2011 Safecastle Freedom Awards: 2nd Place Winner

My essay Preparedness for Young People took 2nd place in the essay category of the 2011 Safecastle Freedom Awards. I'm very happy about this! I'm still shocked that I made it to the finals, so winning is just another shock... and I was more excited about the 2nd prize (the Excalibur dehydrator) than the 1st prize (the Katadyn water filter) anyway.

A gorgeous 1930s Detroit Vapor stove on eBay - Omaha, NE

My stove's very close relative is for sale on eBay, located in Omaha. Look at this beauty!

The enamel's in wonderful shape, and what's really remarkable, all the front knobs are still there! I don't see the oven temperature control dial on the right side. Maybe that's one of the things sitting inside the oven. That might be an interesting repair to have to make. Other than that, though, this is a wonderful stove. I wrote to the seller to correct the date; it's 1933-1934, not 1920s.

The Safecastle Freedom Award New Media Contest: I'm a finalist!

Safecastle ran a "new media" contest over most of 2011, seeking short written articles and short video pieces on some aspect of preparedness. Fifteen blogs hosted the contest entries, each of them choosing one essay and one video to submit as a finalist to Safecastle. I submitted mine through Rural Revolution. And I'm their finalist pick!

Here's a link to all the finalists so you can read them. Mine is titled Preparedness for Young People.

I'm really happy about this. Being a finalist is pretty cool, but maybe even more cool is that Don and Patrice of Rural Revolution have a small family business of making wooden drinking tankards by hand. They're amazing pieces of art AND they are functional. Take reasonable care of these tankards and they will last for decades. And I get one just for being one of their site's entries!

City of New Albin installs new officers

New Albin City Clerk Bobbie Goetzinger reads the oath of office to Mayor Elect Barry Stahl. Police Chief Conrad Rosendahl looks on.

Mayor Stahl's first act as mayor was to swear in returning council members Joey Sires, center, and Kathy Goetzinger, right...

and new council member Joel Monroe, below. Seated at far left is council member Lori Darling. In back by the flag is Police Chief Conrad Rosendahl.

Returning as Fire Chief is Mike Reburn.