Stories

Dear Friends, Thank you all for your responses last week. I am happy to report that many of our team completed the course developed by Starbucks and Arizona State University on To Be Welcoming https://tobewelcoming.com/. Note, this course is complimentary so if you have a business or other groups that you want to share it…

Dear Friends, My daily mantra is “head down, work hard and worry about what you can control.” Often, there are instances that arise that pull me out of that mode and teach me what I don’t know. The most recent prompt for action came from this email last week. This quote is so fitting for…

Dear Friends: Time seems to be going faster and faster as we are all starting to reopen. Please error on the side of caution. The safer we are, the more successful we will all be. Brooks will be opening up by reservation only on June 1. A separate email will go out to share the…

Dear Friends, I hope this finds you safe and healthy. The grounds (above) at Brooks are blooming! The world is beginning to reopen and let’s hope that businesses and patrons are thoughtful and keep everyone’s safety as the top priority over sales. We are part of the Phase 1 re-opening in Oregon effective May 15th.…

Dear Friends, I hope this finds you safe and healthy. Some of you may be in states where reopening has begun. I hope this is going well. Happy Mother’s Day I am very blessed to be a mother of two wonderful children, Emily, 22 and Ryan,18. And I am not being boastful by saying “blessed”.…

Dear Friends, This past Wednesday was Earth Day.  Brooks had so many different events that we were supposed to be a part of to celebrate.  But, honestly, we celebrate Earth day every day.  Surely one of the silver linings of this crisis is the reduction of our carbon footprint across the globe.   In the…

Dear Friends, I hope you are all healthy, safe and making the best of these times. The jury still seems to be out on whether some restrictions will be lifted in certain locations. Hopefully, we will get good guidance so that we can actually begin to move forward without significant setbacks in health or livelihoods.…

Dear Friends, As we navigate through this current time, hopefully we are finding silver linings. They help to bring us hope and to find good during difficult times. Hopefully you are already finding some.  I know i am! For those of you that don’t know Pascal, I want to introduce you to a silver lining from…

Dear Friends, Alas, we cannot run now, we are mandated to do the opposite.  I hope this finds you all doing as well as possible and healthy during this time. Every once in a while I have a Jimi connection.  On occasion, I meet someone that knew him, I hear a story about him or…

Dear Friends,  It was a much more productive week as we continue to navigate through these times. My key takeaway and the reason for the Circle of Community theme is that getting through this is all about our relationships–with you, our wonderful supporters, our trade partners in restaurants and retailers though out the US and beyond,…

Dear friends near and far, It is so unsettling the pace at which our world is changing. Just over a week ago, I was preparing for a 10 day trip to 4 cities – all were cancelled as well as all events and trips through the end of June at this point. It’s hard for…

Riesling is the ONLY grape varietal that has an international organization to support it and a self-proclaimed overlord.