BIG SPRING GIVEAWAY {week two}

Yes, it's finally here...

the BIG SPRING GIVEAWAY {week two}

Who's excited???

Here is what we are giving away from our spectacular sponsors (psst...don't forget to click on the name to go to their Facebook page to LIKE them!):

week two:

• Lost Valley Lake Resort - 3 day / 2 night stay
• SB Audio - $100 gift certificate
• Heather's Paparazzi - gift basket of jewelry, gift card, and more
• Fink's Alps - $50 gift certificate
• MK Designs and Photography - surprise package
• Planet Gymnastics - 4 Saturday Spectacular passes
• Oasis Bowling Lanes - 8 bowling passes
• United Bank of Union - surprise package
• Liberty's Skinny Wraps - gift certificate
• Johnny's Restaurant - $10 gift certificate
• Great 8 Cinema - $10 gift certificate

How do you enter? It's easy peasy:

Just like, share, and comment on the special graphic when you see it in your Facebook newsfeed. You can also find it pinned to the top of theExperience Union Facebook page.

Every like,share, and comment on the special graphic is an entry (so share each day if you would like)!

Bonus entries:

Sweet! Get additional entries every day when you comment on a bonus entry status.

What are those? It's when we highlight one of the fantastic sponsors. I will ask you to comment about your fave product or service that the sponsor has or something related to it.

If you have any questions, please email us at experienceunionmo@gmail.com or send a message on our Facebook page.

Don't have a Facebook account? No problem! Enter by commenting on this blog post.

Note: the BIG SPRING GIVEAWAY is only sponsored by Experience Union and the above listed businesses. It is in no way, shape, or form affiliated or endorsed by Facebook or Blogger.

Winners of the BIG SPRING GIVEAWAY 2013 {week one}

And the winners are:

Psst...don't forget to LIKE our local business sponsors! Follow them on Facebook, place an order with them, and stop by to say hi.

____________________________________________

Oasis Bowling Lanes - 8 bowling passes - Brittany D. Harmon Hannah Shockley (since prize was not claimed by deadline)

____________________________________________

Frick’s Market - chicken picnic - Shelby Wallace


____________________________________________

Platt’s Nursery and Greenhouse - $20 gift certificate - Tammy Laager


____________________________________________


Heritage Community Bank - $25 Visa gift card - April Thompson


____________________________________________

Aroma Blending Company - all natural bug spray and body scrub - Diane Wissmann Rucker


____________________________________________

Upper Cuts - $50 gift certificate for St. Louis Cardinals tickets - Donna Cregger


____________________________________________

Sweet Designs by Mandi - dozen cupcakes and $40 gift certificate - Jen Clark Kelley


____________________________________________

Union Nails - $75 gift certificate - Cindy L Moritz

____________________________________________

Suzanne Koelling - Mary Kay makeover party for 5 with food, drinks, and $50 gift certificate - Kathy Gooch


____________________________________________

GAME OVER - Playstation 2 and $100 of games - Michelle Widau-Vondera


____________________________________________

Marcink Designs - family mini session and wall canvas ($210 value) - Justina White


____________________________________________

To claim your prize, please email your name and address to experienceunionmo@gmail.com. Prizes must be claimed by 9 am on Wednesday, April 24th, or I will draw another entry!

____________________________________________

Week Two of the BIG SPRING GIVEAWAY launches Monday morning - are you ready???

Here are the sponsors:

week two:

• Lost Valley Lake Resort - 3 day / 2 night stay
• SB Audio - $100 gift certificate
• Heather's Paparazzi - gift basket of jewelry, gift card, and more
• Fink's Alps - $50 gift certificate
• MK Designs and Photography - surprise package
• Planet Gymnastics - 4 Saturday Spectacular passes
• Oasis Bowling Lanes - 8 bowling passes
• United Bank of Union - surprise package
• Liberty's Skinny Wraps - gift certificate
• Johnny's Restaurant - $10 gift certificate
• Great 8 Cinema - $10 gift certificate

How do you enter? It's easy peasy:

Just like or share the special graphic when you see it in your Facebook newsfeed. You can also find it pinned to the top of the Experience Union Facebook page.

Every like and share on the special graphic is an entry (so share each day if you would like)!

Bonus entries:

Sweet! Get additional entries every day when you comment on a bonus entry status.

What are those? It's when we highlight one of the fantastic sponsors. I will ask you to comment about your fave product or service that the sponsor has. Week one will feature half the sponsors, and week two will feature the other half of sponsors.

If you have any questions, please email us at experienceunionmo@gmail.com or send a message on our Facebook page.

Note: the BIG SPRING GIVEAWAY is only sponsored by Experience Union and the above listed businesses. It is in no way, shape, or form affiliated or endorsed by Facebook or Blogger.

