Bright Idea Outdoors Weblog

Help Blake Landscapes Help the Needy This Holiday Season

In this prosperous area that we call home, it is easy sometimes to overlook the poverty that grips many individuals and families in our region. The truth is though that, not only will many families not have presents under the tree this Christmas, many of them won't even have enough to eat!

 

Interfaith Relief is a Leesburg food pantry that lends area residents in need a helping hand by providing nutritious food. The organization needs our help all year long, but this time of year can be particularly difficult for people struggling to make ends meet.

  

Please join Blake Landscapes in our efforts to help during this season of giving. Interfaith relief needs donations of food and money, but all we're asking you to do is click a link on our FaceBook page. For each FaceBook user who "Likes" our page, we'll add three dollars to a donation we will make on December 20.

Just go to the page, click "Like" in the upper right hand corner, and we'll do the rest. Happy Holidays and thank you for your support!

Blake Landscapes Lands Airport Contract

I'm proud to announce that I've re-joined the staff of Leesburg-based Blake Landscapes. I worked for the company from 2001-2005 and this new opportunity arose when Blake Landscapes won a big new contract. Here's our related press release:

December 9, 2011

Leesburg-based Blake Landscapes announced this week that, based upon a competitive solicitation, it has been awarded the contract for landscape maintenance and associated services at Washington Dulles International Airport.  The contract, awarded to Blake Landscapes by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), took effect December 1 and also includes a separate landscape maintenance contract for the Dulles Toll Road.

"We're excited about this partnership with MWAA and to have the opportunity to showcase our services at one of our region's most important facilities--and on one of its most important highways," Said Blake Landscapes President Jay Frye.

As part of the contract requirement, Blake also enrolled in the Federal Government's E-Verify program, which verifies new employees' legal eligibility to work in the United States.  E-Verify is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  Participation in the program is voluntary for most businesses.

"E-Verify is a great addition to our ongoing efforts to assemble and maintain the best team in our industry," Frye said.

Blake Landscapes, which is locally owned and operated and has been in business since 1951, will operate a facility and satellite office on the airport property.  The company's operations center is located on 10 acres on Samuels Mill Court in Leesburg.  Blake Landscapes employs more than 80 people and serves local government clients, including the counties of Loudoun and Clarke, as well as some of the region's premier residential communities.

Participate in Poll and Enter to Win a Prize

In an effort to steer some traffic to one of my other blogs, I'm holding a contest with a Best Buy gift card as the prize. All you have to do is fill out a one question poll and leave a comment on this post: http://davidsongroupcpa.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/poll-is-your-money-better-spent-on-a-tablet-computer-or-a-new-laptop-pc/ to enter.

There are no restrictions on eligibility (other than Davidson Group employees and members of my household) so please give it a shot!

More Work on the New Blog

Still haven't had time to change my blog theme or to write about spring fishing and the rapidly approaching turkey season.  The good news is, not all of what has been taking up my time has been work.

I spent much of Saturday felling dead trees at Camp Cowboy (I know that sounds like work, but I enjoyed every minute of it) and the boys and I had great game of touch football yesterday afternoon.  I'm helping coach Jake's baseball team, and Nick's spring football season gets underway this week as well.  Just haven't had time yet to fish or, as usual in the busy spring season , to even think much about turkey hunting.

I have been doing some updates on the new business blog though.  Please stop by and leave me a comment!

A New Blog

Lately, it seems like my adventures are taking place more inside than outside, and I've worn a tie more times in the last three months than I had in the previous 10 years combined.

Still, an adventure's an adventure.

So, since I don't have any hunting or fishing tales to tell at the moment, I thought I'd refer you to a new business blog I started for the Davidson Group accounting firm.  You can find it at www.davidsongroupcpa.wordpress.com.  I've got a lot of work to do on making it look good, but it does have some good content already, and that's alway what has been most important to me.

Please stop by and leave me a comment.  And while you're at it, do me a favor and become a fan of the Davidson Group Facebook page.

Product Review: Fisher Price Power Wheels Kawasaki KFX Ride-On

My kids often lose interest in new toys after a few days or, in some cases, a few hours.  The things they'd wanted so bad for Christmas or their birthdays are put in a corner or a box in the basement or garage, only to be re-discovered months later, played with briefly and forgotten again.

This is not one of the those toys:

 
Brett rides his "Four Wheeler," a Power Wheels product from Fisher Price , every chance he gets.  He'd ride it all day long in 20-degree weather if I'd let him.  Yesterday was a lot nicer than that, so we took the four-wheeler to the playground.

 
Brett's four-wheeler, which runs on a re-chargable 12-volt battery, has held up well in the approximately two months that he's had it.  We own another Power Wheels product, a truck that we've had for about eight years, and it still works, but it's never gotten as much use as Brett is giving the four-wheeler.  He's started driving it off curbs, which worries me that he will break or bend the the axles (not to mention my concern that he will ride it into the street!)

 
Other than that, the only drawback to the Fisher Price Power Wheels Kawasaki KFX Ride-On is that it is in fact rear-wheel drive, rather than four-wheel drive, and tends to get stuck in wet grass even on slight slopes.  Still, if you have a little kid that likes things that go and someplace for him or her to ride it, I highly recommend this product.

If you do get one, I also recommend getting an extra battery.  That way, you can switch to a charged one when the other runs out of juice and avoid an untimely end to an afternoon of four-wheelin' fun.  You might also avoid pushing the four-wheeler back from the playground!

12 Red Flags That Can Lead to an IRS Audit

Check out the Davidson Group Facebook page for an interesting link I posted on what can get the attention of the IRS and lead to an audit.  I found the the article on www.Kiplinger.com, which is a great source for information on taxes and personal finance.

While you're at the Davidson Group page, be sure and become a fan.  I'll be posting links and information on a daily basis that can help you out with your finances and tax planning throughout the year.