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Le secrétaire à abattant est un meuble de bureau servant à l'écriture de la correspondance, au rangement des documents et courriers.

Origine du meuble
Le secrétaire à abattant est un dérivé :
de l'écritoire, dont l'origine remonte logiquement à l'époque de l'écriture sur parchemin,
de la table à écrire apparue dans la même période que le cabinet sous Louis XIII,
du meuble bureau vers le , qui est plutôt une table sur pieds avec ou non des tiroirs sur le côté.
Le "billet-doux" était un petit secrétaire à abattant qui servait à écrire des correspondances occasionnelles.

Évolution du meuble
style Régence  : meuble en bois massif, décoration rustique de panneaux plats avec de légères sculptures à l'intérieur.
Style Louis XV : dit aussi secrétaire en armoire et adoptant tous les styles antérieurs, il s'appuie contre le mur et comporte deux parties distinctes :
la partie basse renfermant des casiers de rangement, des tiroirs et parfois un coffre-fort ; le tout fermé par deux vantaux,
la partie supérieure, fermée par un battant qui sert d'écritoire, l'intérieur contient des tiroirs et casier, ainsi que tout le nécessaire pour écrire,
l'ensemble comporte des marqueteries et des bronzes aux serrures, aux angles et piétement, à la partie supérieure une plaque de marbre mouluré et la base repose sur pieds courts et galbés.
Style Louis XVI  :  il devient très à la mode et ses lignes sont rectilignes comme les ornementations à la mode à cette époque. Tout en plaquage d'acajou parfois orné de filets de cuivre, le dessus est couvert d'un marbre et les pieds sont en forme de toupie ou de gaine. Le meuble comporte trois parties distinctes :
un tiroir pas très haut à la partie supérieure, directement sous la plaque de marbre,
un abattant pour l'écriture, orné de bronze ou d'un tableau en marqueterie,
des vantaux inférieurs dont la décoration reprend celle de l'abattant supérieur et qui se ferment sur une série de tiroirs et casiers de rangement.
Style Directoire  : style plus strict (époque de la Révolution), le bois massif remplace la marqueterie, les artisans du meuble exécutaient plus qu'ils ne créaient. L'isolement économique de la France obligea à l'utilisation des bois locaux peints ou laissés avec leurs couleurs naturelles. Ornés de pilastres plats, de figures en gaine ou de colonnes, le style s'améliora avec l'expédition d'Égypte de 1798 surtout pour la classe aisée.
Style Empire  : En raison du blocus continental et le désir de Napoléon qui interdit l'acajou pour le mobilier impérial en faveur des bois indigènes (loupe d'orme, frêne et bois fruitiers). L'ornementation, de nacre et de cuivre, est remplacée par le bronze. Très élégant, le secrétaire, appelé aussi retour d'Égypte, conserve la structure mise au point sous Louis XVI toujours en 3 parties :
Le tiroir supérieur sous la plaque de marbre,
l'abattant recouvert à l'intérieur d'un cuir bordé de dorures, ferme sur un petit tiroir supérieur et une série de petits tiroirs à la base, une ou plusieurs étagères intérieures en bois très clair, pour le rangement.
Deux battants ferment la partie inférieure et dissimulent un haut tiroir et des étagères.
Une plaque de marbre couvre la partie supérieure. Les montants latéraux droits surmontés d'une tête de femme, de sphinx ou d'une simple moulure (pour les meubles ordinaires), les pieds avant représentent les griffes du sphinx ; le tout recouvert d'un vernis noir. Les entrée de serrures sont en bronze.

Style Restauration  :  le style est marqué par la fin des guerres d'empire, le retour au romantisme, plus de liberté, essor de l'industrialisation, des commerces de luxe et du confort accessibles à un plus grand nombre.
Toujours composé de trois parties, le secrétaire, comme tous les meubles de cette époque, utilise des bois clairs, blonds et chauds. La marqueterie revient avec une grande finesse et des motifs clairs sur fond sombre. L'ornementation devient plus florissante, la fleur de lys remplace l'abeille. Le meuble repose sur des pieds courts ou directement sur un socle plein.

Style Louis-Philippe  :  Les progrès de l'industrialisation concurrençant le travail manuel, le style du mobilier devient plus sobre, moins précieux et moins fragile, les formes réalisées sur machines-outils (tour et toupie) sont sphériques, cylindriques ou de formes chantournées et moulurées.
Les bois sont sombres et chauds avec le retour de l'acajou, du palissandre, de l'ébène, pour les bois exotiques et de l'if, le noyer et le hêtre pour les essences locales. Des bois clairs comme le sycomore, la loupe d'orme, le citronnier sont utilisés pour le placage interne. Le poirier et le hêtre sont utilisés comme bois noircis.
Le secrétaire, recouvert d'un marbre gris ou noir à profil en doucine et angles arrondis. Le tiroir supérieur est légèrement galbé, des montants droits aux bords arrondis, l'abattant cache des casiers de petits tiroirs de bois clair, la partie basse est composée de trois tiroirs et repose sur des pieds en boule ou en griffes.
Style Napoléon III  dit aussi du Second Empire : époque marquée par une absence de créativité et la recherche de formes nouvelles pour, sur demande des clients, les artisans sont contraints d'effectuer des copies des grands classiques de l'ébénisterie, en utilisant des artifices pour la décoration (faux bronzes, fausse laque, etc.) tout en réduisant les prix.
Ainsi, les secrétaires dérivent tous du modèle Louis XVI mais avec une ornementation plus abondante et des moulures saillantes ornées de bronze doré.
Art nouveau  (style 1900 et Modern style) :
 dès 1900, les artisans prennent en compte tous les styles antérieurs et de tous les pays. Les meubles imitent aussi bien ceux de la Chine que l'Espagne, le Gothique que le Boulle,
avec le Modern Style, les artisans recréent un style original, complètement nouveau et qui marque une nette rupture avec les styles antérieurs. Mais le premier conflit mondial de 1914 a mis fin à cette Belle Époque, ce qui explique la rareté des meubles de cette courte période et particulièrement des secrétaires et commodes.
Art déco  : l'exposition des Arts Décoratifs de 1925 déclencha un vaste mouvement de modernisation en opposition au Modern Style de Hector Guimard et Émile Gallé entre autres. C'est la naissance du cubisme dans la conception du mobilier, la polychromie, l'opposition des volumes aux couleurs éclatantes et foncées. Les métaux (fer et bronze) qui servaient d'ornementation, sont utilisés comme supports et font partie de la structure du mobilier.
les bois exotiques sont employés de préférence aux bois européens, avec une préférence pour les essences foncées (ébène, macassar). Le palissandre, l'acajou ou le sycomore, le citronnier et le bois de rose pour le placage et la marqueterie. La laque est très utilisée.
les secrétaires sont modernes, souvent laqués ou partiellement recouverts de cuirs (galuchat) et textiles. La structure est généralement à deux parties : l'abattant et le bas à deux portes ou à tiroirs. Le tiroir supérieur a disparu.
Mobilier contemporain : la notion de signature et la valeur originelle d'un meuble à totalement disparu. Le savoir-faire est passé de l'artiste à celui du dessinateur et du machiniste d'installation de production.
les matériaux sont synthétiques, le bois massif a fait place au panneau de particules recouverts de placage bois ou placage synthétique ou de laque cuite au four.
les meubles issus d'une fabrication de masse sur machines transfert et les éléments vendus en kit ont fait chuter les coûts.
avec l'arrivée de l'ordinateur (fixe ou portable), le secrétaire à battant a perdu de son importance en faveur du bureau plat. Les documents sont rangés dans les tiroirs du bureau ou dans une armoire.

Sources et références

Larousse Universel 1922,
Tous les styles, du Louis XIII au 1925, ed. Elina, Paris 1973, 1980.
Meubles de France, les merveilles, Molière, Paris 1996, .

Liens internes
Secrétaire (meuble)
Secrétaire à cylindre
Bureau (meuble)
Liste de meubles et objets d'art

