Guest Editorial

by Fran Tabor, A-1 Vacuum (& Weddings)

Company branches out!

On Saturday, January 13, it was 17 degrees below zero here in Kalispell, MT. By noon it had warmed up to a sizzling two degrees below zero. It should have been a dud business day.

Instead we were busy! Why?

Because of our new add-on business: Weddings!

Yes, we are now A-1 Vacuum and Weddings. How did this happen?

Thank Sarah, beautiful oldest daughter of company manager Dagon Browning, for this new development.

An independent thinker like her father, she planned a January outdoor wedding at one of our local parks. Remember the frozen ice palace in Dr. Zhavago? The park’s frozen rose gardens have a similar romantic appeal -- and she planned to be married there at noon. If it had been 20 degrees warmer (merely freezing as opposed to beyond Eskimo cold), she would have been.

Instead, her mom and mom-in-law-to-be spent Friday and Saturday morning (We old people checked the weather report.) decking the store with pink and white crepe paper, bells, balloons, flowers...

While the store was open, customers going in and out, we had a wonderful ceremony and reception. We passed out wedding cake to everyone -- guests and customers. We had lots of eats, shared loving laughter, and received good wishes from everyone.

Dagon has five more kids. Because the party atmosphere definitely helped put all our customers in a good mood that day, he plans to marry each child off whenever there is a business slow down…

Reprinted from Floor Care Professional, February 2007