Category Archives: Shannon

Slow on the take…

August 15, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

Some times the Des Moines Register gets real arrogant. They do things like try to me just who it is that “I should get to know”.

Some times the Des Moines Register gets it right. However, even when they get it right they are way behind the times. Check out this article from today’s Business Section.

Thanks for the tip, Des Moines Register, but I’ve known that Shannon was somebody to know for years now.

In case you can’t read the article, I’m willing to supply you with the important details below.

Little White Lye Soap - Des Moines Register

Saponification Speicialist

Name: Shannon Bardole

Title: Saponification Specialist

Company: Little White Lye Soap

City company is located in: Ames, IA

Job description or business description (especially if what you do is unusual your the title is not descriptive):
Saponification is the process of making soap, hence I’m a Saponification Specialist. I am owner/proprietor of the business. I make all-natural bars of soap and laundry soap using only Iowa-raised, free-range lard that I render and lye.

Background:
I have a BA in Family Services from the University of Northern Iowa. I worked at Living History Farms for five years, which is where I learned how to make soap using a historic recipe. I currently serve full-time as Administrative Assistant for United Way of Story County since LWLS is still a small business.

Notable achievements:
Little White Lye Soap has been in business for 20 months. The soap is available for purchase at three retail outlets: Wheatsfield Cooperative Grocery (413 Douglas Avenue, Ames), Indoor Ames Farmers’ Market (526 Main Street Station Suite 103, Ames), and Living History Farms (2600 111th Street, Urbandale). The website (http://www.littlewhitelyesoap.com) has been live for a few months.
Personally, I’ve received recognition at the state level within the Jaycees as top local secretary and state program manager.

Why I do what I do:
I love owning a small business. I love the challenges and opportunities that come along with owning a small business. And I love the product that I sell and use. It’s environmentally friendly, and I think my customers appreciate that, as well.

What I do to get away from work:
I enjoy handiwork of all sorts – knitting, crocheting, sewing. I enjoy traveling to visit my nieces and nephews in Dubuque and Illinois. I also working in the vegetable garden that my dad and I plant annually.

How I give back to the community (or volunteer activities):
I am an active member of the Ames (http://www.amesjaycees.com) and Iowa Junior Chamber (http://www.iowajaycees.org). Through the Jaycees I am able to help raise funds through my leadership as the 2008 Committee Chair of Ames on the Half Shell (http://www.amesonthehalfshell.com) that get put directly back into the community through projects such as the Easter Egg Hunt, Bowling Challenge, Fourth of July Fireworks, and Holiday Food Baskets.

Words to live by: Always have a positive attitude, even if things aren’t going well. Because suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint.

What Iowa can do to attract more people like me:
Iowa needs to keep doing what it’s already doing. I’ve been a life-long Iowan, and I love it here! I love four distinct seasons. I love the friendliness of Iowans. And I love driving in the spring and looking out over fields for miles around.

My mentor:
Frankee Oleson, Executive Director of United Way of Story County, quickly became my mentor after I began working there. She has got to be the most diplomatic person I know. That is something I really want to learn from her.

My leadership philosophy: Being a leader isn’t always comfortable. If you’re doing it right, you’re going to be uncomfortable, make people mad, but learn a lot.

What I would do if I could do something else:
I would love to be a full-time business owner. That is my goal. I’m passionate about quality, hand-crafted, all-natural, local goods, and I’d love to own a business that features all of those products.

If you want to contact me: Please visit http://www.littlewhitelyesoap.com.

You can also view the article online: You should get to know…

Commercial, Event, Geri, Jaycees, Music, Schmidt, Shannon

Friday with Kountertop

July 20, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

Friday night was another successful Ames on the Half Shell. The band was Kountertop and they were phenomenal. I even had a chance to catchup with an old chum named Todd Sawyer who is a Kountertop roadie. That was pretty sweet.

I haven’t loaded any images into the Snapshots Gallery yet, so don’t go running over there. That will happen in due time.

Friday may have been my Half Shell swan song. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to this Friday’s Half Shell. I’m going to spend Thursday and Friday in Cedar Rapids with a small group from my church getting covered in dry wall and black mold. I’m not sure I will make it back to Ames in time to work Half Shell. Even if I did, I’m not sure what I would smell like.

So that means at least a couple of you are going to have to go to Half Shell and drink my share of the Red Monkey Root Beer. This week’s band is the 3AM Band. As always the event runs from 5-8 at Bandshell Park near beautiful downtown Ames, Iowa.

Animals, Commercial, Event, Music, Shannon

Saucy Jack

July 16, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

Below are pictures from Ames on the Half Shell last Friday with Saucy Jack.

There are about 20 more images from that night in the Snapshots Gallery in the Ames Jaycees Album.