Meuble


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Group distribution. Amway will deliver bulk orders to where their Platinum level representatives are (or greater) completely free. This encourages all representatives to maintain relationships with their clients. At one factor clients were able to receive free shipping by getting on their own if they exceeded a certain dollar quantity, but this is no more the case as a result of policy changes.
I shopped with Amway about 20 years ago when a neighbor in my apartment building became a sales rep for them. I really liked the cleaning products which were pure and did a great job of cleaning everything! I had a terrific rep who sold the various products that interested me. I was always very impressed by Amway. To my knowledge, Amway has always had an impeccable reputation and the highest quality products. I didn't find any reason to dislike the company back then and certainly have no reason to dislike it now!
President Gerald R. Ford, a native of Grand Rapids, was one of Mr. DeVos's friends. Mr. DeVos also advised Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. He was a member of Reagan's AIDS commission and helped develop the weekly presidential radio address when he agreed to carry Reagan's Saturday noon broadcasts on the Mutual Broadcasting System, which was then owned by Amway.
My parents and I were solidly middle class when we collided with Amway. We owned our home. We lived in a safe neighborhood where I could play outside without supervision and walk home alone after the sun went down. We always kept an excess of food in the house. I got new shoes whenever I outgrew my old pair. I received new toys when my old ones broke and new books when I finished reading the ones I had. I went to gymnastics practice four times a week, singing lessons once a week, camp over the summer, and back-to-school shopping in the fall. We didn't need Amway.
Building network marketing teams that last is incredibly difficult in North America (specifically USA). This may sound a bit harsh, but I have not seen Amway break a single Diamond in the USA in 2 decades (it was brought to my attention recently that there was 1, but I have not verified this). The reason teams are difficult to keep together, even with the promoting of events, is because building a business entirely offline is not attractive to most people in this country. And as much as leaders may complain that the internet has ruined this industry in some circles, it doesn't change the fact that the marketplace is an entity all of its own; it's not up to us to determine what's best for the marketplace, it's our duty to find out how they want to be marketed to and then meet that desire. Building solely offline gets tiring and the vast majority of people simply don't want to burn the rubber off the tires any more. Now don't get me wrong, building a local team can be extremely powerful (I do it in fact), but if you are not leveraging the power of the internet then your method of marketing may not be attractive to most prospects. Additionally there are a lot of companies that have embraced the internet, and since most people go to the web for information it is easy for Amway reps to get discouraged and explore other options when they find out a business can be built online. Again, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the local offline approach, but it's best when combined with the internet.
I did pick-ups for several depressing weeks. Apart from Sherri, I never saw any sign of another customer. It was like one of those dusty, deathly-still mom-and-pops frequented only by regulars who come mainly to chat—and I was oppressed with a similar sense that the proprietors needed my money more than I needed their merchandise. It was actually a relief when, one week, Josh and Jean left town without warning me.
To get the full Amway experience, I started buying my groceries through The Business. I found that, despite Amway's growth, its "cutting-edge" distribution system preserved all the pitfalls of a small buying club run out of somebody's apartment. My local supermarket, ironically, actually did start as a buying club run out of someone's apartment in the 1930s; as it grew, however, it accreted all the efficiencies of the retail system. Now it's open fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, with professional managers, stockers, and checkers; a visit there is quick and hassle-free. To make my "pick-up" at Josh and Jean's apartment, on the other hand, required an hour-long el ride and arrangements with a friend to haul the stuff back home, all scheduled only during those brief windows of opportunity when Josh and Jean could be there to meet me.
In a breakfast speech to volunteers at Holland Christian Schools on May 12, 1975, Ed Prince warned that lazy and neglectful U.S. citizens were not doing their fair share, forcing the government to, as a Holland Sentinel article described it, "play an increasingly larger role in our daily and personal lives." (You don't have to listen too hard to hear an echo of Ed Prince in his daughter, Betsy. "[For welfare recipients] to sit and be handed money from the government because they think a job like that is beneath them," the heiress sighed to the Detroit Free Press in 1992. "If I had to work on a line in a factory, I would do that before I would stand in line for a welfare check.")
What this simple example tells us is that it is difficult to keep appointing more and more distributors. This is similar to a Ponzi scheme, where for the scheme to keep going more and more newer investors need to keep coming in, so that the older investors whose money is falling due can be paid off. The trouble of course is that that the number of people is not infinite, as the above example shows us.
I was in Amway but unfortunately with someone who said he put in the work. No he did not. The reality is we were in Worldwide had "friends" our up line saying how much they loved us. I lost very precious years with my babies because we had to go to meetings, out of town functions oh and "show the plan". Well by the time my youngest was starting high school and all of the "dreams" were nowhere in sight I said "I am done"
I absolutely agree with this post! I was recently approached by a friend to attend a "business meeting" regarding a "great business opportunity on the Internet" but he did not wanted to say anything until the meeting happened with him and his friend, who supposedly was the owner of this business venture. When I arrived to the "meeting" Suprise! I saw other friends there and about 300+ other unknown people. Immediately warning bells started ringing and I knew it was a pyramid scam anyhow, I stayed for the meeting and indeed by the end my suspicions were confirmed and it became quite obvious that the my friend's friend was the recruiter. A few days later I heard back from a very close friend of mine who had also been approached and attended a separate meeting, she questioned me about it because the recruiter told her that I was "very excited at joining this venture" which of course was an absolute LIE and an obvious attempt to manipulate and pressure her to join! After two weeks, the recruiter contacted me ACCUSING ME of stealing a USED lip gloss from his wife the day of the so called meeting and then proceeded to ask me why hasn't he heard back from me?!?! Could you imagine? The freaking nerve of these people!!!! Of course I put him in his place and hope that he never, ever dares to contact me again because if he does I will file a complaint for harassment!!
USA Today and ESPN also publish a top 25 college baseball poll for NCAA Division I baseball, known as the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 coaches' baseball poll. The poll began in 1992.[8] The poll appears in the preseason, then begins weekly after week 2 of the season through the end of conference tournaments. A final poll is released after the conclusion of the College World Series.
Hence, even in a legitimate MLM business like Amway, it is important to enter early. Those entering the business at the lower levels, find it difficult to get on new distributors and also end up with a lot of unsold inventory, thus leading to losses. Amway requires its distributors to buy back unsold inventory from the new distributors that they sponsor. But that is easier said than done.
Well Amway... I want you to know that even though your system may be very manipulative, you won't be able to mess with me and my friends. You can try all you want to tell my best friend to forget his friends, but you won't have the control to tell his friends and tell them to stay away from your loyal IBO. I hope you burn in hell for being responsible for ruining other powerful friendships due to your greediness. It's never going to work on me or my best friend. I'm an electrical engineer who'll do my best to provide him 20 times better advise than you'll ever give him. So go ahead and try to tell him different, I don't mind handling a challenge.
Thanks to the DeVoses, Michigan's charter schools enjoy a virtually unregulated existence. Thanks to them, too, the center of the American automotive industry and birthplace of the modern labor movement is now a right-to-work state. They've funded campaigns to elect state legislators, established advocacy organizations to lobby them, buttressed their allies and primaried those they disagree with, spending at least $100 million on political campaigns and causes over the past 20 years. "The DeVos family has been far more successful not having the governor's seat than if they had won it," says Richard Czuba, the owner of the Glengariff Group, a bipartisan polling firm in Michigan. "They have, to some degree, created a shadow state party. And it's been pretty darn effective."
Occasionally, though, it can be useful to mention poverty in a certain context. Inspired by the personal and business philosophies of DeVos and Van Andel, Cross spent the ten years after writing Commitment to Excellence researching the two men, culminating in his 1995 self-help book Choices with Clout: How to Make Things Happen – by Making the Right Decisions Every Day of Your Life. Much of the book is compiled from interviews with the Amway founders and top-level distributors. In a passage about excellence, Van Andel outlines the proper way for an Amway distributor to rationalize the issue of poverty:
"We learned that two Dateline producers had registered as IBOs and for months had been conducting undercover research for the story, which included using a hidden camera to videotape meetings and conversations with IBOs. The producers did not identify themselves as working for Dateline, instead feigning interest in building a business powered by Quixtar."
We had a fireplace, a poolside grill, and a river-rock deck with closing screens. We had an island counter. We had walls covered with mirrors. To get to my parents' master bathroom, I passed through a dressing area connected to a walk-in closet. The bedroom next to mine was expressly for guests; the one at the end of the hall became a study. One of two living rooms seemed intended only for show, and the planter inside the front door housed pots of plants – silk, they never wilted. The bathroom off the family room had an outside door and a shower for people coming in from the pool. We bought new furniture, new rugs, new artwork. I had never felt more proud.
In making the correct make-versus-buy decisions on ingredients, as well as the decisions of where goods should be made, Dr. Calvert singled out his engineering group and trade groups for praise. "Analytics! One way we win is because of the strength of this function." Their core engineering group does very detailed analyses with quick turnarounds surrounding these decisions.
Inspite of it, several new schemes have again mushroomed and they try to target freshers from the software industry by tempting them to spend Rs 5-10K, which is a relatively lesser amount compared to GoldQuest (Rs 35K). So, the next time a friend comes to you and says "Dude, I am working on a part time business for additional income" and talks about such Multi Level Marketing schemes, explain these concepts to him on a piece of paper and advise him also to stay away from such schemes. Losing money is bad, losing friendship is worse and being part of a fraudulent system is the worst..
The return to the upper levels comes from creating new levels rather than the sale of the product. The wealth gained by participants at the higher levels is the wealth lost by participants at lower levels. So these MLM schemes are essentially Ponzi schemes where money being brought in by newer distributors is paid off to older distributors. There is no legitimate business activity going on.
In 2017, a Chandigarh court framed charges, under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme (Banning) Act, against two directors of Amway India, William Scot Pinckney and Prithvai Raj Bijlani. This was based on a cheating case filed by eight complainants in 2002, following which the Economic Offences Wing had filed chargesheet in 2012. A revision plea moved by the two Amway officials against the framed charges was dismissed in 2018.[129][130]
As his wealth increased, so did Mr. DeVos's prominence as a political strategist and donor to the Republican Party and conservative organizations. He supported the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society and Focus on the Family, and he was a member of the executive committee of the Council for National Policy, which, starting in the early 1980s, pushed to propel Christian values to the center of Republican activities nationally.
So why do we see so many scam reviews and unhappy members that smear Amway in a bad way? Quite simple – MLM is one of the most difficult methods of earning, and you will have to do some hard work and teach yourself some proper marketing skills in order to go far in this industry. Many people find it difficult to communicate with other people face to face or voice to voice. Cold calling is necessary with MLM if you want to make money. If you have a fear of that then the opportunity is simply going to waste your efforts and money period.
Usually in such sophisticated and well orchestrated system, all the investors & family members of the organizers (forerunners) place themselves into the tree such that they form the initial 7 or 8 levels at the top. With just 200 members, their tree is already 8 levels complete. Next, they start referring friends who form the 9th level. The 9th level requires 2^9 = 512 members. Now the exponential function starts showing its real colors. For the 10th level, you need 1024 new members. By the time it reaches your neighborhood, it might be in the 15th level and that level alone has 32,768 members. To add another level into it, it needs 65,536 new people. Just to give you an idea, in order to add the 25th level, you need 33 crore (330 million) new members into the system and you already have 33 crores (330 million) inside the system (number of nodes in a tree of height N is 1 less than '2 power N+1').
[14]I got the impression that she was becoming a laughingstock at work, an experience common enough to have spawned a whole genre of revenge fantasies in the Amway lore. Speakers always describe the retirement party you'll be able to throw for yourself, complete with fireworks, to really stick it to the naysayers who once laughed at you. They also describe the houses and vacations you'll give to your parents, who'll finally realize how wrong they were about The Business. The yearning to save face—especially with people you urged to join Amway—seems to be a major factor keeping people in.
A report in the Daily News and Analysis (DNA) quotes a top official of Economic Affairs Wing (EOW), Kerala as saying "With the call of easy money, they have been luring people to come and invest. And in turn, the new members had to get more people and this was leading to illegal money circulation. As a result, we had received several complaints against the company and we decided to arrest the officials."
Edit: Thanks for the answers everyone! Unfortunately, we had a long debate today about it and he is definitely set. Even after I talked about the pyramid scheme esque facts and everything else you guys said. I'm still going to be his friend but I'm definitely not bought. He is very stubborn and wants me to read a book by KIYOSAKI... he also mentioned that they sell products at a price lower than retail price, contrary to what other posters said. Can anyone confirm?
