John's usual excuses & apologies--
First-- how great of a job to Jeremy & Rocio do with this GTKM bit? Seriously. If you love what they do-- send them some love at
media@CLIsupports.com!
CLI is putting together a 3-event Cornhole Tournament uptown on 3 different Fridays: July 23rd, August 6th, and September 10th. There will be cash prizes for each one and also for the series. Of course there will libations and food. We're also working on some live music-- nothing's definite on that front yet. 100% of proceeds will go toward the Kenilee accessible renovations. We figure that project will cost just a bit above $150K-- especially with the price of lumber right now. We have $25K so far. I've just started soliciting for grants, but if anyone knows of any businesses that are interested having a "branded" lane in the new space, I'd like to talk to them.
Speaking of bowling-- CLI would like to open Kenilee for open bowling on the weekends. Right now, I'm running private parties based on RSVP's and my schedule. However, since being a lane jockey isn't really my day job, I can't always accommodate everyone that wants to bowl. Also, private rentals are much more expensive than renting just a lane or 2 during regular open bowling. This means that some people can't afford to do it, which is unfortunate. I'm going to run an ad on indeed. We'll make the hourly wage is competitive and so that the staff gets a slice of sales too. Spread the word. Obviously, CLI still has other positions that we haven't been able to hire for-- but we're hoping that maybe this job is a bit easier to fill. Weird times for sure.
I hope everyone's summer is off to a good start. I'm enjoying mine so far, although I seem to be a little easily overwhelmed by relatively small wrinkles these days. CLI is working on our 2022 calendar and also staff vacation schedules for the coming year. The new Juneteenth federal holiday is new obviously. I try not to get too political because I don't think that it is is helpful. Most solutions require teamwork and I don't see any value in alienating allies. That being said, anybody who has studied american history should recognize that there are lots of reasons to recognize the anniversary of the emancipation of slavery. History matters-- a lot.
But, money is limited, so choosing to spend it one way means that it isn't available to spend other ways. I would prefer that we that we spend it on actual services that address legacies of systemic racism, such as disproportionate rates of poverty. Full-disclosure, CLI couldn't afford the old slate of federal/banking holidays that were in place before this latest one. We are only paid when we do stuff. We will tweak our programs on those days to pay homage to the reasons why Juneteenth and the others are important, but we'll be open.
I apologize for the editorial. There is real work to be done and I appreciate all the progress we've made as a society. I just worry that we're not effectively fixing the structural problems because we're so focused on the window dressings. Back to the nitty-gritty, CLI has not been able to recruit staff-- and this year we've been too short-staffed to allow anyone to take time off. We're putting the final touches on the 2022 program calendar and hope to push it out next week.
That's all I have. Enjoy your week and keep those hands clean. Hopefully, if nothing else, this pandemic improves how often & well we all wash our hands!
John