Notes of Concern…
…Jackson Blair


Pursue Excellence



I have been thinking about how many products are manufactured abroad, how popular foreign built automobiles seem to be with Americans and how observers tell us so many Americans just don’t want to take the time to do something right, to make something the best it can be, and that many of us do not take pride in our work.

My father worked for U.S. Steel. He wouldn’t be caught buying a foreign made automobile in those days. As he aged and I matured he talked to me about how proud he was of the steel product. By the time he passed away at age 87 I had owned a number of foreign made products. He never commented. I recall a conversation we had toward the end of his career when he said to me he hoped I did not want to work for U.S. Steel. What happened to his pride? What happened to his dream?

Is it possible that his generation witnessed the decline in American pride, American accomplishment, and American hard work?

With this in mind I looked around this summer to see how many instances of pride in work, doing a first rate job, or simply wanting to be the best, I could find. I wanted to feature just one example in my column. I am happy to admit I found some wonderful examples. I am sad to tell you I did not find many.


The Inn at St. Peters
A 4 Star Inn with a 4 Diamond Gourmet Restaurant

I choose to write about one example of quality and hard work that I have witnessed over many summers. On Prince Edward Island there is an Inn that, arguably, is the best Inn on the island with the best Inn restaurant on the island. It is The Inn at St Peters, a four star rated establishment enjoying a four diamond rated restaurant, sitting on a beautiful piece of pristine property with an incredible view of St Peters Bay as it leads out to the ocean.

This establishment is open about six months each year. Not too many people choose to spend winters on this island off the coast of Canada during the snow season! So these folks have to make their impression in six months each year.

The Innkeepers are Karen Davey and Garth Keeping. They did not come from hotel management careers. In fact, the establishment of this Inn and its continuing operation is a labor of love started by Ms. Davey and later joined by Mr. Keeping.

When any business commences they typically are limited by budget. The Inn built only 16 rooms/suites. Every one of them was sighted on the property to provide a front porch with a view of the water. Each porch has Adirondeck chairs and flower boxes in full bloom. In each room is a king or queen size bed, a fireplace, wireless capability, a rocking chair, a small refrigerator and all the amenities anyone might want.


The Bay, the Gardens, the Gazebo (and the helicopter-at-rest)


In planning for this establishment it was determined that only a truly gourmet restaurant would be appropriate to the quality of rooms and grounds. So chefs and sous chefs were recruited from the finest culinary schools.

For most, this would be a pretty good start to a business adventure. But again, a level of quality was of foremost importance so a garden of fresh vegetables was planned and planted and much of the items accompanying the entrees come straight from the Inn garden. With a fantastic view of St Peters Bay, from each cottage deck, why would anyone spend more money to make a great impression?

Because they wanted to be the best.

They planned and executed huge gardens of beautiful flowers, both perennial and annual. Throughout the complex, wherever one walks, color and fantastic aromas surround you. Many additional expenses relate to this effort, not to mention added personnel. This is money not needed to be spent, unless you really want to do something wonderful and not just profitable.

Then to top it all off a Gazebo was constructed down close to the Bay, ideal for weddings or celebrations, and surrounded by long green lawns and flower gardens leading up to the main Inn. Again, more costs not necessary unless you have a dream to create something really wonderful, or you are driven by a passion for excellence in what you undertake.

While no one was planning on the lawn being ideal for helicopter landings, in fact guests have arrived by helicopter and found a wide verdant expanse appropriate to their “parking” needs.

Want to know why guests return year after year?

Because these folks understand how to do a job the right way.

They are invested in a quality experience for their guests. And selfishly, they just enjoy doing something well.



Four of the sixteen cottages with decks overlooking flowers and Bay

I challenge my readers to spend some time in the coming week looking for an example, one or many, of someone who truly cares about their work, is committed to excellence, wants to give value for the money spent, and receives a warm psychic reward from making something good, something that makes people happy. When you find it, share the news!

It seems if each of us could identify one such person or operation each week, our optimism about the future would soar. We could move from the malaise of disappointing earnings results, lack of employment, outrageous political battles and realize that there are still people out there, working hard, dreaming dreams, and making the world we live in a little bit better each day.

In the end it comes down to one person doing one job right!















For further information: jacksonblair@gmail.com

The Circus is Coming to Town

Notes of Concern…

                               …Jackson Blair

The Circus is Coming to Town

We are clearly launched on the every four-year cycle of presidential politics and elections. It is a time for gathering information (and disinformation), getting acquainted with new faces (and reacquainted with tired old ones), getting excited about a candidate’s prospect (and moaning over the prospects of other candidates), getting a chance to actually argue with friends over matters we rarely discuss when together (and the chance to lose friends and eat “humble pie”), but most importantly it is a reminder that in our nation we do actually get to choose our leaders.

At this early stage there are so many people trying to convince us they can do a better job than the fellow we have now that it is tough to keep track. Then we have the “fellow we have now” who has poll numbers that suggest his best hope is that the other party will nominate someone totally unacceptable to voters.

It is too bad that these elections cannot really be about issues.

 Back when Jack Kennedy was president and he anticipated his friend, the conservative U.S. Senator from Arizona, Barry Goldwater, would be his opponent, the two of them talked about the great opportunity to debate liberalism vs. conservatism as it applies to policies and programs and to do so in a civilized, meaningful way.

Of course fate intervened and that planned for civilized campaign of ideas never materialized.

As television and the internet played an even greater role in every subsequent election, things like ideas often got lost with candidates who were “easy on the eyes,” and candidates who could tote big ideas knowing that the likelihood of any of them every getting passed by Congress (think Clinton and health care) never seemed to cause the voter to look beyond the campaign promise.

We also have not done a very good job of holding successful candidates to their pledges/promises. Every now and then someone publishes a list of promises versus a list of actual performance on the promises, and most presidents don’t do very well in such comparisons.

After the primary dust-ups are over we will be presented with two people who want to lead us the next four years. It really doesn’t matter if we liked others who fell by the wayside during the primaries. At the end of the day we have to decide which one of the two presented is preferable to our thinking.

We can be pretty sure that one of the two, if history is a reliable predictor, will be the incumbent president. So there will be a referendum on the presidency of Barak Obama. The nation will decide if four more years of President Obama is more enticing than four years with someone new.

A great deal can happen between now and the presidential election. Undoubtedly, we will enjoy mixed moments of excitement and dread. But it is an important process and equally necessary for us to play our part. Everyone who writes on the subject will have a bias. If they tell you they do not, stop reading their columns. The best a columnist can do is tell you his bias and then try to be as even handed as possible in presenting the facts. The reader assumes the responsibility of weighing the balance in determining how convincing the column might be.

There is a difference between reporting and writing an opinion column.

As we start the political/presidential season, I can honestly tell you I have no idea which candidate I will find the most convincing. It would be impossible to reach such a determination without knowing whom the two people will be from which I will make a choice.

What I can tell you is that I do not like the direction of our country at this moment and I seem, according to the polls, to enjoy the company of a great majority of Americans. Does that mean I would vote for “anyone but Obama?”  That would be an indefensible position.

It is entirely possible for the Republicans to find a candidate who could do no better than Obama. You can bet this possibility is very popular in The White House. Alternatively, it is equally possible the Republicans will find a candidate who will convince us they can do a better job than the incumbent.

That discussion is what the political circus season is all about.

Welcome to the Midway.

Enjoy the Side Shows.

Get ready for the Center Ring.