Strut your stuff!

Two Words...

 

Riding High!

 
You probably already heard about it… you might have even been there yourself!The High Trestle Trail Ride!

The much anticipated, highly talked about day finally got here.  With cold temps and rain leading up to the morning of the ride, it was pretty iffy on what the attendance would be and if the ride would even be tolerable.  To everyone’s delight and amazement, the day couldn’t have been any better for the ride (hosting aprox 5000 people) that started in Ankeny and went all the way to Woodward.  The star of the show of course was The High Trestle Bridge, hovering thirteen stories high and stretching half a mile long, making it one of the worlds largest of its kind! (Click on any photo to make it larger)

The architects who designed the bridge's artwork definitely deserve an award!  With 41 giant, rusty beams framing the pathway, you’re given the feeling of riding your bike through the ‘tunnel’ of a coal mine shaft.  After riding it myself, I can attest to that fact! It was very cool!

I didn’t realize this, but that area used to be known for its coal mines.  The towers that stand sentry at both entrances of the bridge are a commanding 42 feet tall.  You’ll see the dark, charcoal grey veins running through them to represent the coal that was once mined in that area.

The 25 mile trail connects five communities and four counties, with the bridge being the centerpiece.  It was eight years in the making and is the newest addition to the 670 mile Central Iowa Trail System, which has many claiming Iowa as the Trail Capitol of the World.

Exceptional Specialty Products was fortunate enough to be able to be the makers of 1500 souvenir bandanas provided by Polk County Conservation, BikeIowa, Kyle’s Bikes and Bike Country.

Not only are we honored to be chosen by them, but we are so excited about the newest addition added to Iowa’s already beautiful landscape and trail system!

 

The moral of this story:  Iowa IS very cool!  You GOTTA get on your bike and ride the trails!  And if you need bandanas or ANYTHING else...you simply MUST call us... Exceptional Specialty Products 866-943-4377!!

Gosh!  I can't wait to ride it at night!!

Popular?

What is POPULAR may not necessarily be what is true.  However, sometimes what is popular is true enough.  Because we believe it is true, it is true to that degree.  Lots of agreement sure changes how something is viewed.

 

According to Dictionary.com – Popular:  regarded with favor, approval or affection by people in general:

 

A few popular ideas...which may not be 100% true as is often thought or believed...

Water drains backwards in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Earth's rotation.

A penny dropped from the top of a tall building could kill a pedestrian.

Lightning never strikes the same place twice.

You get less wet by running, rather than walking in the rain.

 

And in the end, like I said, it doesn't necessarily matter what is actually true.  It matters more what people think about it.

So, after saying all that, one thing I know for sure is true…Exceptional Specialty Products is here to serve all your promotional needs, whether it’s embroidered apparel, T-Shirts for your team, pens, koozies, water bottles and anything else you can think of!  We’re here to help you Strut Your Stuff!

Call today - 866-943-4377 and ask for Kelli.

 

ESP…We Know What You Want!

 

 

Snow What?

Snowmageddon, snowpocalypse, snOMG….or whatever you choose to call it…it’s here.  Like it or not, we got us some snow and a lot of it!

Allow me to give you a suggestion:  SNOW. SCRAPER. 

The last thing you want is for your employees to be without a good snow scraper in their car on days like this.  Show them you care by giving them the gift of scraping.  And of course they’ll always think of you whenever they use it because it’ll have your logo on it! 

Okay, so it’s too late for this snow storm, but you know more is on the way. 

However it’s not too late to order before this winter is over.  Call us – that’s Exceptional Specialty Products today at 866-943-4377!  I bet Cindy or Kelli would even be willing to personally scrape the ice off your windows….as a demonstration of course! 

ESP…We Know What You Want!

AND....there's only 68 days till Spring!

It's Hat Season!

I attempted to look up how much body heat escapes from the top of our heads.  I got everything from 20% to 90% to ‘it’s all a myth’.  All I do know is that when I have a hat on my head, I stay warmer all over!

And….once again, ‘hat season’ is upon us! 

Most of us love wearing a jaunty head piece….unlike our little kitty friend, 'Boofy'.  Seems his mom (one of our employees) thought it would be cute for their Christmas picture.  Hum…I wonder what surprise Boofy will be putting in her stocking this year?

Exceptional Specialty Products can help you with headwear too!  We have warm stocking hats, ball hats, head bands and more!  We’ll even embroider your company or group’s logo on it! 

Don’t be caught out in the cold!  Call Cindy Taylor or Kelli Hemstock today at 866-943-4377!

ESP…We Know What You Want!

Southpaws Unite!!

Today, August 13th is National Lefthanders Day! The holiday was first observed on this day in 1976 as an effort to promote awareness of the inconveniences facing left-handers in a predominantly right-handed world.

They SAY that lefties are the only ones in their ‘right mind’.  (Uh…yeah)

With only 7 to 10 percent of the population in the ‘club’, leftys tend to be male, which means that the left-handed females are truly special!

So all you southpaws, celebrate your uniqueness along with some of these famous leftys:  Ronald Regan, Barack Obama, Joan of Arc, Prince William of England, Henry Ford, Dave Barry, Brian Gillette, Jay Leno, Euell Gibbons, Jack-the-Ripper, Judy Garland, Kermit the Frog and Larry Bird.

Celebrate your unique business or organization by giving your clients and/or members something memorable with your special logo on it.  Exceptional Specialty Products has thousands of creative and unique items to choose from….in everyone’s price range!  Give Cindy Taylor a call at 866-943-4377 today!

Ah heck!! Let's just celebrate the entire weekend!

And the Winner IS....!

Two blogs ago, we introduced you to a wonderful, useful little guy.  He's able to do all kinds of nice things, like hold your keys or business cards.  He doesn't mind if you hang things off of his legs or arms....and he’s very likeable too.

 

He’s green, he’s bendy, he has a great place on his tummy for a logo, and he has a huge heart!  The only thing he didn’t have was a name!  Well he does now!

 

We introduced him to you and asked for your help and you gave it to us.  We had several entries, but only the entries that were left on the blog comments counted.  

 

So the winner is….Katie with the name of ‘Limey’.  We like it because it’s simple and fun!  So Katie, (and I know who you are) because we chose your name, we are sending you a $25 ESP Gift Certificate to use toward whatever you want!  Maybe you’d like your own ‘Limey’, or maybe it’s logoed apparel, or water bottles, koozies or t-shirts!  Whatever you choose we know you’ll love it!!

 

Call us today!  866-943-4377  We know what you want!!

 

Just so you know, Limey is going on RAGBRAI!  He hopes to make all kinds of freinds along the way.  I have a feeling he'll be telling his story when he returns!!

Remembering...

Today, I’m not going to try to sell you anything.  There’s something more important I want to talk about.

 

This past weekend my thoughts were all about remembering and pondering the scores of people who gave their lives for our freedom.  It may seem like a moot point talking about this after the holiday, but I don’t believe it is.  I believe this is something that should be on all our minds daily.  The people who died for this country don’t have a life anymore….just so we could live ours in freedom.  The sad thing is, most of us take it for granted.

 

Most all of us know of gallant men and women who served and fought for us.  To me that is beyond sobering.  I personally cannot fathom that kind of commitment….that kind of love…to be willing to lay down your life for the freedom of everyone.  It’s one thing to do so for your family, but for those you don’t even know?  This kind of sacrifice goes beyond words.

 

My Gramps was one of those men.  He fought in WWII.  He was in one of the ‘famous’ battles and at the moment I cannot recall which one, but that is not what is important.  A battle is a battle.  Men and women lost lives or were severely wounded in all of them. 

 

Gramps managed to get through the war with his life, but his life was definitely changed by his experiences.  He suffered many wounds including all kind shrapnel in his back and arms.  It was just left there – for some reason it was never removed. 

 

He also had a scar.  I remember as a little girl sitting on his lap and tracing a scar that angled deeply across his right arm, just above the wrist bone.  I’d ask him about it, and he’d always make up some silly story about how he got it.  It was very, very deep.  I remember he held utensils and pens oddly.  I’d even tease him on how he would hold a pen and write and I’d try to ‘teach him the right way’ to hold it.  Geeze, little kids have no couth whatsoever and I was the queen of the uncouth.  Had I only known and understood the real story…

 

As I grew older, I learned more.  One day, my grandma told me the story about the scar and shrapnel.  It seems that during a fierce battle, debris from a nearby blast nearly severed his arm.  Enough so, that his hand was dangling off the end of his arm.  He refused to allow the medics or doctors to amputate and insisted that it be reattached.  They told him more than once that he would never use his hand again.  Being the bone-headed, extremely stubborn man that he was, he told them in no uncertain terms that yes, he would be using it!

 

Yep, you guessed it.  Given some time and his own brand of rehab, he did indeed do the impossible! Yeah, he wrote ‘funny’, but determination, perseverance and hard work brought that hand back to life. 

 

He never talked about the war.  Most people who have experienced it, don’t.  I wish I would have only realized.  I wish I would have sat with him and listened more to what he had to say.  I wish I would have known his heart better.  I was young and of course, all I knew, or probably needed to know at that time, was that he was the best playmate EVER!  He teased me and played with me….and most important, I knew that he loved me.

 

I was only 19 when he died.  Even at that age, I was only beginning to understand who he was and what he did for our country, at that time, I still didn’t have a firm grasp on what he did to be able to fully appreciate the magnitude of his actions. 

 

I loved my Gramps so much!  He was a rock in my crazy, mixed up world.  He was my best friend.  I still think of him often and miss him dearly.  He was not only my hero, but the country’s hero as well.  Now days, when I think of any man or woman who served our amazing country, both past and present, I get a little choked up.  I think it’s because I know now….I truly understand the sacrifice of these beautiful, caring people (and their families) and I just don’t know how to thank them.  “Thank you” just sounds so flippant for some reason. 

 

I want to be able to honour them every day of the year.  I want them to know how grateful I am and how much I appreciate their sacrifice.  I want them to know that I am behind them, but most of all…I wish I could tell my Gramps all those things.

 

 

Don’t wait. Whether you’re related or not, let our veterans and their families know that you appreciate them.  They need to hear it.  Honour those who have gone on before, and for the ones still here, make it known to them that you appreciate their sacrifice.  This blog isn’t long enough to list the reasons why, just do it.

 

 

If you’re standing in a cemetery and you hear ‘Taps’ softly playing…it’s too late.