Hop, Skip, and Crawl {Footloose Giveaway}

This {Footloose Giveaway} is for YOU! How do I know that? Well, answer these few questions to yourself:

• Do you drink beverages (adult or kiddie)?
• Do you eat food?
• Do you like being with your friends?
• Do you support your local community?
• Do you enjoy music?
• Do you like to walk?
• Do you like to people watch?
• Do you like to dance?

Did you answer "yes" to 3 or more of the above questions? Then you should enter our {Footloose Giveaway}...woo hoo!

Keep reading...

So, the Jaycees are are going to buy Christmas presents for the local children in foster care {awesomesauce!}, and they need your help to do this.

How can you help?
By taking an evening to go out with your friends and having a wonderful time eating, drinking, laughing, and dancing! No, it's not selfish at all! You have the opportunity to support your local community while engaging in a very fun activity - the Union Jaycees Pub Crawl and Dance.

Yes! But how can it get any better? Well, we get to giveaway two (2) t-shirts and dance passes {oh, yeah}! 

So this is how the Pub Crawl and Dance will go:

Saturday, November 17th

6:00 pm - tree lighting at City Hall and then off to the local pubs for drink and dinner specials

• Theo's
• Korner Bar
• Bugsy's
• Elmer's 

9:00 pm - dance the night away at the City Hall

• cash bar by the Franklin County Fair Board
• bring your own snacks

Tickets are $25 for the special shirt that gains you the specials and the dance entry, or $15 for just the dance.

Update: the winner for the Pub Crawl t-shirts and dance tix is Racheal Englaender Vogel. Please contact the Union Jaycees to claim your prize!

Meet the Team {Tyann}

Business owner.

Artist.

Photographer.

Website Designer.

Amazing wife and mother according to reliable resources.

That pretty much sums it up. :) Oh, and I do enjoy attempts at humor. Sometimes I succeed, but other times only I get my own joke or slight sarcasm.

My name is Tyann Marcink, and I love our community. Yes, I really do.

I also enjoy teaching photography workshops, and one day I will finish the novel I started writing 10 years ago - an historical romance based on my great-great-great grandparents who came here to Franklin County in the mid 1800's. It's a very intriguing story, and one day, you will be able to read it.

My husband Mike, our boys, and I last Easter.

You have seen a bit of my photographic fine art (i.e. the Experience Union banner and logo) already, so see Marcink Designs for more of it. And to know the latest on my fine art, workshops, and other events, be sure to sign up for my newsletter (note: newsletter subscribers receive something special!). With Marcink Designs, I also do website design and photobook design.

So then, my other businesses that keep me busy:

My custom handpainted children's room decor is the Little Elephant Company. I feel fairly confident that I am a (if not the) worldwide leader in custom quilt clips. I create designs to coordinate with popular bedding sets and ship them all over the world. The post office clerks and I are on a first name basis.

And we have a couple homes in Branson that I manage and make available for travelers. You can see those at Vacation Home in Branson. I really enjoy the hospitality industry and helping our guests to make memories with their family and friends.

But even though I keep myself pretty busy, you will still see me around town at soccer and baseball games with my boys or at school and community events.

A few more tidbits about me:

Oh, how I revel in vacation! 

I love to capture displays of the stunningly awesome
power of God...even if it's only a fraction of it.

Flowers and bokeh and my favorite pinks and purples.

A few links for you:

• My Google + page
• Marcink Designs website
• Marcink Designs facebook page
• Marcink Designs newsletter sign-up
• Little Elephant Company website
• Little Elephant Company Facebook page
• Vacation Home in Branson website
• Vacation Home in Branson Facebook page

Where in Union? {July 13}

Where in Union is this? If you know and are the first one to correctly comment on this blog post or the Facebook post, you will win a surprise!

Please comment with the exact location, including street/streets, buildings, any identifying landmarks, and even GPS coordinates. The first correct comment wins the prize. Please be as specific as possible! 

Where in Union? {July 6}

Where in Union is this? If you know and are the first one to correctly comment on this blog post or the Facebook post, you will a sweet treat to help you beat the heat from Planet Ice!

Please comment with the exact location, including street/streets, buildings, any identifying landmarks, and even GPS coordinates. The first correct comment wins the prize. Please be as specific as possible! You may comment on this blog post or on the Facebook picture.

 

A Cool Retreat To Beat The Heat

Get a break from the heat wave with a super cool, shaved ice treat from Planet Ice!  Located on Vondera, right next to Planet Gymnastics, Planet Ice offers a wide variety flavors that are sure to please everyone in the family! 

 Super smooth ice is shaved fresh for eat treat!  Make sure to pay them a visit and tell them we sent you!

