Vacant Home Tour Launched in Normal, Mn.: Spreads across Nation; Tales From Normal, Mn:FICTION

Well surprise, surprise.....the recent "Vacant Home Tour" in Normal, Mn, which featured homes empty and in foreclosure has been wildly popular all across the nation, and indeed in St. Paul recently, they held an "Uptown version" with tours of empty historically renovated homes: All in The Dayton's Bluff area, just down from the James J. Hill Mansion on Summit Ave, and just down the hill from where the famous Tom Clancy had a very celebrated wedding reception some thirty plus years ago...yes that was the highpoint of the neighborhood. Tom was not the famous author, but a famous cross country runner from the now defunct Hill High School..but I digress. The whole notion of creating a tourist attraction out of vacant homes is priceless and indeed the highpoint of marketing brilliance..Stay tuned...just think of the possibilities where we could create media events out of forelorn circumstances....like tour of bankrupt businesses, tour of the abandoned and homeless, tour of the poor football teams....ok Minnesota has a real lock on that one...maybe New Orleans is a fierce contender...but I digress.. This all goes to prove the old adage that you should review your troubles and thank God for them, since they could have been worse. The corollary is that after reviewing the troubles, make a media event out of it.