Sparking the Journey: Our First Post of the New Year

The Roy Family

It’s been a wild few months for the DRB Fam! Read on for the rundown on it all…

Not only have the DRB crew been trying to keep up with an ever expanding business but they went ahead and expanded the fam too! During Dickens of a Christmas, December 3rd 2022, our newest addition gladly added himself to the Roy family by proposing to Elizabeth. Please welcome (and congratulate him when you see him) Alex Kastenschmidt to the DRB Fam. Alex is a longtime friend and recent boyfriend of Elizabeth’s, much like her, Alex strives for perfection in his own career as a chef. Elizabeth and Alex have stayed busy outside of work playing board games, decorating (and taking it all down again) for Christmas, trying to win at Town Square bingo, and, also trying win, weekly at Tanner’s trivia in Omro. The pair are very pleased to be more than just Facebook official and we wish them nothing but the best in their future together!

In addition to their new addition, Jon and Jody Roy have been keeping busy tending to their work, family, and, most of, their puppy dogs. Since her recent hand surgery, Jody has been steadily making progress at physical therapy and we are happy to announce she is no longer required to wear a cast of any kind! Although, we would still not recommend trying to read her handwriting quite yet. Even with her hand, Jody was able to play Santa for the family, most of all for Jon, who happily received a new 3D printer for Christmas. Jon’s new toy has occupied much of his free time in the new year. Both Jon and Jody continue to stay closely in touch with their family in their hometown of Jacksonville, Illinois; Jon’s mother, Laverne, continues her cancer treatments in-between her quilt group meetings and senior center obligations. As Jody begins planning for second semester at Ripon College, Jon will be kept busy as usual with service work in his shop, running to jobs, and, when forced to by Elizabeth, entering payroll into QuickBooks.

Fire Update

The world of fire continues to be ever evolving within DRB and outside the business. Learn more about the recent changes DRB has made to keep up with industry standards.

Over the past year, Elizabeth has been working HARD to get DRB’s customer records in tiptop shape after last December’s QuickBooks debacle. Even with all her best efforts to offload data, desktop QuickBooks decided to officially die for the DRB crew the week after Christmas. Thankfully, due to her efforts throughout the last year, Elizabeth was able to get DRB back up and running within a few days! Jon and her are still adjusting to their new software so bear with them for a little while. In addition to updating their accounting software, they have also added a customer relationship management tool to their arsenal. Last but not least, Elizabeth has spent the last month rewriting, redesigning, retooling, and all the other re-ings you could think of to update the website! Remember, she is by no means a techie so don’t judge the site too harshly while you browse. Jon has begun our annual new year inventory and restock evaluation with an odd sense of enthusiasm which we hope is a good omen for DRB in the new year. As far as the industry is concerned, there are many updates all of which lead to one conclusion: fires continue to be disastrous and numerous across the US. Definitive data for this past year is not available yet but recent trends have shown wildfires to be especially on the rise. These types of fires displace hundreds of people each year, destroy thousands of acres, and leave a vast path of destruction in their wake. Reclaiming farmland, forests, and communities from devasting events like these is nearly impossible. The effects of wildfires linger over the lands and people they touch for years. As we enter this new year, we leave you with just one statistic on fire…

89% of wildfires are human caused — and, therefore, are preventable.

For more information on wildfire prevention visit our friend Smokey Bear at https://wildfirerisk.org/reduce-risk/wildfire-prevention/.

In Our Community

Its been an exciting period of growth in Ripon. Continue reading to get the scoop.

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Elizabeth has continued her work with the Ripon Chamber of Commerce of the past year, welcoming in a new and very talented executive director. She is very happy to officially be past president in 2023. The Chamber’s director, Mandy Kimes, has been an amazing leader albeit but for a short time. Those of us who were able to attend Dickens of a Christmas this past month can all attest to her drive and effort that made a dream into reality. We continue to wish her and the Ripon Chamber nothing but infinite success this year. The City of Ripon has been no less exciting, with the announcement that a Parks & Rec position will be added on top of finishing up the new senior center! In light of a housing study this past year, the city has been working to improve options for those looking to reside in Ripon. In somewhat more decisive news, ATV/UTV routes will be instated in the City this coming spring; visit the City of Ripon website to learn more about the rules moving forward. The biggest news in Ripon, at least if you spend much time driving near U.S. Bank, is John the Turkey remains on the loose! Police attempts to catch this mischievous town mascot were in vain ultimately resulting in the issues of some turkey X-ing signage on 23 and Oshkosh Street.

Pericles Financial Services

We will be featuring one of our loyal customer in each of our posts moving forward. We will happily play favorites (at least to start off) by highlighting our friends Brice and Abby at Pericles Financial.

Since they moved their business into Ripon last year, Brice and Abby have thrown themselves into EVERYTHING. From sponsoring events to volunteering to starting their own business group, this couple has outdone every other business in Ripon this past year. Jon and Elizabeth were less than delighted when they first met Brice Teerbeest, a Ripon College grad, and his best business asset, Abby Faul, in 2021. Brice had called the two to the newly renovated Pericles Financial Services building on Fond du Lac Street to make his business compliant with fire code. Jon and Elizabeth were happy to tour the space and add extinguishers but were none to happy to be the bearers of bad EXIT light news. Fortunately, Brice and Abby didn’t hold a grudge (and got the EXIT situation worked out) allowing the DRB crew to keep bugging them at various occasions over the last year and a half! DRB is beyond grateful for the efforts of Pericles in Ripon and for putting up with the crazy things Jon has said in their presence. We highly recommend scheduling a meeting with Brice and Abby to assess your financial situation, plan for the future, or just to meet with this awesome couple; while you’re at it, thank them for all the hard work they’ve put in to make Ripon an ever better place!

Our team of highly educated professionals are here to help you with one or all of your financial goals. No matter where you are at in life, we want to put your dreams into action by creating a tailored plan that fits you. Whether you need a retirement plan, risk management advice, an investment advisor representative or simply have questions you need answered, we are here for you. Feeling like you aren’t sure what your future needs are? Don’t fret! We pride ourselves in getting to know our clients to better understand what truly matters for their future selves.

Learn more about Pericles Financial Services HERE while you’re at it, follow them on Facebook too! Want to learn more about their business group? Join the group on Facebook.