Jonesboro, AR

The Century 21 state awards for Arkansas was held Saturday Feb. 20-21. The gala was held in Little Rock at the Hilton. Our very own Century 21 Indian Realty held some top honors. Darrel Cook received the Centurion award. The Centurion award is only given to the top 5% Century 21 agents nationwide. Darrel is also the #2 Century 21 real estate agent in the state. Congratulations Darrel!! Peggy Meeker and Joe Banks both received the Masters Emerald level, a top award for number of units sold. Neva Kunke received the Sapphire award, for units sold, along with Wanda Mills and Linda Webster winning the Topaz award. David Hunter received the Rising Star award, for new agents with outstanding results. Century 21 Indian Realty had the honorable distinction of having three top Century 21 agents out of the top ten in the state of Arkansas. Congratulations!! This is a great honor for our office to have three out of the top 10. Our office was honored as ninth in the state for AGC. We are #2 in the state in transactions closed. That is so AWESOME!! We are so proud of our office and very proud of Kenny Gardner, Century 21 Indian Realty Principal Broker.

The festivities began Sat. morning with breakfast and a silent auction. Sat. afternoon, Paul Sweeny, National trainer for C-21 held a class for agents on "Goal setting and how to obtain them". The brokers had a meeting with Tom Kunz, President and CEO of C-21. The awards gala started Sat. evening at 6:30 with a reception and dinner at 7:00. During the evening the silent auction was continued along with a live auction. The money raised was donated to Easter Seals. I dont know the exact amount collected, but I do know it was alot and was raised for a very good cause. The speakers for the evening was Tom Kunz, President and Ceo, Dale Olmer, Regional Supervisor from Phoenix, Arizonia, and Mike McKinder, Business Consultant. It was a wonderful event and everyone left feeling great. Tom Kunz,Mike McKinder and Dale Olmer had such a good time, they promised to be back next year and wished the event could have been videotaped so they could share with other states,agents, and brokers how much fun it all was. It was a great event and all who attended left recharged and ready to conquer the real estate market. In one of Tom Kunz speaches he said"Just Believe" Believe we are #1, believe people are still buying and selling real estate and believe you can provide the best service around. If you believe, your attitude will show it and the sky is the limit. What a way to end the awards gala. If anyone has a chance to go to a state award ceremony, you need to attend. You will come away wanting to always be the very best Real Estate Professional you can be!! The market here in Jonesboro is still good. People still need to buy and sell homes, so remember if you are a buyer or seller, CENTURY 21 INDIAN REALTY is the one you need we have some of the states best. So I am ready along with the other agents here to make 2009 the best year yet. See ya next year at the award gala.

I have had so many emails from active rain members wanting to know how my English Bulldog, Bruno is doing. I have'nt blogged about him in a while. Bruno is happy as ever just look at these pictures...lol. Just give him food,water and a good boy treat and in that order and you have made his day. So today Bruno and I would like to wish everone "Happy Valentine Day".

Valentine day is the day mostly associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "Valentines". The U.S. greeting card associations estimates one billion Valentines are sent each year worldwide, making this day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas.

In this day of the economy and all that is going on, I think we all could use and show a little love to someone. Maybe each of us could open up our hearts to someone who just needs a SMILE or a shoulder to lean on. Just remember Feb. 14th. so put your SMILE on and show some LOVE to those around you if it is your spouse,children,grandchildren,friend,neighbor, or in Bruno case a dog. Smile and enjoy your Valentine day and show some LOVE. This world needs it right now as all we hear on the tv and radio is gloom and doom. So just remember this....Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away... We all should live by this.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

FROM TINKER AND BRUNO

I would like to thank First Community Bank in Searcy for being the sponser of a free continuing education class. In Arkansas as a real estate agent you must complete 6 hours of CE to renew your license each year. Ron and Cheryl Kelton teach several classes a year in CE and I always try to go to the one they teach in Searcy. Being from Searcy it gives me some time with family and friends. This year our class was on changes in 2009 ARA forms. We do have several changes so it was great to listen to why the changes are there and how they affect your transactions. First Community Bank provided the lunch, which was very good and also gave away some really good door prizes. I also got to visit with several realtors who blog on active rain. Barbara Duncan has been a realtor for many years in Searcy and I finally got to talk and visit with her other than on active rain. I enjoyed the time spent in class and all the visiting I got to do, but it is time for me to get back to Jonesboro and start working my real estate. So far Jan. has been a good month for me and I have another closing at the end of Feb. I hope this is all a good sign that real estate in Jonesboro in 2009 is going to be a great year. Again thanks to First Community Bank for the FREE class and food and a special thanks to Ron and Cheryl Kelton for making that 6 hours fun.

Just got finished reading Tinker's blog on our trip to the nursing home on Sat. I agree with her 100%, it was a trip well worth spending part of an afternoon there. I know that some will get to go home on Christmas day, some won't and I also know that the stuffed bears that we gave them won't magically make it special for them but I also know what I saw when I walked in and said Ho Ho Ho.... the majority of them smiled and or laughed. The little lady in her wheel chair that ask Santa if he was the guy that called bingo for them and ended up telling him that last year she sat on his lap and gave him a kiss on the cheek (she also gave him one this year) then there was the lady from Shug town that jump up from getting her nails done just to give Santa and his helpers a big hug and last but not least the 95 yr old that showed us that she can still dance a jig...they were all glad to see us. There were also the ones that were bed bound....some awake, some asleep, that when they wake up and find a stuffed bear on the bed with them....well maybe it will bring back a good memory of Christmas's gone by.....I have a friend that goes with his church on a weekly basis to this nursing home that came home on Sunday afternoon and called me to tell me that they had a couple show up with their bears....and were still laughing and talking about Santa's trip there....Well folks, that should tell us all that it was worth taking a little time out of our so called busy lives to spread a little cheer.

I would like to thank Neva for getting the ball rolling this year to get the bears that we needed and to the rest of Santa's helpers for staying on me to make sure that I ended up going....it was well worth my afternoon....

I hope the holiday season brings you all the joy and good times that you deserve....

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

David

Last Saturday our Century 21 Indian Realty loaded up Santa Claus and our little elf Laney Gardner and headed to our local nursing home. Once we got there the staff directed us around to all the rooms. Santa and our little elf passed out teddy bears all the residents loved getting the bears and a big bear hug from Santa. Some of the rooms we visited would not let you leave they just wanted an ear to listen to them and a friendly smile. I thought of all the wisdom and great stories these folks could tell us all. Some of them dont have alot of family to visit them so they are so excited to have company. I really enjoyed the time we spent there and I know the other agents loved it too. I hope we do this again next year and yes David we voted you Santa again next year too. You are a wonderful Santa and your kindness for the older folks was amazing, thank you for sharing a good spirit with each person there. MERRY CHRISTMAS !!