Ames on the Half Shell – 2008

This Friday is Kountertop. If we don’t get rained out, it will most likely be my last Half Shell of the season. So come on down! It is just possible that I might buy you a drink.

Becky, Candid Portrait, Commercial, Derrick, Event, Holidays, Jaycees, Jen, Music, Night, Shannon

Independence Day

July 6, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

It was a busy 4th of July.

I started the day at about 9 AM by moving mortars into place. Then at 10:30 I went over to Half Shell to help set up and serve beer until about 3 PM.

Check out some pictures from Half Shell.

Shannon and Matthew

Scott with the 1st Beer of Half Shell

Becky and Jenny

I switched from my “Beat Iowa” hat to a “Beer Nuts” hat for this Half Shell.*

Burnin’s Sensations

Sarah finishing off the pepperoni pizza that she didn’t want to be “too eager” for.

I don’t know what is going on in this picture.

At 3 I headed back to the fireworks area to set up sandbags. Fireworks was a very educational experience. For starters, fireworks don’t look anything like I thought they would look like. I thought they would look like giant bottle rockets or like the big red rockets that Wile E. Coyote shoots at the Road Runner. Instead, they look like this:

Fireworks.

The main thing I learned though was that being in the pit or ground zero of a fireworks display is about a million times more entertaining and fun than watching a fireworks display.

To let off fireworks there is a dress code. You are required to wear boots, long pants, a cotton long sleeve shirt (polyester will catch on fire), a hard hat, safety glasses and ear protection. Even with all of that clothing and protective gear it is hard to put into words how powerful and loud the fireworks are in the pit. It is an intense experience.

I was really down in the pit to take some pictures. However, I was ordered to set off a couple of fireworks. So I set off three.

After we finished some clean up I went over to Jen and Derrick’s traditional 4th of July barbecue. I was asked the same question a few different times while I was there:

“Which fireworks did you light off?”

Shannon would usually answer the question: “The good ones.”

Although I enjoy her vote of confidence, that answer has no basis in fact. The truth is that you never get to see the fireworks that you light off. In fact, you barely ever see any fireworks at all. You feel them. You hear them. You never see them.

The steps to setting off the fireworks prevent you from ever seeing them. When you go to light off the fireworks you are handed a 5 or 6 foot pole with a road flare taped to the end. You approach the mortars with the flare pointed away from the fireworks. When you get near the fireworks you remove the protective sleeve that covers the fuse. Then you take a few steps back and light the fuse with the flare. As soon as the fuse starts to light, you turn your back to the fireworks, get low and move away from the mortars.

While you are moving away from the fireworks, there is another person acting as a spotter. The spotter tells you when it is okay to go light another fuse or to get down. Trust me, you definitely know when the shell has shot into the sky. You feel it. However, there are a couple of things that could go wrong. The shell could blow up in the mortar or the shell can come a few feet out of the mortar and then blow up. If these things don’t happen, you get to go back and light off more fireworks. But you never really get to see the fireworks that you light.

Here are a few pictures from the pit:

Joe packing mortars.

Charby moving boxes of fireworks.

Shannon putting foil on the Grand Finale mortars.

The line moving away from the explosion is the flare.

Fireworks.

More fireworks.

Peggy setting off fireworks.

Shannon watching.

Grand finale aftermath.

Of course there are about 80 more pictures in the Snapshot Gallery in an album named “Jaycees – Independence Day – 2008”.

Jaycees – Independence Day – 2008

When I concluded my evening at Jen and Derrick’s barbecue I found out that something pretty major had happened in my absence. However, that is not my tale. All I can tell you is that congratulations are in order next time you see them.

One last story.

While I was walking around Half Shell taking pictures two girls came up to me.

“Do you want to take our picture?” they asked.

“Why would I want to take your picture?”

“Because we are so cute.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah!”

“I can take your picture.”

I’ll leave it to you to make your own assessments about the level of cuteness these girls possess.

I have a feeling this is how the Girls Gone Wild guy got started.

*I bought a new hat for this coming Half Shell on Saturday. I think it is perfect.

Art, Black & White, Derrick, Photoshop, Shannon, State Fair

The Other Art Festival

July 3, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

Last year I went to the Des Moines Arts Festival downtown. I can’t say there was a single thing that impressed me. Only things that left an impression on me. The biggest impression that I left with was the thought, “Wow, no need to go to this thing again.”

What I didn’t know or didn’t realize was that at the same time that the Des Moines Arts Festival is going down, there is another affordable art festival going on at the State Fairgrounds. On Saturday I met Shannon down there to check it out.

I learned a few things. I learned that there was more and more interesting (and utilitarian) things at the State Fairgrounds. Shannon had told me that this festival was considerably more affordable.

