by Jack Kniskern
Special to The Waterland Blog
The Concours d’Elegance Italian Car Show took place a few Sundays ago at the Des Moines Marina, and days prior I met a woman named Janie at The Reuben, where she was hanging a poster to advertise the event. She shared that they prefer the Des Moines Marina to any venue they had previously tried in Seattle. Despite the rain, many attended and hope many more will again next year.
A flower merchant at the Des Moines Farmers’ Market shared that he sold more flowers in Des Moines than at the Seattle Pike Place Market. The market is growing in size and significance, and it is important that we the citizens of the Des Moines Community not only visit this lively community activity, but also patronize it with our purchases – so please make a point to come down every Saturday to the South Marina Park between 10am and 2pm, and remember that the final day is Halloween (Oct. 31st).
Above comments suggest that the Destination Des Moines concept is catching on. Wednesday night concerts in Des Moines Beach Park, and the Flute Quest held with workshops at Saltwater State Park and concerts at Highline Community College were great successes. Continuation and expansion of events such as these can have significant impact on the Des Moines Community.
The city of Des Moines is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The city and it’s citizens should also solidify common aspirations for the next 50 years. Here are three important topics suggested for serious deliberation,.policy making, and decision making:
- How to best save, preserve and operate the Mt Rainier Swimming Pool?
- How to determine and implement the best future use of the Des Moines Elementary School site and buildings?
- How to best contribute to the purification of th waters of Puget Sound?
Community Betterment Teamwork is suggested as the process for addressing community betterment issues. This writing is offered as a starting comment to the Waterlandblog. It is suggested that a hierarchy of communication can grow on the blog, in ways yet to be determined.
Finally, the Waterland Blog itself has great potential to grow as a community betterment tool, and help to feature and cultivate ASPIRATIONS FOR DES MOINES.
More thoughts to follow…
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Jack Kniskern is a retired Architect and longtime Des Moines Rotary Club member. He designed many buildings in Des Moines, such as the City Council Chamber Building and Auntie Irene’s. Jack also participates in the Rotary Dictionaries by the Dozens project which has given every third grade student in Des Moines a dictionary every year for the past five years. Jack got his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University off Washington and Master of Architecture degree from MIT. We are happy to have him as our latest Contributor to The Waterland Blog! Read more about Jack here.]
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