Business owner

Me and the Mother Road

DaveGragg Business owner, Insurance agent , ,

My insurance agency sits on one of the paths Route 66 took through Springfield., Mo.

It’s not the first time America’s Main Street and I have bumped into each other, so it made sense to have a few mementos of our meetings as I decided on the office decor.

Jerry Rice Downtown Springfield
“Downtown” shows downtown Springfield, Mo., as it appeared in 1964, when the square was open. You can see the Heer’s Building as well as the Fox Theater. Artwork by Jerry Rice

Most of my decorations are the kitschy stuff you can get anywhere, but I do have a couple of pieces I’m proud of.

I got to add a piece to the collection I’m proud of this week.

Jerry Rice paints Route 66 scenes from the Mother Road’s heyday in Southwest Missouri.

This one, that he calls “Downtown” shows the square in Springfield back before they added the park.

Bill Curry Route 66 Celebration.jpg
“Tourist Enchantment,” commemorates Route 66’s Diamond Jubilee in Tucumcari, N.M. Art by Bill Curry

My first run in with Route 66 was in 2000, when I became the editor of a semi-weekly newspaper in Tucumcari, N.M., one of the little towns that thrived during Route 66’s peak.

The Mother Road had its Diamond Jubilee the next year and the celebration committee asked artist Bill Curry to commemorate the event with a painting.

This print has been traveling around with me since 2001.

If you’ve ever seen the movie “Cars,” the movie has several nods to real towns and people connected to the road. Tucumcari Mountain, there behind the Corvette, inspired the mountain that looks like a radiator cap in Radiator Springs.

As part of that 75th anniversary celebration, my paper put out a brochure that talked about the history of the Route. One of the articles in the brochure was written by Route 66 historian Michael Wallis, who was the voice of the sheriff in the movie.

Old map
The map doesn’t even show Chicago (where Route 66 started) or Santa Monica, Calif., (where it ended, but this map shows most of the Mother Road. Map framing by Beth Gragg

The one I’m probably the most attached to, though, isn’t traditionally considered a work of art and isn’t even centered on Route 66.

It’s an 50-year-old map that my grandparents had. It shows the Southwest United States, including most of the places Route 66 went.

My granddad had a gas station in Urich, Mo., so I’m not sure if this map is from the time when gas stations handed out road maps or if it was a map my grandparents actually used to visit California.

As a side benefit, the map shows most of the places my life has taken me.

The map doesn’t quite go far enough north to get to Kirksville (where I went to Truman State University) or small enough to get Montrose (the tiny town where I grew up), but the rest are there: Not only Tucumcari and Springfield, but Dodge City, Kan., and McAllen, Texas.

I also have a number of prints from the early days of Farmers Insurance. No direct tie to Route 66, there, either, although Farmers started in 1928, two years after the Mother Road’s start in 1926.

 

 

 

Business insurance — A small business saver

DaveGragg Business insurance, Business owner , ,

I feel bad for the guy I really do.

But it could have been easier.

Landscaper insurance
These things are expensive. Make sure you have a way to replace them if someone steals it. photo credit: Jo Zimny Photos James & The Giant Lawnmower! via photopin (license)

A post came through my Facebook feed.

A wife in Arkansas complaining about the lowlife who stole her husband’s lawnmower, weedeater and blower that he used in his business.

“This is my husband’s business…..our livelihood! I am a stay at home mom……this is what supports our family. This is what feeds our family!!”

I know. I sell things that no one ever wants to use.

But if you need it, that investment in small business insurance can save your livelihood and keep food on the family table.

It can replace what’s been stolen. Or blown away. Or burned.

It can pay you while you’re getting your business back up and going. 

There’s a whole host of things insurance can do.

It’s not always cheap. But it’s a whole lot cheaper than not having it.

Life has a way of sneaking up on you

DaveGragg Business owner , , , ,

At the start of December, I thought I was bopping my way through things pretty well.

My agency has continued to grow — big enough that I had to ask my wife, Martie, to come in and help me in the mornings.

She’s been great at it, but we knew she was going to have to quit when our third son was born.

My son, a couple of days after he was born
My son, a couple of days after he was born.

I hired Misty to be a telemarketer while Martie was still in the office. Misty was going to work on getting her licenses and move to a full-time role in the office once Martie transitioned back to a full-time mom.

Since our son wasn’t scheduled to arrive until Feb. 5, we thought we had some time to get everything in place.

He had other plans, arriving almost two months early.

So I had several things happening through the month of December:

  1. The woman I relied on to help me in the office suddenly had other things to do — namely spend time with our son in the NICU as well as our other kids.
  2. I suddenly had other things to do — see above.
  3. My telemarketer hadn’t gotten any training or licenses yet, so she wasn’t ready to be the help I needed.
  4. Christmas shopping — because what kind of a maniac has Christmas shopping for their kids done by Dec. 6?

We had a lot of help during that month, but we finally got Gabe out of the hospital less than two weeks ago and now we’re slowly settling back into a routine.

It was a good surprise — an amazing gift — but it has definitely changed our lives.

My job as an insurance agent is to help people prepare for the life-changing events that don’t always have a happy ending.

Home insurance, auto insurance, life insurance, business insurance, they’re all just ways to help insulate you from car accidents, tornadoes, the death of a loved one.

So that you can bounce back when life sneaks up on you and hits you with something that changes everything.