I work in the car business. Most people in the US can't reasonably afford the vehicles they drive. People are getting more and more upside down in cars. Terms are getting longer, down payments smaller, most trades have negative equity and inflation is increasing the cost of cars while wages aren't rising proportionately. I have money but I avoid paying bills or interest. I could pay cash for a lot of new cars today but I drive a 2000 year model family sedan I payed $1900 for. I have good ac, comfortable seats, it's reliable, I have aftermarket Bluetooth, it's all power etc, good stereo and a very low cost of ownership. I pay less than $40/month for insurance.New cars just aren't the best investment. New cars are rapidly depreciating status symbols. I'm well off but don't care to advertise it. If you have so much money that you can afford it go for it but the truth is that most people can't afford what they have. I'm not just talking about poor people with new Sentras or Rios but mostly middle class people. If they make $24,000 they buy a $20,000 car, if they make $48,000 they buy a $40,000 car and if they make $80,000 they buy two $50,000 vehicles.
Best way to deal with these kinds of people is to throw all of your own rationality out the window. Make up the most ridiculous arguements and stick to them even when they give rational responses. Explain that aliens came to you last night and specifically told you that selling such a product would result in the destruction of the galaxy. Then put THEM on the defensive after they keep pushing while clearly not caring if trillions of lives are extinguished just so they can make a buck.
Aubrey, the facts that you stated basically just tells us you failed and because you couldn't figure it out it is a scam grow up and realize life is not easy.... Mag, Playing professional sports works and makes people lots of money but not every does it, Why? because not everyone have the ability to do things others can do. Same bodes for the MLM business, most people don't have enough patients to Reap what they sow. Basically I use to be in Amway, I left because I needed to focus on getting my life together, I admit I was failing at the business and wasn't making money but the people around me including my Downline (Aubry) were very successful and was making more than I was. I left to get my life situated this is only a scam to those who are ignorant enough to think there is only one way to do things.
This was a "First Look"—the initial meeting where Amwayers bring prospects to scare them about the future—and Scott delivered it with gusto and verve. Sherri had told me to expect an hour-long talk, but two and a half hours barely winded this speaker. He delivered 150 minutes of fast patter without notes, and touched upon such diverse topics as the high divorce rate, the quality of McDonald's hamburgers, IBM's strategy of diversification, and the number of cupholders in the minivan he had recently bought with cash. I would later realize that this was a typical Amway speech: somewhere between an infomercial and a sermon, a loosely organized string of riffs that bespoke either improvisational genius or, more likely, countless repetitions.
In July 1996, Amway co-founder Richard DeVos was honored at a $3 million fundraiser for the Republican Party, and a week later, it was reported that Amway had tried to donate $1.3 million to pay for Republican "infomercials" and televising of the GOP convention on Pat Robertson's Family Channel, but backed off when Democrats criticized the donation as a ploy to avoid campaign-finance restrictions.[73][76]
"Our family story inspires others to build legacies of their own," he said. "They see success through the generations and the impact it has on your family and community. The opportunity is open to anyone, but it really suits those who are hungry for something more. You have to have goals and be willing to do the work in order to achieve your dreams."
Well that's all fine and dandy but I am not lazy, I like talking to people. But I am not going to persuade people to get into a so called business when in al actuality this is like a Sam's Club membership except everyone you get to join, you get a piece of their profits and any profits of their offsprings and so forth and so on. I can do that, but not full time. It's not something I enjoy. You have to have passion for that and I don't have that type of passion for selling Sam's Club memberships to folks. I am a nurse and that's my passion No this is not a scam. Just say no it's not for you and move on. No need to bash the company.
If you are looking for a get rich quick scheme, this AIN'T it!! The "kingpin" marketing organizations referred to, when used as the resourse they were intended to be used as, are priceless to one's success. I believe that why AMway appears to have such a low success rate is reflective to the amoutn of people who are actually willing to invest in their business due to the inablility to walk out the principles outlined in the books we should read and the audios that are available to us. CHanging hurts. It even has a financial cost to some. But, this system is a no-brainer. Grateful for the opportunity to learn how to be a better business person with their proven systems!
They encourage new participants to start eating healthy and work-out — big surprise, taking care of yourself feels good — however, those who have been in a funk for a long time might attribute their new health and self-esteem boost to Amway rather than positive diet and lifestyle changes. Then they have recruits set goals, make vision boards, and sell them on the dream that they'll "be retired in 2 to 5 years". Amway is a pyramid scheme, but it's masked under the real positive live changes subscribers make.
If Engler thought he had anointed a rubber stamp, he quickly learned otherwise. In January 1997, DeVos cleared house, unilaterally firing all of the party's top directors and pausing all contracts with vendors, blaming them for the party's losses months earlier. "Betsy regarded the governor's input as good advice, not an order," Greg McNeilly, a close associate of Betsy DeVos, told an Engler biographer years later. "That's when the problems started."
Each year, Rich DeVos attends The Gathering, a below-theradar conference of hard-right Christian organizations and their biggest funders. Featured speakers have included the president and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom, the president of Focus on the Family, and the head of the Family Research Council. The philanthropists in attendance are representatives of some of America's wealthiest dynasties and family foundations, and of the National Christian Foundation, America's largest provider of donor-advised funds given to Christian causes. Donors who meet at The Gathering dispense upwards of $1 billion a year in grants.
Amway and its founders have long had deep ties to the Washington D.C., and particularly the Republican Party. The current House basically has a minor Amway caucus with five former distributors and Amway has been one of the largest donors to the Republican Party since the early 1990s. DeVos's son, Dick, ran for governor of Michigan in 2006 and his wife, Betsy, is currently the Secretary of Education in the first Trump administration. She has speculated that the DeVos family has donated around $200 million to Republican candidates.
As its Sales & Marketing Plan demonstrated, there were two ways to make money in Amway. You could buy products cheap (at wholesale costs reportedly 30 percent below retail) and sell them dear; or, more lucratively, you could share The Business with others, and build your own empire of "downlines." Since Amway awards bonuses to its distributors based on their wholesale volume, and since each distributor's wholesale figures includes the sales made by his or her "downlines," each convert to the Amway cause would enlarge his or her own incomes. To see how this worked, we were told to imagine recruiting six distributors, each of whom would bring in four more, who in turn would each net an additional two. Our downlines, according to this "6-4-2" formula, would then have seventy-eight members. If each of our underlings did $100 a month in sales, we'd be making an extra $2,000 a month in bonuses.[5]
Amway is unethical way of making money. Their representative lure you to this smartly designed plan. Amway's representatives misguide and misinform like any other business or a product's sale representatives. which is attractive to listen for the first time with the 'Entrepreneur" motto. But it is another way of making money leaving you frustrated in the end. I advise every one not to join this unethical product promotion. Parent company is becoming richer,leaving you as "partner" (as it's trained representatives claim) in total despair in the end. It is your hard earned money,think smartly before lending it to someone's hand.
Whereas The Plan is supposed to provide a simple means to a desirable end, for Josh, Jean, and Sherri the process of recovery had become an end in itself. Josh and Jean would constantly tell me how World Wide's books and advice had enriched their marriage and helped them to communicate with each other (the bolstering of marriage and family is a major theme in Amway). The Amway lore is also full of distributors, perhaps abused as children, who "couldn't even look people in the eye" when they joined, but who were now confidently showing The Plan to all and sundry.
This Lady is terribly misinformed… As a Amway IBO we give you plenty of chance to say no and ways out of this. People will always bad mouth things that they don't understand you know why because its easier tosay something negative than to take the time out of your day to find out what your really talking about and here is just some food for thought. I started this business a few years back and just listened and did what they asked me too. Because of it i was Able to bring my wife home. Successful people will away do what unsuccessful people aren't willing to do.
Amway is a company involved in direct selling different kinds of products. It has been in business over 50 years and claims to have helped over 3 million Independent Business Owners (IBOs) to create a successful business of their own. The company operates in more than 100 countries of the world by offering a wide range of products, complete customer support, extensive training opportunities, etc. Amway is based out of Ada, MI, and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. There are only eleven closed complaints over the last several years. It seems that the company has a generally positive reputation among IBOs with the most common compliments referencing the high quality of the products, fast delivery and excellent customer service. There are few complaints the most common of which cited high prices, difficulty making money, and cunning recruiting tactics. Similar to Herbalife, this company deals with direct selling. It means that their business model involves individuals who earn commissions off each sale of their exclusive products. You can use Amway as a business owner (sell products) and as a customer (buy products).
The above analysis is an ideal case. Not everybody can afford to become a member and not everyone who can afford would wish to become a member. So, such schemes collapse by the time it reaches 18th level itself (if each member is allowed to refer 2 friends), or 8th level itself (if each member is allowed to refer 6 friends). i.e It is not a sustainable model and is bound to collapse. Dreams are shattered and friendships are broken.
When it comes down to it, most of the time a presenter will never mention the total cost and time involved in producing income through Amway, or if they do, their answers will be very misleading. You'll often hear statements like, "If you work hard, you will succeed," or, "The people who don't make money don't work hard enough." In reality, this is just shifting the blame, because the company's statistics often tell a very different story. Caveat emptor.
As Parloff notes in his article, "The Siege of Herbalife," there is no law defining a pyramid scheme, nor are there even any regulations on the books. The simple common-sense definition is that a pyramid scheme is a business in which recruits make a payment for the right to recruit others into the network, and whose revenues are more dependent on recruitment than on selling a product.
Though dressed in a blue skirt-suit, the uniform of a first ladyship that was not to be, Betsy DeVos was never a political accessory. Anyone who understood Michigan politics knew she had long been the more political animal of the pair. It was Betsy, not Dick, who had chaired the Michigan Republican Party; Betsy, who had served as a member of the Republican National Committee; Betsy, whose name was once floated to succeed Haley Barbour as head of the RNC; Betsy, who had directed a statewide ballot campaign to legalize public funding of religious schools; Betsy, who, as a college freshman, traveled to Ohio and Indiana to volunteer for Gerald Ford's presidential campaign. She was a skilled and seasoned operator, but as her husband conceded in an overwhelming defeat, she was utterly helpless.
if people are simply looking to become rich quickly by signing up as many people as they can, yeah, it can be a sh*t program to get into. but if people are actually looking to help each other out and create a supportive atmosphere, then its a good thing to be around. the things i've learned at the meetings and conferences have helped me immensely in all areas of my life because i'm way more confident now to pursue my own dreams outside of amway.
On one fateful evening in December 2014, I went on Kijiji (I live in Canada) to look for a job and one particular ad caught my attention. This job ad was so vague, and yet so loaded that I filled in my contact details so the person who posted the ad could get back to me. This guy got back to me via the email I filled in and he told about brand new exciting business opportunity. He also sent me a couple of videos showing me people in mansions, beach houses and the rest by exploring this business opportunity in another city.
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In 2002, the first election of GLEP's existence, its PAC had more money than the Michigan Education Association, United Auto Workers, or any Democratic-affiliated PAC in the state. And if they lacked the influence and statewide presence of those groups, it was only a matter of time. "They take a very long-term view," says Matuzak. "If you pick up a few new Republican legislators every two years, and throw a fair amount of money at legislators who are already there, you can create coalitions of folks who can tackle what seem to be impossibly large issues."
What I can say about Amway is this. It has been around since 1959, is the only debt-free private company who helps people to have the freedom they want in their lives. YES, ofcourse you have to work for it. If you don't, you don't deserve the benefits it has. God has put us on this earth for a purpose. I haven't found any better option for helping people get their dreams in life and help others to do the same. It's the uneducated and unsuccessful people who have tried to give Amway a bad reputation, but anybody with a brain and common sense know that it's is truly the best, bar none, opportunity to secure your future and others. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be around after all these years and growing in leaps and bounds. Also, this business is not just about the income and lifestyle you can reach. It's about he integrity and the family we have made and have the pleasure of being around.
In their zeal, Josh and Jean shuttled me to at least one meeting too many. The worst was a Seminar, an afternoon of "professional training" definitely geared to insiders. Here, during a marathon transfusion of spine-stiffening resolve, I got a glimpse of just how demoralizing the travails of Amway could be. The speaker, Conrad Halls, a Hollywood cameraman with over-the-hill golden-boy looks, had been frank and congenial in his First Look the night before. His debunking of negative Amway stereotypes included the almost touching refrain, "I hope you don't think I flew 3,000 miles to show you that kind of business," spoken with a candid stare and open, outstretched arms.
