This is the html version of the IndexWa.org newsletter.

Greetings!

Well, it has been an interesting July to say the least.  The July 4, 2008 parade went off pretty darn well and there was a super turnout. Our Mayor, Bruce Albert, led the parade as the flag bearer. The children were very much involved and they had a good time (so did we). You can view some snapshots of the whole shindig on our blog.

Index Arts Festival

Hey, don't forget:

Saturday, August 16th, 2008
4th Annual Arts Index Festival
10am - 8 pm


Festival activities are located in the town park and on historical Avenue A.

  • Covered venues and open air activities fill the schedule

  • Approximately 50 artists participate & sell their work at the festival

  • Outdoor Painting

  • Live Music on Stage

  • Poetry Readings

  • Crafts Marketplace

  • Plein Air Artistry

  • Food & Beverage Cabana


August is the perfect time to plan a road trip up Stevens Pass Highway/ Route 2 to enjoy the natural beauty of the Index area and the festival activities. Plenty of parking too.

My wife and I will be out of town for our annual family get-together.  We were hoping to get some photos of the art show but alas, it won't work out this year.  This is a great event and has a great turnout.

We Were Found!

I tend to drop off some IndexWa.org cards we had made up, at establishments on HWY 2 if I can remember to do so. I dropped some off at the Index Cafe a while back and forgot about them.

Well, SOMEBODY picked one up and they gave us a link on their blog. If you enjoy a fun read, check them out at The Drunken Bear: Windows and More.

We have more or less befriended the blogger via email, who by the way lives in Skyko1, and they seem like great people.  As a matter of fact, MOST of the people around town or near it are pretty nice people - we all have our days - but in general it's hard to not like the people around town.

  
   

They just keep rolling in - whoopee.....

The Town of Index Website kind of started of as a personal project "just to see what would happen". It has really ballooned lately and has become somewhat of a job (no, we are not complaining).

We had been averaging about 15-20,000 hits a month which is pretty predictable for a no-nonsense website about a small town. However, the site has become quite busy as of late. As of July 24, 2008 we have received 39,859 hits which means we are tracking for 50,000+ hits for the month of July (normally one of the slowest months). We are really awe-struck and EXCITED at the same time.

Also in the month of July, we have had two supporters sign on for advertising. A Cabin On The Sky (David Meier) and Crescent Lodge (Steve Harris), both local's and local vacation getaways. These two sponsors of IndexWa.org helped us pay for our hosting, domain name and newsletter for the past year just by putting a banner on the site. We are not out of the hole as of yet but the sponsors have given us some light at the end of the tunnel. You can see their banners throughout the site.

If you know of anybody that owns a business and would be interested in becoming a supporter, please have them contact me -use the contact us button on the blog.  It is really inexpensive advertising and we supply reports to the sponsors email address of all activity for any given period. If the sponsor has a web site, we also put a link to it (click through) or we can host their brochure via a click on their banner.

The MAIN page and the upper fold on the Blog are sold out for a year, but there is plenty of space for more throughout the site.  ALSO, keep in mind, non-profits within the valley (Monroe to Skykomish) are welcome to request a link to their site on IndexWa.org.  A free service for non-profits. Reciprocal links are appreciated but not mandatory.

The Index Eagle

We have been so busy that we have not had time to commit totally to the Eagle (some of you will remember it).  We got permission from Bob Hubbard to reproduce his old writings from the Eagle and we are working on it right now.  Leigh Christianson has a TON or should I say ALL of the past issues and we whipped off an email to her this morning to see if she has the time to go through a few of them.  If so, we will scan them in and post one a month for your reading enjoyment.  They are really fun to read and give a lot of insight to the Town of Index.

It's the thought that counts......?

The wife and I had planned on having a BBQ for all newsletter subscribers at IndexWa.org, some time in August but........the way things turned out we could not fit it in.

I was going to do the "man thing" and buy a nice stainless steel BBQ'er but time ran out to plan everything, so - lets shoot for next year.  The plan is, we supply the burgers, dogs, chicken and 'tater salad.  You folks bring what you want.  NO BOOZE (not that the wife and I don't enjoy a drink now and then, but we want it to be a family affair, children included...

As things did not turn out, let's plan for next year, ok?

Until the next newsletter,

Ed

PS - as a subscriber to IndexWa.org, you may hit REPLY to comment on anything in the newsletter.  Please do not quote the complete newsletter, only the piece you are responding about.  We have read the entire newsletter already. (grin)