Better Dig Deeper

People always ask us, "How did you get the lights up that 
smokestack? You must have rented an enormous lift!"
They are near-speechless when they learn the method Scott
devised and pulled off. Scott and his son Leon, on a
calm Sunday in 2015, floated large helium balloons
attached to a very long string way up in the air, then
maneuvered the string between the smokestack and one of
its lightning rods and pulled the string down into place. 
They then attached string lights to a rope and the rope to the 
well-positioned long string at the top of the smokestack. 
They pulled the balloons down so as keep the string in its 
"channel' and the string went up, then pulled the string down 
and the rope went up, then pulled the rope down and the 
string lights went up, and finally wrapped the string lights 
around the smokestack by walking far around the stack. 
I could not watch it, but I knew Scott's idea would work. 
In 2017, Scott, his teenage carpentry trainee Senna, and I 
replaced the lights in about an hour because Scott planned 
ahead for eventual string light replacement back in 2015. 
Some visions are worth the effort. Some people don't give up.

Some of the most personally rewarding times in my life were incredibly challenging, often frightening. True of certain aspects of our life in Dubuque, but my first thoughts actually go to helping my mother in 1995 and my in-laws in 2012 and 2013 through their end-of-life journeys. Quitting was impossible at those moments in my life because other human beings were dependent on my not walking away. 

There have been times when Scott and I have wanted to walk away from our corner of 7th and White Streets in Downtown Dubuque. Those moments still happen, but giving up is simply not something Scott and I will do. For four years, we've depended on each other's strength to get through those moments of wanting to throw in the towel. Plus, as I've indicated in another post, there are a lot of wonderful people in Dubuque who inspire us to dig deeper. Scott and I are grown-ups and we can take it. We know that if we give up, it is possible that nobody will try again. We know we have faith in Dubuque, in our property, and in why we are here. 

So Dominic Velando's unpublished Q&A #6 from 2016 is focused on wanting to quit. We chose to focus on four moments. 

Dominic Velando
What’s a memorable moment when you wanted to quit?

Scott & Susan
Seeing some of the most exciting young creatives and professionals we’ve ever met anywhere choose to leave Dubuque month after month for other cities, and then hosting some of their “Goodbye Dubuque” parties at Smokestack. Some days it seems that Dubuque is following precedents instead of setting precedents, not being bold enough when bold action is needed to retain the demographic all communities need desperately and are losing right now to larger cities.

Garbage that had to go sadly included
a McCrays Chicks plywood sign ca. 1965-1971

The surreal moment when we were asked, “Why aren’t you going after that financial incentive?” for the building one year after that exact person warned us away from that very incentive, telling us then that it was “not for you” and “they only like to work with people they know.” The “we don’t know them” reasoning is something we have encountered numerous times, even in spite of our repeated efforts to get people to know us and being upfront about our project. Our project seems completely in line with what Dubuque and Iowa state they desire: we have read time and again how big business and connected others are treated quite well, how “The Arts Mean Business,” how young creatives and professionals are a highly desired population for many reasons including economic, how a vibrant nightlife and Downtown scene is needed for many reasons in Dubuque, and even more. Still, we have been almost completely alone in our chosen city, even when we were told and believed otherwise. We have encountered myriad obstructions and obstructionists in our journey, so this was not the first such disappointment, nor will it be the last.

Perhaps it was the day we realized that not one of the Dubuque leaders we had tried to work with for years had contacted us after we first made the Telegraph Herald’s front page, above the fold. The TH continues to be a pleasure to work with and that article went national thanks to the Associated Press because a crazy story like ours is newsworthy and might be considered a public relations opportunity elsewhere. Meanwhile, legions of individual citizens had read the article and reached out to us, including two people who had taken the time to laminate that article for us. One was a good friend, but the other was a cashier we knew only in passing who kept her laminated copy near her register for a month so she could give it to us when we next came in that hardware store. Experiencing such kindness, thoughtfulness and grace from individual community members is beyond humbling, yet it contrasts with much of our experience with those with power and privilege. In The Bible, Jesus is quoted as saying: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” - while some did not, many individuals have truly welcomed us here and we are ever mindful and grateful.

Favorite ads on an urban blight billboard next to
our Downtown building have included
"Mary Queen of Peace Pray for Us" and this one.
Pre-2016 photo, before the stair tower and dome.

Having to continually tell young and hopeful people that it is okay and part of our journey as they express disappointment and shame in their hometown to us when they put our struggle together on their own, despite our holding back for fear of discouraging them in their own efforts. In those moments, they realize that Dubuque did not get on board with us when we walked in the door, played it safe and was not open to making new friends, misunderstanding or simply not seeing our vision and story as compelling, not seeing the potential benefits that outside-the-box thinking can bring to communities, even happening elsewhere now in Eastern Iowa. We do not want an ending of “We believed in Dubuque, but Dubuque did not believe in us.” We never think it’s too late, our door is never closed to those who might wish to get on our bus further down the road.


Next is Dominic's Q&A #7, the last one and it's about love.

Related posts: Smokestack Q&A 1, Smokestack Q&A 2, Smokestack Q&A 3, Smokestack Q&A 4, Smokestack Q&A 5