One Republican who caught the DeVos family's ire was Paul Muxlow, a realtor and former educator elected to the state house in 2010, representing a mostly rural district in southeast Michigan. Muxlow was a dependable conservative, but disliked the idea of eliminating the cap on the number of charter schools. While he was fine with charter schools in underserved communities, he said he couldn't support them in rural areas—"It would kill those districts," he explained to the Detroit Free Press in 2014. When the cap elimination came before the state Legislature in 2011, it passed with Muxlow voting against it. The following year, when he ran for reelection, he faced a blitz of attacks from GLEP, which didn't even need his district, but spent just under $185,000 to take him out in the primary. Muxlow won by just 132 votes.
"We were warned never to use the name Amway on the phone; even while showing the business plan, the name would be one of the very last things mentioned. The explanation from our 'sponsors' was that people in the past have misused the name 'Amway,' and people should get a chance to know the 'new Amway' without being prejudiced from things they might have heard."
A money circulation scheme is essentially a Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scheme where the money being brought in by newer investors is used to pay off older investors. The scheme offers high returns to lure investors in and it keeps running till the money being brought in by the newer investors is greater than the money needed to pay off the older investors whose investment is up for redemption. The moment this breaks, the scheme collapses.
ADA, Mich., March 13, 2018 – As Americans continue to demonstrate positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship, Amway's new report reveals that more men are interested in becoming entrepreneurs than women and that as individuals get older, their desire to start a business lessens. The report dives into the key drivers behind the entrepreneurial spirit and the impact internal and external factors have on attitudes and perceptions about entrepreneurship.
I asked him when he thought he'd reach that stage himself, after all he was spending a Wednesday evening trying to sell the system to me, plus he was still working a normal job. I explained that for him Amway was not yet in the business owner quadrant, it was in the self employed quadrant. In Amway he didn't have a boss and he could work his own hours, but his income was not passive. In the cast of this meeting, and I'm sure many others, he put in hours of work for absolutely no income.
Methodology: Source Euromonitor International Limited. Claim verification based on Euromonitor research and methodology for Amway Corporation conducted from October to November 2012. This claim is verified in the 13 leading markets that account for 80% of the global energy drink market sold through retail channels as supported by Euromonitor International's Soft Drinks research and definitions. Global is defined as having distribution and in at least three global regions. To the extent permissible, Euromonitor does not accept or assume responsibility to any third party in respect of this claim. Further information is available upon request.
Her alienation didn't stop with non-Amwayers. She was also bitterly resentful of "crosslines," her Amway cousins who belonged to other downlines. As fellow unrecovered wage junkies, they were a potential reservoir of misinformation, discontent, and backsliding. Josh cautioned her against fraternizing: Polite small talk was O.K., but you shouldn't, say, go to a movie with them (Amway lore is full of disaster stories about crosslines who carpool). But Sherri's animus went further. Crosslines were her competition, soaking up prospects and "saturating" Chicago before she had a chance. She was incensed when they hogged seats at meetings, hysterical when they went Direct.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
Pebble in the Sky
by Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimov
Asimov's epic trilogy concludes, tracing humankind's first halting steps toward galactic civilization and the birth of the first Galactic Empire.
After years of bitter struggle, Trantor's work was at last complete—its Galactic Empire ruled all 200 million planets of the Galaxy . . . all but one. On a backward planet called Earth were those who nurtured bitter dreams of a mythical, half-remembered past when the planet was humanity's only home. The other worlds despised it or merely patronized it—until a man from the past miraculously stepped through a time fault that spanned a millennium, living proof of Earth's most preposterous claims.
Joseph Schwartz was a happily retired Chicago tailor circa 1949. Trapped in an incredible future he could barely comprehend, the unlikely time traveler soon became a pawn in a desperate conspiracy to bring down the Empire in a twist of agony and death—a mad plan to restore Earth's tarnished glory by ending human life on every other world!
Galactic Empire , #3
Isaac Asimov began his Foundation Series at the age of twenty-one, not realizing that it would one day be considered a cornerstone of science fiction. During his legendary career, Asimov penned over 470 books on subjects ranging from science to Shakespeare to history, though he was most loved for his award-winning science fiction sagas, which include the Robot, Empire, and Foundation series. Named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction Writers of America, Asimov entertained and educated readers of all ages for close to five decades. He died, at the age of seventy-two, in April 1992.
Petrovichi, Russia
Columbia University, B.S. in chemistry, 1939; M.A. in chemistry, 1941; Ph.D. in biochemistry, 1948
1. Between One Footstep and the Next
Two minutes before he disappeared forever from the face of the Earth he knew, Joseph Schwartz strolled along the pleasant streets of suburban Chicago quoting Browning to himself.
In a sense this was strange, since Schwartz would scarcely have impressed any casual passerby as the Browning-quoting type. He looked exactly what he was: a retired tailor, thoroughly lacking in what the sophisticates of today call a "formal education." Yet he had expended much of an inquisitive nature upon random reading. By the sheer force of indiscriminate voracity, he had gleaned a smattering of practically everything, and by means of a trick memory had managed to keep it all straight.
For instance, he had read Robert Browning's Rabbi Ben Ezra twice when he was younger, so, of course, knew it by heart. Most of it was obscure to him, but those first three lines had become one with the beating of his heart these last few years. He intoned them to himself, deep within the silent fortress of his mind, that very sunny and very bright early summer day of 1949:
"Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made . . ."
Schwartz felt that to its fullness. After the struggles of youth in Europe and those of his early manhood in the United States, the serenity of a comfortable old age was pleasant. With a house of his own and money of his own, he could, and did, retire. With a wife in good health, two daughters safely married, a grandson to soothe these last best years, what had he to worry about?
There was the atom bomb, of course, and this somewhat lascivious talk about World War III, but Schwartz was a believer in the goodness of human nature. He didn't think there would be another war. He didn't think Earth would ever see again the sunlike hell of an atom exploded in anger. So he smiled tolerantly at the children he passed and silently wished them a speedy and not too difficult ride through youth to the peace of the best that was yet to be.
He lifted his foot to step over a Raggedy Ann doll smiling through its neglect as it lay there in the middle of the walk, a foundling not yet missed. He had not quite put his foot down again . . .
In another part of Chicago stood the Institute for Nuclear Research, in which men may have had theories upon the essential worth of human nature but were half ashamed of them, since no quantitative instrument had yet been designed to measure it. When they thought about it, it was often enough to wish that some stroke from heaven would prevent human nature (and damned human ingenuity) from turning every innocent and interesting discovery into a deadly weapon.
Yet, in a pinch, the same man who could not find it in his conscience to curb his curiosity into the nuclear studies that might someday kill half of Earth would risk his life to save that of an unimportant fellow man.
It was the blue glow behind the chemist's back that first attracted the attention of Dr. Smith.
He peered at it as he passed the half-open door. The chemist, a cheerful youngster, was whistling as he tipped up a volumetric flask, in which the solution had already been made up to volume. A white powder tumbled lazily through the liquid, dissolving in its own good time. For a moment that was all, and then Dr. Smith's instinct, which had stopped him in the first place, stirred him to action.
He dashed inside, snatched up a yardstick, and swept the contents of the desk top to the floor. There was the deadly hiss of molten metal. Dr. Smith felt a drop of perspiration slip to the end of his nose.
The youngster stared blankly at the concrete floor along which the silvery metal had already frozen in thin splash marks. They still radiated heat strongly.
He said faintly, "What happened?"
Dr. Smith shrugged. He wasn't quite himself either. "I don't know. You tell me. . . . What's been doing here?"
"Nothing's been doing here," the chemist yammered. "That was just a sample of crude uranium. I'm making an electrolytic copper determination. . . . I don't know what could have happened."
"Whatever happened, young man, I can tell you what I saw. That platinum crucible was showing a corona. Heavy radiation was taking place. Uranium, you say?"
"Yes, but crude uranium, and that isn't dangerous. I mean, extreme purity is one of the most important qualifications for fission, isn't it?" He touched his tongue to his lips quickly. "Do you think it was fission, sir? It's not plutonium, and it wasn't being bombarded."
"And," said Dr. Smith thoughtfully, "it was below the critical mass. Or, at least, below the critical masses we think we know." He stared at the soapstone desk, at the burned and blistered paint of the cabinets and the silvery streaks along the concrete floor. "Yet uranium melts at about 1800 degrees Centigrade, and nuclear phenomena are not so well known that we can afford to talk too glibly. After all, this place must be fairly saturated with stray radiations. When the metal cools, young man, it had better be chipped up, collected, and thoroughly analyzed."
He gazed thoughtfully about him, then stepped to the opposite wall and felt uneasily at a spot about shoulder height.
"What's this?" he said to the chemist. "Has this always been here?"
"What, sir?" The young man stepped up nervously and glanced at the spot the older man indicated. It was a tiny hole, one that might have been made by a thin nail driven into the wall and withdrawn—but driven through plaster and brick for the full thickness of the building's wall, since daylight could be seen through it.
The chemist shook his head, "I never saw that before. But I never looked for it, either, sir."
Dr. Smith said nothing. He stepped back slowly and passed the thermostat, a parallelopiped of a box made out of thin sheet iron. The water in it moved swirlingly as the stirrer turned in motor-driven monomania, while the electric bulbs beneath the water, serving as heaters, flicked on and off distractingly, in time with the clicking of the mercury relay.
"Well, then, was this here?" And Dr. Smith scraped gently with his fingernail at a spot near the top of the wide side of the thermostat. It was a neat, tiny circle drilled through the metal. The water did not quite reach it.
The chemist's eyes widened. "No, sir, that wasn't there ever before. I'll guarantee that."
"Hmm. Is there one on the other side?"
"Well, I'll be damned. I mean, yes, sir!"
"All right, come round here and sight through the holes. . . . Shut the thermostat off, please. Now stay there." He placed his finger on the hole in the wall. "What do you see?" he called out.
"I see your finger, sir. Is that where the hole is?"
Dr. Smith did not answer. He said, with a calmness he was far from feeling, "Sight through in the other direction. . . . Now what do you see?"
"Nothing now."
"But that's the place where the crucible with the uranium was standing. You're looking at the exact place, aren't you?"
Reluctantly, "I think so, sir."
Dr. Smith said frostily, with a quick glance at the name plate on the still-open door, "Mr. Jennings, this is absolutely top-secret. I don't want you ever to speak about this to anyone. Do you understand?"
"Absolutely, sir!"
"Then let's get out of here. We'll send in the radiation men to check the place, and you and I will spend a siege in the infirmary."
"Radiation burns, you mean?" The chemist paled.
"We'll find out."
But there were no serious signs of radiation burns in either. Blood counts were normal and a study of the hair roots revealed nothing. The nausea that developed was eventually tabbed as psychosomatic and no other symptoms appeared.
Nor, in all the Institute, was anyone found, either then or in the future, to explain why a crucible of crude uranium, well below critical size, and under no direct neutronic bombardment, should suddenly melt and radiate that deadly and significant corona.
The only conclusion was that nuclear physics had queer and dangerous crannies left in it.
Yet Dr. Smith never brought himself to tell all the truth in the report he eventually prepared. He made no mention of the holes in the laboratory, no mention of the fact that the one nearest the spot where the crucible had been was barely visible, the one on the other side of the thermostat was a trace larger, while the one in the wall, three times as far away from that fearful spot, could have had a nail thrust through it.
A beam expanding in a straight line could travel several miles before the Earth's curvature made the surface fall away from it sufficiently to prevent further damage, and then it would be ten feet across. After that, flashing emptily into space, expanding and weakening, a queer strain in the fabric of the cosmos.
He never told anyone of that fancy.
Copyright Notice,
1 Between One Footstep and the Next,
2 The Disposal of a Stranger,
3 One World — or Many?,
4 The Royal Road,
5 The Involuntary Volunteer,
6 Apprehension in the Night,
7 Conversation with Madmen?,
8 Convergence at Chica,
9 Conflict at Chica,
10 Interpretation of Events,
11 The Mind That Changed,
12 The Mind That Killed,
13 Spider Web at Washenn,
14 Second Meeting,
15 The Odds That Vanished,
16 Choose Your Side!,
17 Change Your Side!,
18 Duel!,
19 The Deadline That Approached,
20 The Deadline That Was Reached,
21 The Deadline That Passed,
22 The Best Is Yet to Be,
One of the world's premier science fiction writers." —Newsday
"Isaac Asimov is the greatest explainer of the age." —Carl Sagan
"For fifty years it was Isaac Asimov's tone of address that all the other voices of SF obeyed…. For five decades his was the voice to which SF came down in the end. His was the default voice of SF." —The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
2006 thriller award nominees
book by isaac asimov
i robot by isaac asimov paperback
prelude to foundation
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COPENHAGEN, July 13 (Reuters) - Danish pension fund MP Pension said Friday it has temporarily frozen its investments in Danske Bank over the lender's involvement in money laundering in Estonia.
The move follows a newspaper report this month that put the amount laundered at Danske Bank's Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015 at around $8.3 billion.
MP Pension, which holds shares in Danske Bank worth around 570 million Danish crowns ($89 million) and has 115 billion crowns under asset management, said it has been in dialogue with the bank's top management.
Danske Bank has admitted to flaws in its anti money-laundering controls in Estonia and launched its own investigation into the case.
It is due to present its own findings in September but Denmark's business minister has said the bank's own investigation might not be enough.
Danske Bank has closed down the concerned non-resident accounts at its Estonian branch and is doing all it can to prevent criminal abuse, it has said.


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No visite los puntos de referencia de Londres y escuche los comentarios que no le interesen. Establezca su propio itinerario y explore Londres a su manera en un tour privado de 3.5 o 6.5 horas por la capital de Inglaterra. Marque todas las atracciones en su lista de verificación personal y aproveche la visión local de su guía privado visitando gemas ocultas y rincones desconocidos de la ciudad. Elija la hora de inicio y el punto de reunión de su recorrido y reciba toda la atención de su guía en todo momento.
Elija enfocar su recorrido en cualquier cosa, desde arte y arquitectura hasta moda y comida.
Ideal para familias y pequeños grupos de viajeros.
Vea las dos atracciones icónicas y los rincones escondidos de la ciudad capital.
Después de reservar su tour, recibirá un breve correo electrónico con un cuestionario que le pedirá que indique qué áreas de la ciudad desea explorar. Luego, en el día de su recorrido, salude a su guía a la hora que mejor se adapte a su horario y embarque en su recorrido personalizado desde su hotel.
En el transcurso de 3.5 o 6.5 horas, experimentará un recorrido completo del lado elegido de la ciudad. Si estás interesado en la arquitectura, tu guía te llevará a edificios innovadores y monumentos clásicos. Los amantes de la literatura pueden explorar Bloomsbury y la Biblioteca Británica; Los entusiastas de la historia pueden visitar algunos de los monumentos más antiguos de Londres; y los aficionados al teatro pueden ver las brillantes luces de Covent Garden y Leicester Square.
Sea cual sea la forma que elija para pasar su tiempo, está seguro de que recibirá una atención indivisa por parte de su guía privado. Su recorrido concluye en un lugar de su elección.
I highly recommend this custom tour to everyone. I was limited on time, so I booked this so I could pack as much as possible into one day, They send you a survey within an hour of booking. You can choose to pack your day full of things or go slow and enjoy the highlights. The best thing about a private tour is it is customized around what you like. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, so my guide Ollie showed me all the filming locations. I also got to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, which was one of the highlights of my day. I learned so much about the history of London and about the great fire of London.
The morning of our booked tour, my husband woke up with an inflamed, very painful area in front of his ear. We knew he needed medical help. So when our guide arrived, we asked for his advice. This wonderful young man, Gio, not only guided us through the National Health Service System, he stayed with us and spent extra time until my husband had received a diagnosis and medication. Gio was so kind and compassionate, and went above and beyond. He offered to reschedule, agreed to get us to the urgent car, spent hours talking with us while we waited. It turns out we learned a lot about London just sitting and talking. Gio was very, very knowledgeable, articulate, and funny. He got us through what could have been an extremely bad experience with good humor and kindness. Then he insisted on escorting us to our next activity, even though it was well beyond our allotted time. Gio was the most amazing young man, and we will never forget his kindness and his extremely good tour of London!
Gio was an outstanding tour guide. We visited many outstanding London sites including the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We also got to use the Tube and buses to get to different areas. The tour ended at Tower Bridge where we had a great lunch at a restaurant recommended by Gio. What a view!
A terrific tour by all accounts. Could not be more pleased with Gio. What a gentleman! Learned so much about London from a polite and engaged tour guide! Rained on our tour day but that did nothing to slow us down! Will do this again to learn more about the great city of London!
We had a great day exploring London on our Private Tour with our guide Gio. He was filled with so much knowledge and gave us so much history of old and new London. He also helped us with navigating around the city and emailed me after the tour with more suggestions and advice.
We only had one day to see London and as this was our first time, decided to book this day tour in order to go to all the places we wanted to see. Our guide was the wonderful and fantastic Gio. What a wonderful experience he made this day for us. He took us to all the highlights that we wanted to see and was very friendly and knowledgeable. He met us at our hotel, and from there we began our day with fun and laughter. We had never been to London before, and not knowing how to get around, could never have seen all the things we did without him. He was extremely pleasant and well organised and made sure to take plenty of photos of us at all the highlights. A BIG thank you Gio. You made our only free day in London really special and memorable. We look forward to meeting up with you again some day on our next visit there.
Our first full day in London was rainy and a bit chilly... and we were doing a walking tour. It was AWESOME! Ed our tour guide was top notch, very personable and quite knowledgeable. Thanks Ed for making our trip to London memorable!!! The blotted cream is now one of our favs!!!! We'll need to hit Borough Market one more time before we leave :. Thanks again.
Booking on line with Viator was a very easy process and everything went well for our tour. We were contacted in advance by Geo with Private London Tours who reviewed our interests and customized our tour for us. He communicated with us and provided the exact location to meet including photos to recognize the land marks, and his cell phone for any questions. Our primary interest was to see the Changing of the Guard ceremony. He was able to take us to a less crowded location to see the guards up close and even take pictures standing next to them. And he also took photos for us of our group. We also saw most of the sites we had listed on our 'areas of interest survey' including Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the beautiful parks surrounding the palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Tower of London, the Shard, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Monument to the Great Fire of London, and much more!! Although there was not enough time to go into the sites, Gio was very knowledgeable and informative telling us a great deal about each one. He also had a wonderful sense of humor which made our tour not only interesting but also fun. We really learned a lot about British history! Since our time was limited in London, we are so glad we chose a private tour that could be individualized for us and highly recommend this experience!
Our February 2018 private tour of London was spectacular! Gio planned our day with such care, hitting all of our must-see locations. The highlight of the trip was the perfectly timed viewing of the changing of the horse guard with a surprise peak at the Queen's motorcade! At the conclusion of our tour, Gio followed up with an email giving us detailed suggestions, directions for the remainder of our trip. We couldn't have been more pleased with our London tour!


