Re: [FairfieldLife] amazing article in Washington Post about Washington, IA

2012-01-01 Thread Emily Reyn 
Small homogenous populations favor development of community.  Rural farming 
economies are tight-knit and require community.  Fairfield's economic activity 
for a 10,000 person town is impressive, to say the least, if what wikipedia 
says is true.  Maharishi Effect or no, all that meditating couldn't be hurting 
and this is a great article on what "community" looks and feels like from an 
attitude perspective.



 From: feste37 
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Sunday, January 1, 2012 6:23 PM
Subject: [FairfieldLife] amazing article in Washington Post about Washington, IA
 

  
“‘Life is good’ in Iowa’s Washington, but the candidates keep raising 
alarms.�

This is an extraordinary article in the Washington Post about Washington, IA, 
which is less than 30 miles from Fairfield. I have never read an article quite 
like it. Amazing. Superradiance, anyone?

WASHINGTON, Iowa â€" It is the final day of his best year at work, and Keith 
Lazar, 62, settles into his corner office at the community bank. He eats a 
doughnut with a fork and turns on an instrumental CD titled “Relaxation.� 
Outside his office window, the town square is bustling with proof of his impact 
during the past 12 months: trucks financed by his loans, restaurants expanding 
because of his savings advice and small businesses created with his support.
The first customer of the day arrives at 8:20 a.m., 40 minutes before the bank 
is scheduled to open. It’s a hog farmer wearing overalls and work boots, 
another longtime customer enjoying a record year. He wants to apply for a loan 
so he can expand his operation again. Lazar opens the door and waves him 
inside. 
“Hiya, Keith,� the farmer says. “How’s it going?�
“Couldn’t be better,� Lazar says. “Life is good.�
Life is good. It has become Lazar’s default greeting, the motto he inscribed 
on the wall of his kitchen and printed on T-shirts to distribute at family 
gatherings. What could be better at the beginning of 2012 in this other city 
called Washington, a rural town of 7,200 surrounded by the corn and soybean 
fields of eastern Iowa? This is the Washington with a 4 percent unemployment 
rate, with record-breaking hog and cattle production, with a new high school 
and a $6 million library, with a newspaper that doesn’t bother to print a 
crime blotter, with heated sidewalks in front of the bank so customers never 
have to walk in the snow. 

Complete article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/life-is-good-in-iowas-washington-but-the-candidates-keep-raising-alarms/2012/01/01/gIQAjgluUP_story_2.html

[FairfieldLife] amazing article in Washington Post about Washington, IA

2012-01-01 Thread feste37 
“‘Life is good’ in Iowa’s Washington, but the candidates keep raising 
alarms.”

This is an extraordinary article in the Washington Post about Washington, IA, 
which is less than 30 miles from Fairfield. I have never read an article quite 
like it. Amazing. Superradiance, anyone?


WASHINGTON, Iowa â€" It is the final day of his best year at work, and Keith 
Lazar, 62, settles into his corner office at the community bank. He eats a 
doughnut with a fork and turns on an instrumental CD titled “Relaxation.” 
Outside his office window, the town square is bustling with proof of his impact 
during the past 12 months: trucks financed by his loans, restaurants expanding 
because of his savings advice and small businesses created with his support.
The first customer of the day arrives at 8:20 a.m., 40 minutes before the bank 
is scheduled to open. It’s a hog farmer wearing overalls and work boots, 
another longtime customer enjoying a record year. He wants to apply for a loan 
so he can expand his operation again. Lazar opens the door and waves him 
inside. 
“Hiya, Keith,” the farmer says. “How’s it going?”
“Couldn’t be better,” Lazar says. “Life is good.”
Life is good. It has become Lazar’s default greeting, the motto he inscribed 
on the wall of his kitchen and printed on T-shirts to distribute at family 
gatherings. What could be better at the beginning of 2012 in this other city 
called Washington, a rural town of 7,200 surrounded by the corn and soybean 
fields of eastern Iowa? This is the Washington with a 4 percent unemployment 
rate, with record-breaking hog and cattle production, with a new high school 
and a $6 million library, with a newspaper that doesn’t bother to print a 
crime blotter, with heated sidewalks in front of the bank so customers never 
have to walk in the snow. 

Complete article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/life-is-good-in-iowas-washington-but-the-candidates-keep-raising-alarms/2012/01/01/gIQAjgluUP_story_2.html