July Unite Page 12
How To Market continued from page 7
say by dropping business cards in a fishbowl or filling out a quick form. If you’re selling products, be sure you have enough stock on hand, an appealing display and several ways to accept payment (a mobile credit card reader like Square can be great for this purpose). Either way, make sure you have several friendly, welltrained and energetic staff members to work the event.
Food Review
continued from page 9 And the color scheme is cozy and inviting and has a soft hint of elegance. I do enjoy a good steak on occasion and on this particular evening I was a part of a small
Assess results. Like any marketing effort, you need to track results to see if the event was worthwhile. Set goals for how much you want to sell, how many prospects you want to talk to or how many leads you want to capture. Track them and assess your results afterward. Fine-tune your approach depending on what you learned. For smart small business owners, summer events can be a way to capture new leads and sales—while having some fun in the sun, too. group so I got to also check out the various food choices they ordered. So steak it is! I usually like my steaks on the medium well side because I tend to not want any blood rolling down my plate....sorry....if that bothers you. My steak was cooked to order and a good portion. Obvi-
ously there are a variety of cuts and Jimm's is very popular for prime rib which I know a number of readers like. But don't worry there are some good chicken choices which were at my table and I got to notice some neighboring tables as well. Of course like many steakhouses there is a very good salad bar and it has an abundant supply of toppings. I went for the salad bar and my plate was full and the fixins were fresh and very tasty. I usually go for the baked potato as well and the potato did not disappoint...it was cooked well and fresh too. Before I forget the staff were pleasant and the service was comfortable and complete. They tried on the bread and it was good but sometimes on the bread it is hit and miss. Of course we had to tell our waiter we needed some bread and butter....yes we kept it coming. I was full between the bread
and the salad....yes I am confessing I like the bread too sometimes...too much..lol. Back to the meat...the steak was good..... prepared pretty close to specifications and my portion was ample....I am not trying to wolf down a pound of red meat. The prime rib at Jimm's is excellent if that is your preferred choice and my table mates enjoyed their chicken dishes. One of the things I want to mention is that the pricing was very reasonable and if you get the early bird specials you can really get a good meal at an affordable price and feel like you have been a king or a queen for the afternoon. The restaurant is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 to 10 and Friday and Saturday from 11 to 11. If you haven't been it is worth stopping by...you will be glad you did. It is a good choice for some of that summer meat without you having to do the cooking! 31/2 forks!!!
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Building Empowering Connections In Our Diverse Community
July 2012 Volume 22/ Number 7 • A Monthly Publication by Unite. of Southwest Missouri, Inc •
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UNITE.
Sign-Up For ParkDay Reunion Weekend Parade See page 4
Building Empowering Connections In Our Diverse Community
Author ReShonda Tate Billingsley Shares Her Story Wednesday, July 11
Against All Odds: The Road From Felon To Counselor by Mia Jackson Huskisson Unite Contributing Writer
ReShonda Tate Billingsley
See Story On Page 3
ParkDay Reunion Weekend 2012 theme is “Do You Remember ...?” Springfield, MO— Get ready Springfield! Park Day is just around the corner and members of the Springfield Reunion Club are busy getting things set to make sure it is the best one yet. The theme is “Do You Remember ...?” So mark your calendar for Friday, August 3 through Sunday, August 5, 2012. The following are some exciting changes for this year: • First, hospitality and the Saturday night dance will be held at the newly renovated Ramada Oasis Convention Center. Continued on page 2
It’s not every day that an ex-con receives the keys to the prison cell that he used to call home. That’s how far Willie Carter has come on the journey from prison to rehabilitation. He traded in the spot he landed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List for drug trafficking charges, and left the Missouri prison system for the fifth and last time, vowing not to return. Little did he know he would return to the same prison, this time as a certified substance abuse counselor. “I grew up in jail,” Carter said. Within a 30 year time span Carter was incarcerated five times in the state of Missouri. Carter said each time he was released he vowed not to return but in time ended up back in the prison system. “Committing crimes was as common for me as buying a loaf of bread is for others,” Carter said. Carter flashes back to his beginnings, as a 12 yearold in St. Louis , his academic excellence had afforded him a chance to skip a grade in school, he was a good kid or at least that’s what his parents thought, until new- found friends educated him to the
Willie Carter, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor
ways of the street. A PEW Center study ranks Missouri’s recidivism rate among the nation’s highest at approximately 40 percent. According to the Webster’s dictionary, recidivism is the act of repeating criminal behavior after receiving negative results. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 70 percent of prisoners are non-whites. One in 11 is African American and one in 27 is Latino. While recidivism rates are alarming, Carter says it is possible to break this devastating cycle. Carter soberly describes being released from prison at 44 years- old and realizing that the sum of his life was little more than a long rap sheet and mountain of disappointment.
“When I first got out I remember my parole officer said, ‘there is one thing you will need to change and that’s everything’,” Carter said. Consequently, Carter permanently relocated to Springfield from urban St. Louis, changed his group of friends, and landed his first job at Prestressed Casting Company, where he later became the company’s first African-American foreman. Carter recalls his parole officer requiring him to attend 90 Narcotic Anonymous meetings in 90 days. He exceeded the parole officer’s expectation by attending 3 times the number of required meetings. “I learned a lot about myself, I learned I had to forfeit the Continued on page 2