuinely cares about his neighbors. Michael Chagdes would be the ideal marketing tool, so feel free to use him and his wonderful quotes.

Until next time…from the booth.

What Happens At Sister Act…

Perhaps you have heard, but in case you haven’t, I will tell you – yesterday there was an event at Sister Act Painting and Creative Treasures. The event started when 400 Club great Mark Montague showed up sometime before 11:00 o’clock. It ended when Jimmy Gentile and Bruce Edmark left shortly before 1:30.

I can’t go into too many details, because what happens at Sister Act stays at Sister Act. The only detail that I will let out is that there was a Mayor and a Wizard in attendance.

Shortly after I got home, I uploaded a few pictures from the event on facebook. I had barely finished when I started to receive comments. Two really stood out; one making smile, the other making me think.

The one that made me smile was from Patty 4-Names. She simply said, “Wow, it's the book come to life!” Not only did this make me smile, but also it sort of blew my mind. It was a very cool comment.

The comment that made me think was compliments of Bev, my friend from England. She presented me with this conundrum, “Was it worth it?”

Yikes, what a loaded question!

Keep in mind that Bev and I talk on a daily basis, so she knows me pretty well. She was aware that for this event, I did the following things:

Bought an ad that ran for two weeks in Happenings magazine.
Contacted the Kenosha Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Sent information to the Kenosha News.
Put it on the WLIP Community Calendar.
Wrote several blogs concerning it.
Created a “facebook event” and sent invitations to over 200 friends.
Placed an ad on my blog and on facebook.
Made many phone calls trying to publicize it.
Plugged it on various radio shows and in several online sport chat rooms.

Being aware of all of these things, Bev was fully qualified to pose that tough question, “was it worth it?” However, in order to answer her, I had to explain what I was expecting to accomplish with this event.

That meant breaking it down into three parts.

Number one, I wanted to sell and sign copies of “Some Kenosha Softball”. To this part, I would have to answer no. I signed a few books that had already been purchased, but the new sales didn’t quite cover the ads in Happenings and my half of the cookies from Paielli’s bakery.

Number two, I hoped to gather information and photos for my next book, “More Kenosha Softball”. To this point, I would have to say that it was somewhat worth it. I received some photos and information from another team. Several other people promised that they would get me back to me with something. Time will tell.

The final thing that I hoped to accomplish was to put together a softball reunion and reminisce about days gone by. This part made the whole thing worthwhile. Sure, it would have been nice if a few more of the people that said they were going to be there would have shown up, but the ones that did made for a wonderful day.

I said wasn’t going to reveal anything that happened at Sister Act yesterday, but I feel compelled to share this picture:

Kenosha Mayor Keith Bosman and former owner/operator of historic Finney’s West, Leon Rosko pause to have their picture taken.

Now that I have done this a second time, I have discovered a few important things. Learning which things are worth spending time on, comes to mind right away. More importantly, I have learned that despite what people might tell you, don’t let your expectations get too high.

That being said, will I do it again? Of course I will! I will undoubtedly do some things different, but I can see doing something like this again when “More Kenosha Softball” comes out.

One last note: While preparing this blog, I received several inquiries asking if the book is still available. The answer is a resounding YES! The event may have passed, but the book is definitely still available. It makes a great Christmas gift. Stop by Sister Act and pick one up.

Until next time…from the booth.