Love Where You Live

I am a true Quad-Citian.  My parents were raised in Davenport, I was born in Davenport, I grew up in Davenport, and after 5 years away during college, I moved back (with my husband, who was also born and grew up in Davenport!).

However, I hate to admit this, but I feel like I’ve never really gotten to know Davenport.  I mean, yes, I have a lot of childhood memories in this town, and there are parts of the city that really have significance for me.  But we were never big on “community” activities…we rarely went to any concerts/events downtown, we didn’t join any city councils or go to any town hall meetings, and I rarely even watched the local news.

But……I am currently in the process of changing this! I promise!  And I have to give credit where credit is due.  A big factor in my community-awareness “awakening” has been the Quad City Moms Blog (www.quadcitymomsblog.com).  This wonderful group of local moms, founded (in part) by a friend of mine from high school (Miss Camye Halvorson), has grown to be quite an institution around these parts!  Shortly after starting the blog, Camye and her co-founder Erin asked me to join a group of 10 moms who would regularly be contributing writers to the blog.  As a life-long writer, and mommy of 2 little ones (at the time), I was glad to participate!  However, I didn’t know just how much I would enjoy this new adventure!

Writing for the Moms Blog has led me to meet an amazing group of moms, and the best part is that they all live right here in the Quad Cities!  (Even though I’m from here and a lot of our close friends live nearby, not many of them have children yet, so I was eager to meet some fellow mommies!)  I have immensely enjoyed being a part of what Camye and Erin have started in our community. 

We recently held our first Mama’s Market in downtown Davenport, an opportunity for local moms to promote and sell their hand-crafted and home-based businesses.  What a great opportunity for all of us entrepreneur mommies (you can check out my personalized baby blankies at www.justduckieblankies.blogspot.com , just thought I would throw that out there….), and we had an amazing turn out!  Such a great response from a great community!  Along with great events, the Moms Blog is a daily reminder for all of us moms, both locally and nationally, that we are all living a similar experience, and that there really is someone out there who knows what we are going through.  It’s so inspiring!

And so,I have now become more involved, and more interested, in my local community.  So interested, in fact, that one day a week we will be celebrating it in this “Look for the good in your community” section!  But no worries, if you are reading my blog and you do not live in the Quad Cities, I have not forgotten you!  I plan to do lots of research into finding the best activities for any community you may live in, and how to both enjoy and give back to the city in which you live. 

For example, next Friday’s post about community will be from a very special guest-blogger, my aunt Kathy, who lives in Massachusetts.  She will be sharing her piece on why she loves her local library, which is a great asset to any community (who doesn’t love the library?!).

In the meantime, what do you love most about your community, whether it be here in the Quad-Cities, your hometown, or a community you have lived in at another time in your life?  And what are your best tips to get involved and give back to the community?