Kids March Across Texas

danshields — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:40:43 +0000

Originally posted by the Spring Observer here.

By KEVIN KOLOIAN

Dan Shields of Dan's Hardware Country wants to get kids growing fruits and vegetables the all-natural way at Kids March Across Texas.

Updated: 02.17.10

Through the upcoming Kids March Across Texas event, Dan Shields, owner of Dan’s Hardware Country, hopes more people will use natural products to implement a fresh approach to growing gardens and flowers.

Shields invites upwards of 300 elementary-age kids and their families to plant Texas indigenous wildflowers using natural products at the event, which starts at Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 27.

In preparation, Shields mowed and graded an acre strip of land on an undeveloped area facing Aldine Westfield Road near Mercer.

“We are going to go out and ceremoniously cast out the seed much like John Appleseed,” Shields said. “Then, the children can watch the progress over the next few weeks and the community will have a bouquet of beautiful wildflowers to look at. And they are perennial so they should come back every year.”

Mark Smith of Earth’s Outlet, the company that is supplying the fertilizer, will be on hand to show the child safety and appeal of organic fertilizer. Activities are anticipated to include entertainment and refreshments.

Bearing the same name as the event, this is Kids March Across Texas’ first beautification project, which will be followed by other seasonal similar horticultural endeavors like growing gardens.

“I hope to help 15 churches grow gardens, and the fruits and vegetables grown can go into their food pantry,” Shields said. “They can give the food to the needy and we know everything they receive will be totally nutritious and organic.”

Shields explained that Kids March Across Texas is the beginning of a community movement that he would like to see extended from county to county.

In the future, he hopes to help area schools form clubs where speakers can teach the kids how to grow healthy food. Shields would also love for schools to adopt an ecology curriculum.

“Ecology is a broad subject, but the first thing the kids can learn is how to grow and harvest a plant,” Shields said. “It will give them an idea of how the cycle of life works.”

As a hardware store owner, Shields said he sells some of the harmful products that he would like to see phased out, but he simply supplies what people want, something he hopes will change soon.

“As a grassroots movement we can change the mindset of the gardener, the landscaper and the retailer,” Shields said. “Organic food has always had a high price tag but we can offset that by growing about $1,100 of food in our own back yards.”

For more information, call 281-415-8588. To register, call Mercer at 281-443-8731.

KIDS MARCH ACROSS TEXAS

WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 27, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

WHERE: Begins at Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, 22306 Aldine Westfield Road,

Humble

HOW MUCH: free

INFO: 281-415-8588

Come to the aid of your country

danshields — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:39:11 +0000

I remember as a young man learning to type that the first thing I read was “Now is the time to come to the aid of your country”. I didn’t really understand that they were talking of WWII. Now I find that those words could be applied to our country today. In the truest sense, we are finding it very hard to aid ourselves much less our country. I am challenged to understand what I can personally do to stem the tide of what we are witnessing today. Do we throw up our hands in disgust or do we eat this proverbial elephant one bite at a time? I think we re-invent the mouse trap! In the hardware business we can fix anything we put our minds to. We are an honest group of people that somehow have replaced the bartender and barber as the local psychologist and moral majority. We are the true survey keepers and can feel the heart beat of our country. “We also distain political correctness and feel that the only way to solve a problem is to talk about it”. There are no true barriers in our agenda for we know that the only true race is the “human race”. Since we have all the answers, we just have to prove it! I was told to think outside the box and to think about it, I have found that we ARE the box. Liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat I don’t know the difference unless of course you feel the need to join a club. I only know one thing that separates people and that is other people .Politics create chaos and chaos creates confusion. I am convinced that to invent change is to simply change our vocabulary. Instead of sugar coating our feelings such as ignoring our responsibilities we take up a course of helping each other. Share knowledge and wisdom. Tutor our neighbors children as we would have them Tudor ours. Grow relationships like you would grow a garden.

My business, just like yours, is a giving relationship. We replant ourselves into the hearts of others by hiring their children and impacting them in a positive way. I only ask is that they bring their future children back to say hello.

I tell my kids that today the competition is week and that “normal” today is seen as extraordinary in the business world. Products that in the old days that were normal such as seeds and planting gardens are now considered new ideas. Organic products that were the mainstay 40 years ago are now “green”. Toxins have been recently discovered as bad! Goodness, Gracious I am now a genius. Putting ones hands in the soil is now therapeutic and related to “wholesome” genre. How can we miss? We are now the guru’s of healthy living and as “divine intervention” as it applies to matters large and small! I can’t think of a more remarkable moment in time that serves itself to our kind. The hardware man is now a calming affect and is looked upon as the writer of poetry and singer of songs. Just be yourself and let the insanity grip others and not us. Products that put organic matter back into to the soil such as earthworm castings or composted vegetation are necessary to reestablish what we have destroyed by the overuse of synthetic fertilizers and other poisons used to control bugs and fungus. We have been too busy making money to see how bad we have supported of the weakening of our food sources and water supplies. No politics here, just plain reality check. Again, no need to start the blame game, just look in the mirror. More government? More self loathing? I found that when I consider all the mistakes that I have made, none have been greater than the ones perpetrated on our own backyards. We can be what we do best, act like God’s people and not like heathens. I bet your momma called you that a time or two. I have made a pretty good living off of this business, now I see the correct action to take. Save it now! I guess that “I” can come to a aid of my country after all.

PS. If you don’t believe this commentary to be correct, then I’m taking you off my survey list!

Love Yawl,

Dan Shields

Dan’s Hardware Country

dan@danshardware.biz

281-415-8588

Dans Hardware Country

Kids March Across Texas

By KEVIN KOLOIAN

Come to the aid of your country