text:
Education During Coronavirus
A Smithsonian magazine special report
Read J.K. Rowling's New Children's Book Online for Free
The "Harry Potter" author is also asking young readers to submit illustrations of "The Ickabog"
Nora McGreevy
Daily Correspondent
The author is quick to point out that The Ickabog is separate from the Harry Potter series. Debra Hurford Brown / J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter fans won't have to suffer through lengthy lines or employ a summoning charm to snag a copy of J.K. Rowling's new children's book. As the author announced on Tuesday, she will release her latest tale, The Ickabog, in free installments posted on the book's website over the next seven weeks.
Rowling broke the news on Twitter, writing, "I've decided to publish the Ickabog for free online, so children on lockdown, or even those back at school during these strange, unsettling times, can read it or have it read to them."
The story—targeted at kids ages 7 to 9—will be published in 34 installments released each weekday through July 10, reports Concepción de León for the New York Times.
Readers shouldn't expect to learn more about house elves and flying cars. This new book "isn't Harry Potter and it doesn't include magic. This is an entirely different story," notes Rowling in a statement.
Instead, The Ickabog centers on King Fred the Fearless, who rules the mythical land of Cornucopia, and 5-year-old Bert Beamish. The tale also involves a monster: the titular Ickabog, who is rumored to devour children, according to BBC News.
"I had the idea for The Ickabog a long time ago and read it to my two younger children chapter by chapter each night while I was working on it," says Rowling in the statement. "However, when the time came to publish it, I decided to put out a book for adults instead, which is how The Ickabog ended up in the attic."
Over time I came to think of The Ickabog as just for my family. The manuscript went up into the attic, where it remained until a few weeks ago.
This is the very dusty box I got down from the attic.
(It's a Net-A-Porter box and might well have held a premiere dress.)
4/13 pic.twitter.com/vg8F5Qx33M
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020
Rowling recently retrieved the dust-covered manuscript—which she initially planned to publish after completing the Harry Potter series—from storage. She then rewrote sections of the story and made edits suggested by her teenaged children.
"They told me to put back in some bits they'd liked when they were little, and here we are!" she writes in the statement.
The Ickabog will be published in print this November, reports the New York Times. The near-billionaire author says she plans to donate all royalties from the book to people who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rowling is also encouraging young fans to illustrate scenes from The Ickabog. Parents are asked to post their children's artwork on Twitter with the hashtag #TheIckabog. Publishers around the world will select the best submissions; these drawings will eventually be published in different editions of the book.
Last month, Rowling announced the launch of Harry Potter at Home, a separate online hub featuring Harry Potter-themed trivia, quizzes, activities and more, as Katherine J. Wu reported for Smithsonian magazine at the time. Superfans can listen to famous actors—including Daniel Radcliffe, Olivia Colman, Stephen Fry and David Beckham—read chapters of the books aloud, or access audiobook versions of the beloved series for free.
As the author wrote on Twitter, "Parents, teachers and carers working to keep children amused and interested while we're on lockdown might need a bit of magic."
Nora McGreevy | | READ MORE
Nora McGreevy is a daily correspondent for Smithsonian. She is also a freelance journalist based in Chicago whose work has appeared in Wired, Washingtonian, the Boston Globe, South Bend Tribune, the New York Times and more. She can be reached through her website, noramcgreevy.com.
Books British Writers COVID-19 Culture Literature


