Maquoketa is the place I want to be

The rain was making it hard to see as I was passing a giant semi on I-80. I was in a hurry. When passing, the water spray caused me to hold my breath, then accelerate...The phone range. (I know, I shouldn't have answered it while driving!) "Hi Ker, it's dad. How's it going?" "Hello...."

I was still holding my breath. I just blurted it out...like you can do with your dad, "Driving in rain, Daryl and I leaving our jobs and trying to start businesses from scratch, house not done, will I be able to feed my KIDS?!....and I'm late for a mentor meeting!"

This converstation is still so clear and vivid. It was reflecting my powerful lesson in PERSONAL CHANGE.

My family has a cancer success story, and like everyone who's been touched by the C-word, it's an unplanned experience causing you to look at life differently. It inspired us to move home, here in Maquoketa where we could start our own businesses and surround our kids with our "village"...which represents grandparents, church, good schools, and qualify of life.

Living with my in-laws was necessary. As Dave Ramsey would say, we needed to "live within our means." I now look back and thank GOD for this gift as David and Nthalie fed us, loved us, and taught us patience.

Being scared combined with a good work ethic (I learned WORK from mom and dad - who have recently retired with great success) is the perfect recipe to start two new businesses in Maquoketa. I remmeber hosting appointments in my truck until I could afford my small office on Main Street.

Then my lesson in "giving" happened. Two friends, Lori Fey and Ann Hawks, walked into my tiny office. They were representing the founding board of our YMCCA. They asked me to chair the first annual family youth campaign, evidently a requirement to open our new YMCA. Together, and with a load of volunteers, we reaised $60,000 in three months to open our YMCA in the fall of 2007. I witnessed giving and volunteers like never before! The community vision that started way before I arrived, continues to grow and bring quality of life to maquoketa. All because of PEOPLE.

Meanwhile, my borther, Mark, and his wife, Susan, were inspired (by their own successes and experience) and sought their "village." In 2006, they followed their vision and values and moved home from Atlanta, GA. Like us, they built a home on a family farm just outside of Maquoketa, and started their own business in town.

Young people moving back to align their lvies to be congruent with those most important things...time, effort, and love. Maquoketa connecting vlaues with businesses and families.

Something I've larned from my dad is connecting people. I'm honored to be involved in our community on many levels, always connecting. Most current is the Parks to People project and being a part of creating the Grant Wood Mississippi River Region. This group of volunteers are erasing borders and collaborating on levels where city, county and state are working as one.

I often have people ask me, "Kerry why do you do all of this?" I reply, "Because I want people to move here! Have the experience and quality of life my family is having. Make a living all the while helping our "Village" become better."

So last week, as I was driving to another mentor meeting, I was thinking about a New Year's Resolution for our "Village."

COME HOME.

Not just move back. Let's start a new way of thinking for those who live here now. 

Let's first seek to understand before placing judgment. Listen to others and find ways to engage talents. Embrace the opportunities change is going to bring.

And when we find ourselves driving in a rain storm needing to pass an obstacle...hold your breath and accelerate. Com home. (full article...)

By Kerry Schepers, Maquoketa Sentinel Press, January 10, 2015