REMINDER: First, the Downtown Everett Action Committee will not meet now until September. There will be no meeting this Friday. Next, is a downtown tour, something I want to participate in, but can't attend (so I hope you'll go and take notes, then report back to me): As reported in the Friday, July 18 issue of the Daily Herald, "Walk through Everett's History. David Dilgard, historian at the Everett Public Library, hosts a walking tour of downtown. The tour meets at 7 pm Thursday, July 24, at corner of Hewitt and Rucker avenues. The tour lasts up to two hours." For more information, go to www.heraldnet.net.

I thought I'd pass on this quote, as a way to thank all of you for reading this newsletter: "Thanks so much for your work on the newsletter. It's an outstanding resource for business people, especially for Diane and I with three communities to stay involved with," Kerri, Lombardi's Cucinia Restaurant.

You need it to keep going in business, in life. And the good news is you can find inspiration from so many sources. A beautiful sunset, a gorgeous view, the water, art, people. This week I was fortunate to spend time with two inspiring women, my friend, Sunny Kobe Cook, legendary business woman, author and public speaker, and Diane Symms, owner of Lombardi's Cucina restaurants. I had the pleasure of having dinner at Sunny's, at her house overlooking Elliott Bay high above Alki in Seattle, where she treated us to a wonderful meal prepared by two creative and entertaining chefs. Sunny is a truly inspiring person so I was honored to spend time with her and her husband and two other couples, and to learn about the television project Sunny and her husband and author, John Murpy are are creating to bring inspiring stories to local televison. You can learn more at http://www.thisismychance.com/ or http://www.sunnykobecook.com/. I also enjoyed sitting down with Diane this week, and learning how she started her business, how she researched her market, learned, and grew her vision. Learn more at http://www.lombardiscucina.com/. Truly inspiring. Both were a welcome lift to my spirits this week. I hope to bring stories like these and others to you in upcoming issues.

We're pleased to introduce Eric Blankenship, Director of Marketing and Sales for the Everett Events Center, and welcome him to Everett. The team at the Everett Events Center is a great asset to our community, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience, creative energy and ideas. We are delighted to have such a professional group working on a project that will truly benefit our city and region. I will be taking a tour of the building this afternoon and I'll report back with new information you'll be interested to know about.

I'm going to heed my own advice from last week. I'll be taking the next few days off to enjoy the festivities. I hope you all will be able to get out and enjoy the 4th of July weekend with friends, family and loved ones. Our community has planned a wonderful celebration, including the Pancake breakfast, the Yankee Doodle Dash, the Everett Jaycees parade with Joel Starr as parade marshal, the AquaSox game, and the Naval Station Everett's Freedom Festival capped off with Salty Sea Days fireworks display. I've included details on activities and events here and on the website at www.upsidedowntown.net. After you enjoy the events I've mentioned above, take Saturday to enjoy Jetty Island. It opens July 5th and it's a great place to take the kids. You take a little ferry over to the island, hike a short ways to the beach and have a blast.