Is the Chinese Crested Dog right for you? Find your perfect match now!
The "crest" in their name refers to the Chinese Crested Dog's head plume — the locks that make them resemble a 1984 hair metal frontman. Walking down the street with this unusual looking dog is sure to get you noticed! They're the champions of ugly dog competitions the world over, but fans cherish this lean, pocket-sized pooch.
It's not just their looks that make Chinese Crested Dogs unusual. Unlike most dogs who have to pant to cool off, Chinese Cresteds sweat to regulate their body temperature. Many also have wool allergies.
Originally believed to be from China, these dogs have a seafaring history, they often went out on ships during plague times to hunt rats. This small-sized and medium-energy breed can grow to between 8-12 pounds and lives an average of 13-18 years. The breed is recognized by the American Kennel Club and classified as a member of the Toy group.
WHAT IS A CHINESE CRESTED DOG'S PERSONALITY LIKE?
A Chinese Crested Dog craves your attention and companionship. These dogs are happy to be part of your family. They are playful and are best with supervised children and dogs. Chinese Cresteds usually like to meet strangers and often do well with other pets.
WHAT IS CHINESE CRESTED DOG BEHAVIOR LIKE?
These little guys don't need much exercise, which makes them great companions for older or mobility-challenged folks. They are gifted jumpers; some Chinese Crested Dogs also like to climb.
HOW EASY IS IT TO TRAIN A CHINESE CRESTED DOG?
Chinese Crested Dogs respond well to training. Be sure to start socializing and training your Chinese Crested early.
HOW MUCH DO CHINESE CRESTED DOGS SHED AND WHAT ARE THEIR GROOMING NEEDS?
Chinese Crested Dogs come in two varieties: hairless and powder puff. Hairless Chinese Cresteds have hair only on their heads, feet, and tails; the Powderpuff Chinese Crested is furry all over.
Hairless Chinese Cresteds have long, soft, and silky hair on their legs, heads, and tails. Powderpuffs have double coats: the outer coat is long and thin; the undercoat is short and silky.
Their hair doesn't need much grooming, but Hairless Chinese Crested Dogs' skin can need attention. Be sure to apply dog-safe sunscreen if your hairless friend is going to spend time outdoors. Bathe your Hairless Chinese Crested to prevent blackheads and be sure to moisturize!
For Powderpuffs, brush their hair at least every other day. Both varieties are infrequent shedders.
Scientifically speaking, there's no real chemical difference between hair and fur — they're both made of keratin (the same stuff your hair and fingernails are made of). If you're concerned about allergies, choose a breed that doesn't shed much and produces less dander.
WHAT HEALTH PROBLEMS DO CHINESE CRESTED DOGS HAVE?
Chinese Crested Dogs may have skin problems. They're prone to skin allergies, rashes, and sunburn.
But on the upside, their hairless skin helps prevent flea infestations.
ARE CHINESE CRESTED DOGS GOOD FOR PEOPLE WITH ALLERGIES?
The American Kennel Club lists Chinese Crested Dogs among its breeds recommended for allergy sufferers. This breed sheds infrequently and predictably. They also produce less dander than most dogs.
You can reduce your furry friend's impact on your allergies with frequent baths and brushings to reduce loose hairs and aggravating proteins in your pet's dander. Use a damp cloth to wipe off your dog after you've been playing outside. Smaller dogs have less surface area, and so produce comparatively less dander than larger breeds — definitely something to keep in mind with a dog as small as a Chinese Crested Dog! Remember that no breed is 100% hypoallergenic, and any breed can aggravate allergies.
WHAT'S A CHINESE CRESTED DOG'S BEST DAY?
With you, of course! Consider giving both of you a spa-day: start with a warm wash-down, moisturize that skin and massage, then wrap both of you up in fluffy, warm (non-wool) towels. Finish the day in warm matching sweaters and with lots of cuddles.
SHOULD I ADOPT A CHINESE CRESTED DOG?
Chinese Crested Dogs are fairly quiet, which makes them good candidates for apartment living. They also don't need much exercise; this means they might be good options for elderly or mobility challenged owners. These dogs are very cuddly and they fill well with many families. They don't need much grooming, but their exposed skin does require sunscreen and sweaters. They much prefer warm weather to cold temperatures. If you're looking for a laid-back, loving, and friendly little dog, the Chinese Crested Dog could be a great choice for you.
Have you decided that a Chinese Crested Dog is the perfect dog for you? Why not be your new best friend's hero and adopt a rescue! Be sure to check out our article on what to expect when you're adopting a dog or cat.