It certainly was more affordable. Although neither of us bought anything (unless you count the pie pan that Shannon bought for a friend) there were many things I considered buying. I heavily considered buying a painting of a cow or a pig. I also considered buying a letter opener from Shannon’s legendary knife guy. I had heard her spin many a yarn about his knives for quite sometime now, so it was exciting to actually see him in person. He does make beautiful knives, but I couldn’t pull the trigger on the deal. I already have 3 letter openers at home that I don’t use.

I also learned that Shannon is big into mixed media. I also learned that her hyper-organized mind is drawn to art that is very structured. I on the other hand do not like that much structure in my art. I also revealed a strong affection for paintings that could be found in children’s literature.

There are times that I consider trying to have a booth at an art festival. What I noticed from looking at the photographers that were set up was that they all seemed to have a specialty. There was the person that did flower pictures. There was the person that did Iowa landscapes. There were people that had pictures of specific foreign countries. There was a person thats specialty seemed to be splitting landscaped up into three separate pictures.

There was a person whose specialty was making photos look like paintings.

Something like that.

There was a person whose specialty was desaturating everything in a picture except one thing.

Something like that.

Another person made photomosaics.

Something like that (Hope you can recognize the original image.)

It is a big file! Over 26MB. The tiles are from pictures I took in June.

Fortunately nobody was there with what is well known to be my specialty.

So looks like I would not have any direct competition if I got a booth there next year.

I also snapped a couple of photos on my return journey to my car.

I will return to this festival in the future. Despite the lack of a single black and white photograph of a naked chick on a beach holding a sword and flowers.

Formal Portrait, Shannon

Work Half Done

June 28, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

“Half the work that is done in this world is to make things appear what they are not.”
-E.R. Beadle

Becky, Commercial, Derrick, Event, Jaycees, Music, Shannon

Box Brothers

June 27, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

Ames on the Half Shell was rain shortened on Friday night. At least we got in about half of the concert. I only had to go on stage to make a brief speech about our sponsors when it started to rain. I didn’t get a chance to announce last call or really make the FULL sponsor speech. I also was denied the chance to announce last call. Oh well, I still got to do the radio interview for 105.1. I think I came off as a tad bit arrogant.

Here are some pictures.

There are about 40 more images in the Ames on the Half Shell – 2008 Gallery.

Ames on the Half Shell – 2008

Ames on the Half Shell is a bit different this week. Since Friday is Independence Day there are a ton of stuff planned for downtown Ames by the Main Street Cultural District. Half Shell will run from 1-6 instead of 5-8. The bands will be Burnin’ Sensations and The Nadas.

Baier, Boone FUMC, Christianity, Jay, Jesse, Life, Nader, Shannon

Sunday

June 22, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I managed to make it through this Sunday’s Sermon/Interview. I don’t think that I embarrassed myself too much and I think at least a few people were touched or were able to relate to my message.

I don’t want to re-hash the experience, but I would like to thank Jesse, Jay, Shannon, Jason, Carrie and Nader for coming to support me. I also would like to thank Lowell for being there. My family was incredibly supportive as well.

I do want to share a video that Andrea found on the internet and played during the sermon of the song No One Else Knows by Building 429. A song that is very important to me.

Of course if you subscribe to this blog via e-mail or RSS Feed, you will actually have to go to the website to see the article.

Also, even though the video credits Casting Crowns with this song, I assure you that it is Building 429’s song.

Candid Portrait, Commercial, Event, Jaycees, Music, Shannon

Vivace

June 21, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

Friday was another successful night at Ames on the Half Shell. Well over 400 people came out to see Vivace. I worked admissions and checked IDs, so I didn’t take as many photos as normal. Below is a sampling:

Little White Lye Soap Promotional Cup (changes colors)

Of course there are a few other images in the Snapshots Gallery in the Ames Jaycees Album.

Ames on the Half Shell – 2008

This week the band at Ames on the Half Shell is Box Brothers. A bonus source of amusement for you is (if I read the spreadsheet correctly) that I am the person that goes on stage to introduce the band.

Ames on the Half Shell is also a collection site for Flood Relief Donations. If you are looking to donate some items to help out fellow Iowans that were affected by the floods, you can bring the following items to Half Shell on Friday:

Toiletries – for 3,000 individuals
deodorant
toothpaste/ tooth brush
shampoo/ conditioner
combs/ brushes
hand sanitizer
pillows / sheets/ blankets
diapers
baby food
underwear
socks
Cleaning supplies (mops – buckets – cleaners – rags)
Bug Spray

The items donated at Half Shell will be distributed to the areas hardest hit by the flooding. You can also make donations to the Red Cross at the door.

Event, Jaycees, Music, Shannon, Vest, Video

Video from Friday

June 17, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

If you subscribe to this blog via RSS Feed or e-mail, you will actually have to go to the website to see the video embedded below:

This video is a rough cut from Ames on a Half Shell from last Friday. My friend Mike Vest came down and shot some video of the event for us.

Although this was actually the highlight of the night: