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.
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.
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.
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?