Hours of Operation:
Monday - Thursday 3pm to 9m
Friday 3pm to 10pm
Saturday 12pm to 10pm
Sunday 12pm to 9pm
Open until Mid-September!

Where in Union? {June 29}

Where in Union is this? If you know and are the first one to correctly comment on this blog post or the Facebook post, you will a sweet treat to help you beat the heat!

Please comment with the exact location, including street/streets, buildings, any identifying landmarks, and even GPS coordinates. The first correct comment wins the prize. Please be as specific as possible! You may comment on this blog post or on the Facebook picture.

Meet the Team - Gussie

Growing up in Krakow instilled a love of country/small town life in me.  Now, a stay at home mom and small business owner, I am raising my children in an area that I love!

My name is Gussie Schmitz.  My husband and I are raising our two amazing girls in Union.  We own Mach 1 Audio, Video, Security in Washington.  I also own a small business, Sweet Madelynne, for which I sell hair accessories at several fall craft fairs.

I have a passion for cooking, crafts, photography and family.  I blog about all of those topics at Little Mama.  My passion for family overflows into a love for Union.  Small town life is such a perfect setting for me to raise my family.

I joined Experience Union because I wanted to support the town where I am raising my children.  Our town has so much to offer if you just do a little digging and I wanted to share that with others.

Where in Union? {May 5}

It's a beautiful weekend in Union to take a walk around downtown. Can you spot where I found Mickey Mouse? 

Please comment with the exact location, including street/streets, buildings, any identifying landmarks, and even GPS coordinates. The first correct comment wins a prize package from Sweet Madelynne. You may comment on this blog post or on the Facebook picture.

Where in Union? {April 27}

Where in Union did I find this?

Please comment with the exact location, including street/streets, buildings, any identifying landmarks, and even GPS coordinates. The first correct comment wins a surprise. You may comment on this blog post or on the Facebook picture.

Photo by Marcink Designs.

Gotta "hitch" in your "giddy up" ;-)

Being one of three ladies who are the "think tank" for Experience Union is fun. Why? We all three seem on the same page. We want people to get out and Experience this great town. We decided, with a little inspiration from Slava Bowman with Re-Discover Washington, that contests to get folks out and about in Union would be fun.

So... contest one is born...

The following events are as accurate as I can make them...

Tyann writes: "A good pic would be of the old hitching post from the 1800s still standing in town. "

and I jumped on it!

Only to find... I do NOT know what a hitching post looks like.

After driving around the area with my first-grader who is full of questions... I wrote to Tyann: "Is it a rock? Stone?"

No response.

She must have a life outside of Facebook. Shocking in this day and age!

So after much debate and consideration between myself and my child, we decide if we were to "park a horse" it would be here... at this stone... and we clicked this photograph...



If my first grader can do it, you can do it! Get up. Get out. Walk about. Experience Union. There is so much to learn and see... just right here in our own town. No airline tickets or posh hotels required! :)

Congrats to our first winner: Tammy Stowe. You won $20 to Marcink Designs!
Next week, I am going to sponsor the contest thru MK Designs.

*note, we did NOT choose to name our photo biz's the same with "Designs" at the end! We didn't even KNOW each other before that choice. Hence, the joy of us all thinking alike (see paragraph one!).


Article and Photographs: Michelle Anne of MK Designs

The Thrill of the Hunt! :)

Disclaimer: Don't let the title fool you, this entry is NOT about hunting animals (all though this author/photographer LOVES deer sausage).

This is all about the great online hunt that encourages people to use their GPS devices and smartphones with GPS technology to get off their couches, out of their houses, and explore new areas...

GEOCACHING!

Since the main purpose of our project is to encourage people to "Explore Union" - this seemed like a logical topic to blog about.

It's pretty simple, go to www.geocaching.com to learn more and create an account. Download the app to your device, in my case my iPhone, for a modest $10 or less, and start exploring. Just know that you need to have a healthy sense of adventure, and be respectful of the caches and the land they are located on.


You are using the GPS to help you, along with different clues and hints about the caches you are seeking... some will be as small as a quarter and others as large as a coffee can or ammo box.


It's amazing to see all the signatures and where people are from who are out geocaching. My daughter was in awe of this signature and wished we'd been just a few days sooner so she could have met him. :)


Above all else, it's a great way to bond (and fairly inexpensive) with friends and family. For example, on Saturday my daughter and I were greatly frustrated when we couldn't find a cache right here in Union that we were clearly inches away from according to my iPhone. We got another hint (thank you to the cache owner who responded to our post about it!) and tried again on Sunday after church. It was my daughter, not me, who spotted it and was squealing with delight when she was able to locate it. This photograph says it all...


Author/Photographer: Michelle Anne of MK Designs
Sources: Personal experience and geocaching.com