Category: Art And Seek

Valentine's Day

2/10/2016

Happy Wednesday Readers,

Since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, I thought I would share some short stories with you from our collection! The first story comes from Bill Graney. Bill is recounting stories about Mike’s Pub, back before it became Mike’s Pub, when Stub Smithson owned it. He describes the day, saying that there was not much business, and as he was looking at the ceiling he say a big water bug, three to four inches he claims. When he told Stub, Stub removed the bib overalls he was wearing and threw them up at the bug. Now, you may be thinking that this does not sound much like a Valentine’s Day story. However, what you do not know is what Stub was wearing under his overalls. According to Bill, since it was right at Valentine’s time when this happened, Mrs. Smithson had bought Stub some boxer shorts with hearts on them. Stub was wearing these boxers when he took off his overalls. Imagine, seeing the bartender standing there in heart boxers. It seems like something out of a cartoon! However, Stub was unfazed, according to Bill, and Valentine’s Day went on.

The other story comes to us from tales of George Soumas. Apparently, around Valentine’s Day, George had a tradition. He, along with a few other Perry residents, would go to Suzette’s candy store in Des Moines. They would pick up at least two or three pounds of candy. George literally brought boxes with him, and the owners of the store would fall over him since he was buying so much candy. Then, he would take the candy down to the Dallas County Courthouse, and together they would hand out candy to everyone there. Even some of the people from Perry were allowed to keep some of the candy: Barry Bengtson apparently used the candy he got from George to give to his wife every year. She did not find out about this until much later, however. One wonders if she got mad at him or not for taking the candy from someone else.

I hope that these stories got you thinking about Valentine’s Day, and what you could do to surprise someone. In addition, do not forget to come down to the Hotel Pattee tomorrow for Art and Seek! There will be wine, cheese, and other refreshments. The purpose of the event is to highlight the new QR Codes that have been installed, and show everyone how to use them to learn more about their favorite art pieces. I hope to see you all there!

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Art and Seek

2/3/2016

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Good afternoon readers!

I’m excited to inform you all of an upcoming event that Hometown Heritage and the Hotel Pattee are presenting! To celebrate the opening of the Hometown Heritage QR Code Tour at the Hotel Pattee, we are presenting Art and Seek: a Digital Art Treasure Hunt. This event will take place in the Hotel Pattee on February 11th, starting at 5 p.m. and ending at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend!

QR Codes are small, square barcodes that when scanned, bring up a related website or article. In the Hotel, these codes are installed next to pieces of art. Scanning one of the codes will bring up the Hometown Heritage website, and give the scanner information about the art. Some of the art also has a narrated audio clip talking about the art, the artist, or both. We see it as a chance for everyone to learn about the art at the Hotel Pattee, or at least about some of your favorite pieces.

Art and Seek will be a night of fun, starting with instructions of how to download and use a QR Code scanning application to your smartphone. There are many applications available, and many of them are free to use. If possible, downloading an application before coming to the event would save some time. We suggest the “i-nigma” app, as it is free and works on both Apple and Android smart phones. There will also be a question sheet to fill out, based on the information that can be obtained by scanning the QR codes. The first few people back from the hunt, with the correct answers, will win some prizes! There will also be wine, cheeses, and other refreshments available, provided by the Hotel Pattee. Again, the event is free and open to the public, so we encourage everyone to attend. I hope to see you all there!

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Valentine's Day

Art and Seek

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