1% For The Planet

CollegeWeekends.com is proud to announce that we are official members of 1% For The Planet

http://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/en/

Here is a quick blurb from their website on what they are about.

To be perfectly honest, it’s not about us. It’s about businesses recognizing that industry and ecology are inherently connected. It’s about realizing the positive effects of connecting businesses, consumers and nonprofits through philanthropy. And it’s about understanding that the true cost of doing business can be mitigated by a simple pledge to the planet.

Since 2002, 1% For The Planet has inspired members of the business community to contribute 1% of sales to environmental groups around the world. In return, this growing alliance of companies is given the opportunity not only to see their self-worth rise, but their net worth climb as well.

Not long ago I read Yvon Chouinard's(founder of Patagonia) book "Let My People Go Surfing", and that is how I learned about 1% For The Planet. The book had a profound impact on me in that it helped me realize that I really can make a difference, and I strongly recommend the book to anybody in the business world. I think if we all read the book and adopted Chouinard's tenets of envirionmental and social responsibility, the world would be a better place.

Home Owner Testimonial

Home Owner Testimonials from CollegeWeekends.com on Vimeo.

This is our new home owner video testimonial. Thanks Steve and Michelle for helping us spread the word!

Barney Ford Auction

Last year my buddy Matt Grassman and I donated a duck hunt to raise money for the Barney Ford Diversity scholarship at Leeds. Grassman is my buddy that lives on Boulder Valley Farm, and as I have mentioned previously he, John(farm manager), and Mr. Culver(owner) have all been very gracious in letting other folks enjoy the property. This year their generosity continues and they let us auction off another hunt.

We were pretty excited about this years auction because we had a great hunt last year, and we thought that the news had probably spread around plus we had some new tricks up our sleave. First of all we decided to bring Dex down to the auction because we figured he would help drive up the bidding, and I also got my friend JC from http://www.risetogethercustomcalls.com/ to donate a custom call to go along with the hunt. Our tactics paid off and this year we raised $650 which is $250 more than last year. We were also really excited that our friends Scott Kohla and Trest Gustafson were the winning bidders again.

Below are some pictures from last years hunt and one from the auction.

Dex looking pretty whipped. Still out of shape

Scott and Trent with their birds

Scott, Trent and Dex hard at work

Snow Geese

This winter I hunted a lot with 2 buddies that went to college in North Dakota. Because the hunting in Colorado left a lot to be desired we basically just sat around and talked about the good old days. I was usually blabbing about how good the duck hunting was in Idaho, and they described North Dakota as a waterfowler's paradise. In particular Derek was telling me about epic snow goose hunts that he and his buddies would have in the spring. These guys are the real deal and they put out thousands of decoys and put a lot of work into these hunts. Anyway Derek just sent me a bunch of his pics and promised he would send some more. A couple of the guys in these photos are part of the death row team who hooked me up with some "broke in guts" for the call JC made me and it is the goosiest call I have ever heard. They know what they are doing over there. Check them out at http://www.deathrowcalls.com/

2 blues in one shot

This is what you call a rainout

That is my friend Derek holding up the banded and collared bird

My buddy mase sent me this video it is a different group all together. Notice the bird that lands on the layout blind.

CollegeWeekends.com launches beta version of new site!!

After several sleepless nights and almost a years worth of work we have finally launched our new website. It is a beta version and undoubtedly has a few kinks left to work out, but we believe it is a major improvement over the old site. I have posted a screen shot tutorial that shows how to search the site to find the perfect vacation rental property for your visit to Charlottesville. Please don't hesitate to comment on this blog or to e-mail us directly if you have any thoughts, problems, or praise for the new site. Also don't hestiate to let us know if you would like to see CW.com in your collegetown.

Property Search Tutorial 4/10 from Gordon Sutton on Vimeo.