Take the Epworth, Wesley Trail - and discover how this pretty North Lincolnshire town became the birthplace of world Methodism.
St. Andrew's, Epworth is the beautiful church where Samuel Wesley, John's father was rector after the family moved to Epworth in 1695. His tomb lies in the churchyard and it was from here that John gave rousing speeches to crowds after he was denied the use of the church itself, due to his unorthodox beliefs.
The Old Rectory, is an imposing Queen Anne building which dates from 1709 and replaces an earlier residence which was burnt down by arsonists. The Wesley family lived here for almost forty years and it is now a museum housing Wesley memorabilia.
Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, Epworth was built in 1889 as a memorial to the contributions made by John and Charles Wesley to world religion. Note the beautiful stained glass window featuring the two brothers looking in the direction of the Old Rectory where they were born.


The Gateway Lodge was built by radio and theatre magnate John King of Detroit, Michigan. His portrait still hangs in Gateway's main lobby today, as shown in the above photo. King initially considered Watersmeet, Michigan and Phelps (previously known as Hackney), Wisconsin as sites for the complex, but ultimately chose the town of Land O'Lakes, located in Vilas County, Wisconsin.
Groundbreaking for the Gateway Lodge began in 1937, and construction of all the planned buildings, except the airport, was completed in 1938. The original complex consisted of the main lodge; the inn, located across County Highway B; the golf course, located west of the lodge; the trapshooting fields of the Gateway Gun Club, located east of the lodge; the ski jump, also located east of the lodge; the ski chalet with attendant downhill skiing areas, located just one-half mile from the lodge, east of Highway 45; the riding stables and employee housing, located northeast of the lodge in Michigan on Crystal Lake Road. The airport would eventually be located to the south, behind the lodge.
The original cost to build the Gateway Lodge was $100,000. The going rate for a tradesman's labor was 37 cents per hour. At the time, the guest "shuttle service� from the Land O'Lakes train station to the lodge was by horse and buggy.
The main lodge was originally a one-story structure with approximately 65 guest rooms. Some had private baths, but most rooms shared hallway baths.
All the beams were hand-hewn timbers that were hand-hewn and given a burnt-brown finish. This finish was achieved by applying red-hot irons to the surface of the beam, removing the charred wood and then coating the surface with varnish. The paneling was made of native pine pieced together in the traditional tongue and groove manner. The beauty of this local craftsmanship is still awe-inspiring and welcomes today's guests with its exemplary artistry. This can be seen in the above photo and in photos of the Vintage Inn Supper Club, the original dining room of the lodge.
Porcelain-handled doors were custom constructed on site to fit each individual opening. Some of the rooms still contain interior closet doors with these very same original porcelain handles.
On the exterior of the lodge, neon lighting was installed under the building's eaves and around the gables. The entire structure simply glowed at night. This feature still functions today and creates that same striking appearance in the dark of the great Northwoods.
Vic Rossi and The Kings of Rhythm entertained from 1938 to 1945. Biaggio Colavecchi, another one of the first musicians hired by King, entertained for many years thereafter on Friday nights. When asked if he knew a particular tune, he'd say he wrote it.
The inn, located partly in Wisconsin and partly in Michigan, cost $200,000 to build. It contained bowling lanes; a billiard hall; a large dance floor with almost nightly entertainment; banquet and lounge facilities; and areas for gambling — which, at the time, was legal.
Helping to contribute to the higher construction cost of the inn was the fact that its furniture was custom built. The cabinetry, booths and other interior woodwork were handcrafted by carpenter Felix Turnquist. Only 24 years old at the time, Turnquist was a Land O'Lakes local.
Long before the days of automatic pinsetting machines for bowling lanes, the Gateway employed people to do that job. Pinsetters were paid ten cents per game. Quite often their tips were dollar bills which had been stuffed into a bowling ball's holes and then rolled down a lane to them.
Now named the Stateline Inn, rumors abound that the floors of the inn were once painted with a line, so you'd know which state you were in. Many of the inn's original beams are still in existence and can be seen today. Currently, the Stateline Inn is owned by the Mendham family and Draeger Enterprises.
Architect Robert Bruce Harris designed the nine-hole golf course. For a time, it was the only course in the United States where golfers could play one round in two different states. The golf course is now operated by the Renk family and features a par of 36 and a putting range.
The Gateway Gun Club hosted annual trapshoots in both autumn and spring. Hundreds of sport shooters from the Midwest, and across the country, were regular participants. The gun club has continued this tradition to the present day.
One of a kind in the Midwest, the Gateway Lodge Ski Club's ski jump attracted skiers from around the world. In fact, on Sunday March 12, 1939, Reidar Andersen of Norway set a hill record jump of 100 feet. Unofficially tying that distance record was a jump made by local Class B Rider John Zoberaski, of the Gogebic Range Ski Club.
After Zoberaski's jump, Andersen made two other jumps of 102 feet and 10 feet. Unfortunately, both jumps were also unofficial, but they were the longest jumps ever made in the history of the hill. Andersen was a very well-known competitor in the 1930s ski jumping community. He was the winner of the 1936 Olympic Bronze Medal for the Men's Individual Large Hill event. Andersen is also the only person to ever win the Holmenkollen Ski Festival's Men's Ski Jumping Competition for three years in a row — 1936, 1937 and 1938.
The design of the lodge's interior was replicated in the interior of the ski chalet. Access to the downhill skiing areas and the chalet was most convenient for the guests of the lodge, as it was only one-half mile away. Many enjoyed going down its variety of hills in the clean, crisp freshness of Wisconsin winter air.
The riding stables on Crystal Lake Road, northeast of the lodge, provided countless hours of entertainment for guests. The employee housing was also located there. Throughout several decades of the Gateway Lodge's existence, nearly all of the residents of Land O'Lakes have worked at one or another of its facilities. It was the area's largest employer until Nagel's Lumber Mill took its place.
Originally a grass landing strip, the airport was constructed in the early 40s. In those first years, pilots would land and taxi you right up to the lodge's dining room door for a delicious lunch or dinner. Between 1946 and 1950, the building that housed flight operations was moved to the golf course. Today it is the course's club house. Its interior architecture is similar in design to that of the lodge.
During the 40s and 50s, formal attire was required at the Gateway Lodge. The Stan Kellar Trio took over the entertainment from 1946 to 1949. Through King's affiliations in the entertainment industry, he brought many well-known figures to stay and play at the lodge, including Bob Hope, Lawrence Welk, movie star Mitzi Gaynor and the comedy team of Bud Abbot & Lou Costello. The possibility of seeing or meeting one of these celebrities attracted many guests from Milwaukee and Chicago, keeping the Chicago & Northwest Railway very busy.
During World War II the complex was periodically used as a military training site.
There has also been much speculation over the years as to whether or not President Eisenhower actually stayed at the Gateway Lodge. Leroy Aiken, (President of John Hopkins University and father-in-law to Ike's brother, Milton Eisenhower), rented the cottage behind the Main Lodge during a few summers. It is documented that, in later years, the President's son, David Eisenhower, had been here on various fishing trips. A visit to the lodge by President Eisenhower is highly probable, but he most likely stayed at King's personal residence located on Snap Jack Lake.
The ski jump was dismantled in 1946, mainly due to the popularity of many new, larger ski sites available only an hour away in Michigan. Its timbers were saved and now grace the main building of the Red Man Supper Club, located in the town of Land O'Lakes.
After King died on January 2, 1952, his family continued to operate the Gateway Lodge complex in its originally constructed format until 1961.
In the mid-50s, North Central Airways brought commercial flights to Land O'Lakes. The Federal Aviation Administration would not allow commercial carriers to land at private airports, so King's widow, Sugar (affectionately known as "Shug"), deeded the facility to the town of Land O'Lakes. It is now known as the Land O'Lakes Municipal Airport, where Barry Aviation currently provides flight services.
Mr. Walter Williamson, (owner of the Wagon Wheel Resort in Rockton, Illinois), purchased the Gateway Lodge on February 17, 1961. He added a second floor and reconfigured the rooms on the first floor. Williamson also built a swimming pool with an overhead glass and beam atrium and a redwood sauna.
After his historic Apollo 8 space mission to the moon, astronaut Jim Lovell used the Gateway Lodge as his secret retreat.
The Gateway Lodge was still considered a premier vacation destination, but was experiencing a bit of financial difficulty. Gambling had become illegal, and the loss of this revenue made maintaining the property, and operating it at a profit, quite a challenge for management.
Williamson sold the Gateway Lodge to Mr. Degayner in the early 70s. Unfortunately, Degayner couldn't really afford the property, and he lost it after only one year. All of the lodge's furnishings, antiques and celebrity autographed pictures were sold at auction. A bank took control of the property. Thankfully, the metal sculpture of three black bears (the logo for the Lodge), hanging on the brick chimney of the main lodge's lobby fireplace, escaped this sad fate. It has never moved from that same location throughout the history of the Gateway Lodge.
From the early 70s to the early 90s, the golf course was leased and operated by Bob Chase.
In 1976, Mr. Sampson, (who owned the Red Carpet Inn in Milwaukee), purchased the Gateway Lodge. He returned as many of the old furnishings and artwork as he could in an attempt to reignite the Gateway's unique appeal and elegantly rustic atmosphere.
Samson sold the Gateway Lodge in the early 80s to American International Vacations, a time-share company located in Las Vegas, Nevada. AIV enlarged the outside walls of the east and west wings by another ten feet to add kitchenettes to all of the guest rooms. The time-share was very successful for three years and then fell victim to lack of funding and changing social trends. Ownership reverted to a bank in Portland, Oregon. At this point, there was no longer an atrium over the pool.
In October of 1989, the bank sold the Gateway Lodge to Robert and Diane Yarbrough from Valentine, Nebraska. They acted as developers to convert the Lodge to a condominium form of ownership. The conversion process began almost immediately. The guest rooms now totaled 72 individually owned condominium units. The common areas were owned collectively.
In 1990, four-time All-American Trapshooting Champion John Muir came from Pennsylvania to take over management of the Gateway Gun Club. Along with 10 years of experience as a professional shooter for the Winchester Gun Company, Muir is the Pennsylvania State Record Holder for Trapshooting, with a perfect score of 600/600.
As manager, Muir re-vamped the layout of the Gateway's traps and built a world-class sporting clays course — only the third of its kind in the entire state of Wisconsin. Muir's reputation and expertise drew thousands of sport shooters to experience the majesty of great Northwoods shooting. The many shooting guests staying at the Gateway Lodge was a welcome infusion of income to its management and helped to keep it running smoothly. In fact, Muir's promotion of the Gateway Gun Club won the honor of hosting both the 1994 and 1999 State Sporting Clays Championships.
From being a six-time member of the Pennsylvania All-State Shooting Team, Muir became a four-time member of Wisconsin's All-State Team and twice has been the state's High Average Leader. Once again, the name "Gateway" evoked the image of elegant accommodations for classic sport-shooting getaways.
The inn was sold in the early 90s to an independent party and received a facelift.
The Yarbrough's remaining interest in the Gateway Lodge was purchased in 1993 by the condo association.
In November of 1994, the association began an aggressive five-year renovation program. The recreational facility was completely reconstructed and reopened in January of 1995. The heat and hot water system were converted to propane in February of '95. In March of that year, new carpeting was installed in both the first floor's hallway and stairway. July of '95 saw the start of painting the lodge's exterior.
During 1994, thanks to Karl Kerscher, the Land O'Lakes Municipal Airport received federal funding for a major property overhaul. Improvements included runway expansion and taxiway resurfacing. Private jets are now able to land there.
By July of 1997, the condo association installed new beds, pillows, bed linens, ceiling fans, televisions, telephones and carpeting in all of the units.
The Ski Chalet was sold to Ed Richter, the owner of Richter Ready Mix & Construction. He wanted the property as the ski hills were, and continue to be, a major source of the area's gravel. In 1997, Richter donated the actual building of the Ski Chalet to the Land O'Lakes Historical Society. They moved the building to Land O'Lakes Town Park where it currently houses the Land O'Lakes Historical Museum.
Also in 1997, the dining room and lounge were sold to be independently owned and operated. Anne Marie and Emilio Gervilla introduced their famous Mediterranean cuisine to tempt the palates of Northwoods diners. They were owners of five restaurants in the Chicagoland area. The restaurant was named Emilio's Gateway to the Mediterranean, operating from 1997 to 1998.
Today the Gateway Lodge is governed by the Master Association through a Board of Directors elected from its membership. A guest rental program offers individual owners the choice to participate in the hotel business.
Renovations to the units continue with new window treatments and door locks, along with upgrades to their bathrooms and kitchenettes. For more information, visit our accommodations page.
From 2001 to 2002 Susan and Alex Artaega owned and operated the restaurant under the name The King's Grille in honor of the founder of the lodge.
In 2002, the restaurant was sold to a partnership and re-named The Gateway Inn, in tribute to the original inn, located across County Highway B. It was operated by owner Babbette Balus for breakfast and lunch. Owners Linda and John Bellman operated it for dinner. Late in 2002, Linda and John Bellman bought out Balus' interest in the business and changed the name to The Bellman's Gateway Inn. They ran the restaurant from 2002-2005.
In October, 2005, new owners Christina and Keith Williams opened the Vintage Inn Supper Club. They offer guests of the Gateway Lodge a menu of mouthwatering Midwestern and Continental dining specialties, served in elegant surroundings with a warm family atmosphere.
The Gateway Lounge is now operated by the association management. A wide selection of fine beverages are available along with a variety of live entertainment. Friendly, efficient bartenders are there to promptly serve you.
True to its almost century-old historic traditions, the Gateway Gun Club still operates fields with manually set traps. The world-class sporting clays course, constructed in 1990, has again made the Gateway Lodge a premier destination for the country's sport shooters. Tournaments, held each year April through September, attract a full slate of participants. Professional gun manager John Muir oversees the entire operation. Lessons are available. For more information, check out the current schedule of shooting events.
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our history and will consider a stay with us at the Gateway Lodge. Refresh yourself and enjoy the scenic splendor of our country's great Northwoods. Experience a return to a vintage era and absorb its aura of classic traditions. We want you to create special memories to look back on, and savor, for many years to come. The Gateway Lodge has always been noted for its heritage of elegantly accommodating its guests, and we strive to continue that standard of excellence.
Special thanks to Georgia Ayotte, Ann Bates, Bob Chase, Henry Mitchell, Cherry Wagner and Liz Wagner for their contributions of historical information.
Can You Help Us Recover Some Of Our Past?
We are in search of items that originally belonged to the Gateway Lodge (or Wagon Wheel Resort), but were auctioned off or sold. The return of items that may have once belonged to either location can help us restore the luster to our heritage.
Donations of any such items would be gratefully accepted and much appreciated.


- What will Denmark live off in the future? How will we continue to fund our great public sector? These are important questions that might seem inappropriate to be asking on a festive occasion in a beautiful museum setting. Or perhaps not… Because what we see on this day is an example of what might secure Denmark's future and prosperity.
With these words Rector Elsebeths Gerner Nielsen began her opening speech at Design School Kolding's graduation exhibtion. The historic Ruin Hall of Koldinghus made a beautiful and contrasting setting for the design projects that competed for space with the hundreds of guests that had found their way to the museum.
- In a little while, as you walk around and explore the exhibition, you will encounter examples of design with effect. Examples that support an important trend, which is that design is increasingly becoming a contributor of sustainable growth and prosperity. Danish design companies are doing very well in the export markets. And the reason for that is the fact that we educate excellent designers, Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen continued.
- This year's graduates have all collaborated with an external partner on their project. A public institution, an organization or a company. They were required to because Design School Kolding believes that the purpose of design is that it should have an effect.
- We want to create something that takes our community, our companies and our society forward. Therefore I wish to thank the many companies that have made themselves available to our students, including our regular partners ECCO, LEGO and KOPENHAGEN Fur. Together with TREFOR, Kolding Municipality and Hospital Lillebælt they make up the backbone of our various design labs.
- Congratulations to the Class of 2016. You are wonderful, talented and passionate. It has been a pleasure getting to know you. I look forward to seeing the effect that you will definitely have wherever you decide to go.
Also attending the opening was architect and tv host Ane Cortzen who spoke with four designers from each of the study programmes: Communication Design, Fashion Design, Textile Design and Industrial Design.
This year's largest scholarship of DKK 25,000 was awarded to Fashion Designer Jenny Hirvonen from Danmarks Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond.
The graduation exhibition at Koldinghus ends 23 October 2016.
The exhibition is funded by Augustinus Fonden, Tage Vanggaard og Hustrus Fond, 15. Juni Fonden, Dansk Tennis Fond, Den Faberske Fond, Toyota-Fonden, Sydbanks Fonde and Kolding Municipality.
Too many cooks - improve the broth!