Sunday, August 30, 2009

Have you taken any chances lately?

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Andre Gide

Introducing...

SPUDSPORTS.NET Spudsports is the work of my dh and his latest endeavor. It is the new website featuring all of our local high school's sports. Its been a long time coming...

We moved back to the FM area in 2003. Everything that lead up to it is a different post for another time. But suffice to say, we moved here with no jobs, no income, small kids and no direction for this new life we were creating. We took a huge leap of faith, but our community didn't let us down.

On a quest for something to do, one night Rick took his camera and went to a hockey game to shoot photos. He figured the best way to showcase what he could do was to build a website and display his photos. Little did we know the "reach" this "little" site would one day have. Spudhockey took off at its inception and seemingly overnight a large following occurred. And a passion was ignited. While the site itself wasn't an income revenue generator, so many of our blessings have stemmed from this little bit of inspiration. Photography jobs ensued, and eventually a path unfolded leading us to the creation of a full fledged publishing company.

The concept of the Spud Sports website began to evolve in 2006 after the success of www.spudhockey.com and all the positive comments and feedback over the past several years. With a background in yearbook, publishing and journalism and a passion for photography what better way to showcase our community and that of our alma mater - Moorhead High School, than to produce a site dedicated to all athletes. High school activities were an exciting part of our past and continue to be a highlight in watching our high school athletes compete. We are passionate about capturing these moments and memories for everyone to enjoy and relive through this website.

This fall, 2009, we created a staff comprised of journalism students currently at Moorhead High School as well as graduates of Fargo North and West Fargo to begin this task to create the SpudSports website. We will also launch an advertsing campaign in order to raise funds to pay our student staff and help with photographic and video equipment. We have partnered with the SpudBoosters to give back to our teams based on the additional revenue this site generates.

I am using "we" loosely, because so many people have been instrumental in ensuring this site gets off the ground. As school districts face shrinking dollars, I think its going to continue to be parents of students and other members of the community coming up with creative solutions to help fund our extracurricular activities.

Here are a few samples of the products Rick's company, RWP, has produced recently...



This is the 2008-2009 yearbook produced and printed by RWP for the elementary school our boys attend.

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This is a photobook written by Bruce Crummy, a local photographer, and filled with his extraordinary photos portraying the flood of 2009 that threatened our community. I was teary-eyed by the time I got to the end of the book. I was instantly drawn back into the weight of the emotional upheaval in our own life caused by the flood. Our family attended a book signing last week and was excited to hear almost all of the copies are sold and the book has been well received.

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Nature photography... Rick took these last fall on a trip back to Idaho.








One of my favorite photos of the boys. This is mounted on artboard and the size is so big it fills up the wall over our staircase.

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We've lived in Minnesota again, for 6 years now. A lot came out of that fateful night, when Rick grabbed his camera and went to a hockey game. We always believed we'd find a way to create a new life and make a living here, although there was never a script for how to do it. Its one of the best risks we've ever taken. Have you taken any risks lately?

11 comments:

  1. I am stunned by your husband's photography! Spectacular would be putting is very mildly! I am a HUGE fan of his nature photography. And I will visit the link on your sidebar soon :D I am amazed at the sheer talent! I wish him all the success in his professional and personal life :)

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  2. Go Rick! Outstanding!!
    Thank you for sharing photos and the link. Later, I will visit the link...
    Have a restful Sunday, Vicky.
    Smiles,
    Jackie

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  4. I hope that your business ventures continue to soar! What a wonderful talented family you all are.

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  5. What a great idea! You guys will do great! I love nature photos!

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  6. What an inspiring story. You and your husband are very courageous. It really is true that few rewards come without risk. Bravo to you both - and continued success.

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  7. Your family is amazing to make that trek to the unknown. Fargo-Moorhead has been good to you. Rick has such talent.

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  8. Tranquility, I'm afraid I took all of the nature photos from his site, he has many more, but they aren't online :) His sports photography will be front and center for awhile now. But yes, he does a fabulous job. Thank you for your kind words.

    Jackie, hope your weekend was restful as well, thank you Jackie :)

    Libby, thank you for your kind words, and no different than your family and all their talents! Lucky, aren't we?

    Missy, we hope its something good for everyone concerned :)

    Bonnie, thank you for your support :) Reward and risk seem to go hand in hand.

    Amy, the FM community really helped us to settle in quickly and made us feel welcome, it helped contribute to the feeling that we wouldn't fail.

    Robin, I have to tell the flip side of what truly propelled us to start fresh and then you'll see we really had very little to lose. In that respect bigger risk was staying the course... I'm not nearly as fearless as what it perhaps looks like.

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  9. thanks for dropping a comment on my blog - I was a little confused about the MN vs. ND. I knew Fargo was in ND but didn't know it was on the border of the state.

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  10. Vicky that's a great website and well designed too.

    I would one day love to do something worth while that gives back to the community. hopefully as the kids get old and I get a little bit more time I will be able to contribute something.

    Projects like this are very satisfying to see the kids achieve and build awareness of sports that are out their for kids to participate in.

    I love a good success story especially when you put in a great amount of time, effort and take a risk.

    I like the photo of the Idaho fence and of course those handsome boys at the end of the post.

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  11. lisleman, yes, I forget to clarify sometimes, but I live on the Minnesota side and we do border Fargo, ND. Thanks for coming over :)

    Liss, thanks for all your kind words. You have the perfect talent to give back someday, but yes you have a lot on your plate right now!! I have no doubt you will some day though.

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I welcome what you have to say. Thanks for taking the time to grace me with your thoughts and words!

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