Recognition Deserved

I’ve struggled with making the blog public or private and it’s post like today that make me glad I’ve kept it public. This is a message I hope gets shown far and wide.

Today, I’d like to recognize two companies that I feel went out of their way to make our weekend special.

Saturday, I needed to do some minor work around my house and needed some supplies. We headed up to Lowes for the materials we needed.

Our first clue that something was up was the fire truck parked out front with its ladder extended all the way. It was there as part of the 3rd Annual Ready Lowcountry, Emergency Awareness Expo. There were individuals there from the fire department, EMS, even 211. They were giving out information about how to prepare and survive hurricanes, floods, tornados, and earthquakes. Lowes had several employees out in the Expo helping out.

In addition, they had a table setup where kids could do little wood working projects. Princess made a little baseball game, and a bird house. They also had set up an area for kids to get their face painted. Princess loves to get her face painted. Both of these activities were free. While Princess was getting her face painted, my Bride discovered a Cool Tent where they had set up misters to help people stay cool. They didn’t charge for any of it. Most surprising of all, they had setup a barbeque and were grilling hamburgers and hotdogs. They had a table set up with all the fixings. Lunch was free, too.

I know it cost Lowes some money to have all those employees out of the store helping with the Expo, plus providing lunch. I was very impressed that they would show their commitment to the community in a way that cost them something. Lowes has been our default home improvement for some time now, and this demonstration made me feel really good about that choice.

Big thanks to the North Charleston Lowes.

But our day wasn’t over, not by a long shot. I had a date, a Daddy/Daughter Date. Princess and I have gone on several Daddy/Daughter Dates, but this was the first ‘Daddy/Daughter Date’ event we had attended. It was being put on by the James Island Chick-fil-a.

We had to make reservations which we had done two weeks prior when we had visited the restaurant for lunch. When we arrived their was a hostess sitting under a tent. She checked us in and gave Princess a pink carnation. From there, they had stretched a red carpet all the way to the front door. We strode down the red carpet, and when we opened the door, we were greeted by an archway made of pink balloons. Another employee took our picture and led us to our table where we found name placards with our names on them.

One section of the restaurant was set up like a much fancier restaurnt than Chick-fil-a. The tables were adorned with black table cloths and they were playing classical music over the speakers. The waitress was dressed in a little black dress and came over and introduced herself. We were given menus and she came back a few minutes later and took our order. They were doing it just a like a fancy sit down restaurant. On the table was a place card that had ‘conversation starters’. Basically questions for the daughters to ask their dads. Princess decided to ask me about my Bride’s and my first date.

We enjoyed our meal. It was still Chick-fil-a food, but we love Chick-fil-a. Afterwords, we had some dessert and headed back home.

I hope it made a very special memory for Princess. Chick-fil-a did a great job and really made the night feel special. They did it, they said, because they know how important it is for Dads to spend time with their kids.

Big thanks and job well done to James Island Chick-fil-a.