Reid & Pederson Drainage December 2019

Water Words

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WE’VE MOVED TO A NEW LOCATION! COME CELEBRATE WI TH US

DEC 2019

Over the past few months, we have been working tirelessly to ensure this move has gone as smoothly as possible. I’ve been pleased watching how enthusiastic my team has been in putting all their efforts into this new step for us. Getting everything moved into the new location took a lot of hard work and dedication, and that wouldn’t have been possible if not for the efforts of everyone here at Reid & Pederson. By the time this newsletter is published, we’ll have already moved into our new building and are getting back into the full swing of things. All of us are feeling motivated and excited to start this new year fresh and ready at our new location. We’re also planning an open house in the upcoming months to welcome the community to visit our new location, and we want to invite everyone to come and celebrate this exciting time. From all of us at Reid & Pederson, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season, and we thank you for your continued support. We look forward to offering our services to you in the upcoming year, and we can’t wait to see what 2020 will bring us!

Kevin and I decided that it was time for a bigger, more spacious building and started making plans. We wanted to ensure that all team members are comfortable with where they work, and we found just the place. Located in Crete just off Dixie Highway, our new building gives our team 10,000 square feet of generous office space and a conference room for morning meetups, team meetings, and trainings. Our larger space also gives each of our team members their own dedicated area and allows our sister businesses to come together all under one roof.

As we near the end of the year, our team at Reid & Pederson Drainage is excited to greet 2020 with a fresh new look. Over the past couple months, we have been extremely busy as we prepare to move our office to a new location. 2019 proved to be a great year of growth for us, and our old building had us bursting at the seams. We’ve added five new teammembers to our team this year to keep up with our increasing growth. While we were thrilled at the chance to expand our team and the services we offer our customers, it became increasingly difficult to find a place for everyone to sit together comfortably.

–John Reid

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Reid & Pederson Drainage is proud to introduce our amazing AP/AR clerk of 18 1/2 years, Sandy Peabody. Sandy not only looks out for our customers but also ensures that our business is running as smoothly as possible. Without her enthusiasm, dedication, and love for what she does every day in our office, our team wouldn’t be the same. SANDY PEABODY OUR STEADFAST AR / AP CLERK Sandy found an interest in numbers early in life. “When I graduated from high school, I went straight to work at a bank in the booking department,” she explains. Having found her calling, she thrived in what she did best. “I stayed with that bank for the next 15 years, working my way up until I reached the Federal Reserve.” For Sandy, her job is more than simply adding numbers together. “It’s really more like putting together a puzzle sometimes, and I’ve never had a dull moment in this work. It’s never the same, and I enjoy the challenge it gives me. It’s something that I’ve always enjoyed and been interested in; I’ve stayed in this field my whole life.” Sandy from working with her at the bank and knew that we were looking to hire someone. This coworker took action and told John that she knew someone who could manage the receivables and payables for the business. “He called me up, and we set a date for an interview,” Sandy remembers, “and I was hired that same day.” John was impressed not only with Sandy’s skill in her work but also with the apparent delight she took in it, as well. We knew that she would be a perfect fit for us and are grateful for everything she has done for our customers and for our team over the years. Outside of the office, you can find Sandy spending time with her grandsons at the movies or at a local park for a day of play, finding a quiet corner to read a good book, or getting together with family to play a few games. “I really enjoy playing card games. The family will get together for the holidays or a birthday, and we’ll always sit down to play a game of UNO or Scrabble. It’s a little bit of a family tradition.” When Sandy came to our team, she was unemployed and searching for a new opportunity. Luckily, one of our team members knew

WHAT ABOUT DUNDER AND BLIXEM?

THE STRANGE HI STORY OF SANTA ’ S RE INDEER

We all know reindeer visit our rooftops every Christmas Eve, but what brings them there? Follow the unique and complicated history of Santa’s reindeer to find out. A VISIT FROM WHO ON WHAT NIGHT? In the 1820s, Clement Clarke Moore penned a holiday poem that became the foundation for a phenomenon still alive today. Commonly known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” “A Visit From St. Nicholas” is a beloved story shared by every generation. It is in this poem that reindeer were first credited with powering Santa’s sleigh around the globe. Many popular songs, movies, and plays have preserved Moore’s vision of St. Nick, and his reindeer and their names are no exception. (Well, kind of.) Rudolph wouldn’t join the squad until a department store added him as part of their promotions in the 1930s. WHAT’S IN A NAME? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, and Cupid were all brought to life by Moore, but have you ever heard of Dunder and Blixem? Though we now know the duo as Donner and Blitzen, Moore originally named them Dunder and Blixem — the Dutch words for thunder and lightning — but publishing companies wanted names that would rhyme better with the rest of the poem. Still, it was a few decades before Donner and Blitzen made their appearances in the version of the poem we know today. REINDEER BURGERS, ANYONE? Moore’s poem paved the way for Santa’s most famous form of transportation, but it was actually Carl Lomen, an Alaskan businessman, who mass-marketed reindeer as Santa’s companions. In the late 1890s, the Sami natives of Northern Europe, who were longtime reindeer herders, made their passage from Norway to the U.S. with a herd of reindeer to invigorate the Alaskan landscape and help their native neighbors. Lomen saw the reindeer as an opportunity and partnered with the Macy’s department store company to create a promotional Christmas parade in which Santa, led by his

reindeer, a sleigh, and Sami herders, were prominently featured. Lomen’s

goal was to promote his

massive reindeer conglomerate for the production and

sale of reindeer meat. Instead, a holiday story

was born.

