Featured Sole Dealer: Morgan Shoes in Madison, WI!

Below is a great review of the service that Morgan Shoes offered a customer recently. Congrats on the great review, guys!

"Just a follow-up to our phone conversation a few minutes ago.

My name is Al Krause and I called with a question about the different models of footbeds that you market. As part of our conversation you asked about my satisfaction with the product. I gave a description of my introduction to the Yoursole product line. I _didn’t_ do a very good job of describing the store where I heard about your product.

The store is located in Madison, Wisconsin in an ‘upscale’ shopping center named “Hilldale.” Although it is actually one store, they do operate under three different names and three different entrances – New Balance Madison, Morgan Shoes, and Stride Rite. They have a website - www.morganshoes.com. The name of the young man who told me about your product line was Cody Seibel. /(I believe he is the corporate trainer when not on the floor selling shoes.)/ Anyway, these folks know their business. They have five+ Board Certified Pedorthists on staff which can be seen for doctor referred problems or severe foot problems. Pretty thorough operation for a shoe store in this day and age.

As I stated on the phone, I am fully satisfied with your poroduct and look forward to purchasing more items in the future.

Thanks,

Al Krause"

Willow River Clean Up Report!

Brian & Peter,

The Willow River Clean Up IV was a huge success! We had a surprisingly great turnout being that the event was rescheduled twice and was in November in Minnesota! There were about 40 people in attendance. Luckily the day was perfect day too; 70s and sunny. What more could you ask for? The previously rescheduled date was the previous Sunday, which turned out to be cold and rainy. I've been lucky to get such good weather for the events.
Our main goal for each year is to scour the climbing area, access trails, and overlook for trash. Last year we broadened our scope to include the beach and surrounding areas where there’s a significant amount of traffic during the summer and fall months. In addition there are multiuse trails for hikers and cross-country skiers that need routine maintenance throughout the year. For the past couple years we’ve helped maintain these trails by pruning branches, clearing brush, picking up litter, etc. The past couple years have seen a significant growth of climbers at Willow River as well as attendance at the clean up event, which is great! It is nice to know that our user group is respectful and conscious of the park and impact that we have on our playground.

Every year, I try to include a new project for the clean up. This year the park needed to divert an existing multiuse trail around a new campground being constructed. We needed to clear a 12-foot wide swath of trail running 300 yards through a dense thicket of brush and trees. Luckily for us, the terrain was fairly flat and we hand enough manpower to bust through fairly quickly! Local companies like Peace Coffee and Rush River Brewery provided enough hydration and incentive for nearly 40 volunteers!

The event wrapped up with a raffle. Everyone received at least a couple pieces of swag, which was provided by 21 sponsors ranging from cases of beer, jackets, shoes, restaurant certificates, sunglasses, and much more!
The goal of these events is to improve relations with the park in hopes of improving climbing access. Currently, there are imposed climbing hours for the park. Climbing is permitted (365 days and 24/7):

• Monday to Thursday: all day
• Friday: until noon
• Saturday: no climbing
• Sunday: until noon

It has been mentioned numerous times by different park officials that our user group, at least since the clean ups, are the most generous and helpful in regards to donating volunteer hours to the park. The first 3 years, we removed 500 lbs of trash each year from various parts of the park. There are large amounts of scrap metal littered in the woods. Surprisingly, the climbing area is typically clean as we monitor ourselves and practice the art of “climb and clean” before we leave.

Rock climbing has given me so many memories and adventures over the years. I hope to continue this tradition every year, since it is where I started climbing 10 years ago.

Thanks for your continued support!

Phaydara Vongsavanthong

Sustainable Living Bike Tour- one of our sponsored athletes!

November 13, 2008


FYI...

Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible! My gratitude cannot be expressed adequately... I am flying to San Francisco tomorrow to ride the Sustainable Living Bike Tour for the second time. The trip is in its 4th season. My personal charge for the trip is getting Tree Media Group (11th Hour w/ Leonardo DiCaprio) to join us for a day this year and film a full-length documentary with us next year :) As far as I'm concerned, it is a done deal, haha. My personal charge for Iowa is that I'm video-blogging every day of the trip on DMJuice.com and raising awareness for a non-profit I'm starting called Urban Ambassadors that focuses on sustainability education.

Synopsis: 3-weeks, 750-miles, San Francisco to San Diego, 18 volunteer environmental educators, 18 road bikes, 1 short bus running on veggie-oil and solar panels, teaching 3000+ middle and high school students, stops at major universities and city events... just a rock'n good time!

Our Ocean Futures blog from 2007
YouTube video (4 min) from 2007
2008 Juice blog for Des Moines

I'm leaving tomorrow, but if anybody still has $$ burning a hole in their pocket :) ... you know, just in case! You can send all your saved millions from this economic boom to: enrgPATH, c/o Angela Clark: Bike Trip, 3920 Valdez Drive, Des Moines, IA 50310. Don't feel pressured... I won't go broke ~ I think, haha. Angela at enrgPATH, Matt at Bike World, Greg at Rasmussen's, Lexi at Backcountry, Diana at Campbell's Nutrition, Maggie at Firehouse Yoga, and the New City Market have been more than generous and helped me get myself and my bike out there with the right gear. Preston Daniels from KFMG 99.1 had me on the radio and Cavan Reagan put a short blurb in the Juice this week. And I thank them ALL!!!

Sincerely,

Adam Hammes
Sustainability Consultant enrgPATH
(515) 491-0706