April is the Cruelest Month!
After an early warm up today I’m watching snow accumulate on our patio furniture and on the garden where lots of spring flowers are blooming.
The early bloomers will survive, for the most part, but my real worries are about what this capricious weather will do to the fruit crops that are grown in this area.
Last week, when temperatures began to plummet, I started to hear stories about apricots in full bloom and buds that were swelling on other fruit trees. This could be disastrous for area farmers who literally have a year’s income hanging on the trees.
This is a major change in just two days. On Saturday I was enjoying an afternoon in the garden when temperatures rose into the 50s. Not only did I feel comfortable cutting back some of the plants I leave in the fall to provide habitat to pollinators over the winter, but I was able to pull much of the hairy bittercress that had taken over one particular area of the garden.
Yesterday I stayed in as the wind picked up out of the north and I got my gardening fix by tending for my indoor plants. Now today it’s snowing…. what will tomorrow bring?
Creative and targeted programs that make an impact are the hallmark of experienced marketing professional Ruth Steele Walker. Focusing on results that improve the bottom line, she accelerates projects from conception to implementation with a mastery of writing, production, placement, budgeting and coordination.
During more than 25 years with Foremost Corporation of America, the nation's leading insurer of manufactured housing and recreational vehicles, Walker consistently produced effective communications programs that resulted in increased net written premium. Her expertise in crisis communications was a vital part of Foremost's exemplary customer service in the wake of hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. Walker specializes in communications targeting the 50+ demographic, with an emphasis in communications for the 65+ segment.
Among other achievements, Walker developed communications for the merger of Foremost and Farmers Insurance, addressing audiences including customers, employees, trade and consumer media. For Foremost's 50th anniversary, she created a celebration program of internal and external promotions, special events, recognition and a 162-page commemorative book.
Earlier in her career, Walker was a newspaper reporter, a TV and radio producer, and worked in national sales and traffic at network TV affiliates. Walker earned a BA in journalism from Michigan State University and an MS in communications from Grand Valley State University.
She and her husband Scott operate a small vineyard in Michigan's Leelanau Peninsula, producing premium vinifera wine grapes. The vineyard has been the largest local supplier for Suttons Bay wine label L. Mawby, recently named one of the world's top producers of sparkling wines.