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OUR 20 / 20 REFERRAL PROGRAM SHOWING OUR APPRECIATION

papers. When you call our office for service, we will let you know how many referral credits you have, and we give you the flexibility to determine how

For 35 years, Reid & Pederson Drainage has been a trusted local name in sewer and drain cleaning. As a token of our appreciation for placing your trust in us, we are proud to offer you our 20/20 Referral Program. It’s simple: If you’re happy with the outstanding service we provide you, then spread the word and share your satisfaction with your family and friends. That’s all it takes! Participation in our referral program is free and easy. For every qualified referral you send our way, you receive a $20 credit toward a future service. What exactly is a qualified referral? It’s every friend or family member who calls our office to book a service and gives your name as a reference. That’s the important part. Make sure they give your name as the person who referred them so that we can correctly credit your account. The best perk for your friend or family member? They’ll receive $20 off their first service with us! We like to think of it as our way of saying “Welcome!” to the Reid & Pederson family. It’s a win-win for everyone! There are additional benefits to our 20/20 Referral Program, too! We manage your referral credits and history in our system for you. This means that you never have to worry about misplaced coupons or

and when you want to use them. Your referral credits never expire, and they can be combined, accumulated, and used little by little or all at once. The choice is

yours, and there’s truly no limit on how much you can save by referring us to your friends and family!

Our customers are the backbone of our business, and we know we wouldn’t be where we are today if it weren’t for you. Our 20/20 Referral Program is just one way for us to show you how much we appreciate you.

POTATO LATKES

INGREDI ENTS

• • • •

2 tsp kosher salt

• •

2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed 1 large onion, peeled and cut into quarters

1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp black pepper

• •

2 large eggs

Safflower or vegetable oil, for frying

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECT IONS

1. Using either a food processor with a coarse grating disc or the coarse side of a box grater, grate potatoes and onion. (If using a food processor, halve or quarter potatoes.) Once grated, wrap in a clean dish towel or cheesecloth to wring out as much moisture as possible. 2. Transfer to a mixing bowl and mix in eggs, flour, salt, baking powder, and pepper. 3. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan containing 1/4-inch of oil over medium-high heat. Use a heaping tablespoon to drop batter into the hot pan, working in batches. Use a spatula or spoon to form them into discs. Fry about 5 minutes per side, until deeply browned. 4. Transfer to a paper towel-lined wire rack to drain, and serve alongside applesauce and sour cream. WWW. RE I D- PEDERSON . COM | 3 Inspired by The New York Times

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

1762 SOUTH D I X I E HIGHWAY CRETE , I L 60417

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A BIG START FOR 2020 HOW SANTA CLAUS BECAME POWERED BY RE INDEER TEAM MEMBER SPOTL IGHT WE WOULDN’ T BE HERE WI THOUT YOU POTATO LATKES THE HI STORY BEHIND CHR I STMAS L IGHTS INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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WHY DO WE HANG CHR I STMAS L IGHTS? LIGHT UP THE NIGHT

The first string of twinkling lights illuminating your neighbor’s house is always a telltale sign of the upcoming seasonal festivities. Christmas lights are a holiday staple, but have you ever wondered where this beloved tradition started?

years after Edison’s invention of the lightbulb in November 1879, Johnson hand-wired 80 red, white, and blue lightbulbs together and wound them around a Christmas tree in his parlor window. A passing reporter saw the spectacle and declared in the Detroit Post and Tribune, “One can hardly imagine anything prettier.” Johnson continued this tradition, increasing the number of lights each year and eventually putting them up outside. But because electricity was still a new concept, many years passed before the fad took off for regular Americans. In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge began the tradition of lighting the National Christmas Tree, which spurred the idea of selling stringed lights commercially. By the 1930s, families everywhere were buying boxes of bulbs by the dozen. Today, an estimated 150 million Christmas lights are sold in America each year, decorating 80 million homes and consuming 6% of the nation’s electricity every December. Whether you’ll be putting up your own lights or appreciating the most impressive light displays in your neighborhood or town, let the glow fill you with joy this season. Just don’t leave them up until February!

The tradition of hanging lights on the tree originally started

with candles. Because this posed an immense fire hazard, Edward Hibberd Johnson, a close friend of Thomas Edison and vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, vowed to find a better way to decorate

Christmas trees with light. In December 1882, three

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