https://www.starling4mhk.com/blog daily 0.75 2025-07-30 https://www.starling4mhk.com/blog/mike-matson-interview monthly 0.5 2025-07-30 https://www.starling4mhk.com/blog/the-249th-fourth-of-july monthly 0.5 2025-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/f0339bc1-b5a0-4569-84ec-11480017c78d/fireworks.png Tea Time Blog - Reflection: The 249th Fourth of July - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/9a034932-223c-4f5c-8492-c6f33219a765/Screenshot+2025-07-05+141808.png Tea Time Blog - Reflection: The 249th Fourth of July - Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Statue of Liberty painting by local artist, Jacob Sanderson (L) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/861e2216-1d01-4c85-9b81-f220b52c82e1/Screenshot+2025-07-05+180015.png Tea Time Blog - Reflection: The 249th Fourth of July - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/ed5cfcf2-ac67-4bbd-8645-91d7e22817d8/Screenshot+2025-07-05+140359.png Tea Time Blog - Reflection: The 249th Fourth of July - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/59fb33d3-b459-4515-a7fc-a2267275f71b/Screenshot+2025-07-05+175633.png Tea Time Blog - Reflection: The 249th Fourth of July - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.starling4mhk.com/blog/the-restoration-of-the-wareham monthly 0.5 2025-07-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/f0020f03-0b9f-4b5d-8869-416c41c4365d/Screenshot+2025-07-02+180133.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 - Make it stand out Hot potato timeline https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/fd9e7237-6e2f-469e-a2af-41abf6c4ec39/Screenshot+2025-07-14+193310.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 - Make it stand out Source: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/9fef7164-e787-44ac-8628-70ece3acc6d4/Screenshot+2025-07-03+091844.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 An industry in decline. In this graph the center line (right underneath government) represents an industry that is stagnant— neither weak nor strong, neither growing nor declining. Entertainment is a large bubble, with lots of jobs, but the industry is rapidly shrinking. A large industry that is shrinking rapidly is a bubble, popping— like the housing market in 2008. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/755fabaa-2808-4f3b-abf6-cff7b4be92c7/Property+Tax+Abatement+%281%29.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/7fc02e69-1879-4451-971e-9fae1bb24d92/Screenshot+2025-07-02+165716.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 Population growth exaggerated. Attendees from 60 and 90 minutes away pads potential attendee statistics. Projected growth over 5 years (2022-2027) are: Manhattan: +493 30 minute: +764 60 minute: +1,707 90 minute: +6,723 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/897411ff-196d-4aab-8102-3cd47b7ec907/Screenshot+2025-07-14+185214.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/4f279555-fb00-41c7-9030-2d5965e8a7d8/Screenshot+2025-07-14+194957.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 - Make it stand out Source: Wareham’s Cost Benefit Analysis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/5ff0c66f-34c5-4914-8125-eccf606277ca/Screenshot+2025-07-02+165804.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 Audience size inflated. The business plan relies on attendees from as far out as 90 minutes away, including Lawrence and Emporia. In my opinion, it is not a good business practice to assume that Lawrence residents would leave their own vibrant entertainment market for the Wareham, or favor a drive west to Manhattan over a much shorter drive east to Kansas City for entertainment. We simply cannot compete with Lawrence, Overland Park, and Kansas City venues. At the southern tip, it is also unreasonable to assume that Emporia residents would choose to drive to Manhattan when Wichita is the same distance away with much greater options. Nevertheless, this business plan relies heavily on 60- and 90-minute drivetime populations to project attendance and income— a dangerous game for a $40 million facility. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/232d90a1-9bde-431f-b258-977e1e87a30d/Screenshot+2025-07-02+171949.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/ab5f4271-6a11-4b68-9029-ad66609b7a32/Screenshot+2025-07-03+123208.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 Business plan is already not viable. Mr. Mages claimed that the Wareham would be insolvent (a fancy business word for upside-down or having more debt than income) if he had to pay taxes. Unfortunately, the operating budget he presented was already unsustainable. Event venue profit margins across the US vary between 10% and 20%. Even without paying taxes, Mr. Mages shows a profit margin of only1.5%. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/60654e64-2505-44c2-bb01-8ae20f26b066/Screenshot+2025-07-02+180659.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 - Make it stand out Web of for-profit and non-profit organizations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/1751560742272-X43OPDE1H4CJHXJJAAW6/Screenshot+2025-07-03+113835.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/1751559610926-TD27EBXL7WND5L4RO0UA/Screenshot+2025-07-02+195354.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/b4bdf0c1-e2fc-4f69-afed-b238856ebb8d/Screenshot+2025-07-14+193743.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 - Make it stand out Source for both clippings: Kansas Department of Commerce https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/840368f1-9224-43bd-a2d5-9994f59a4d79/Screenshot+2025-07-02+170434.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 Where are people with disposable income? Not here. The further away from the Wareham you get, the more likely a resident is to be able to afford a ticket. Wages here are projected to stagnate until at least 2027, according to the Wareham’s own business plan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/fba554d9-db18-4d34-8429-2ede88d2e950/Screenshot+2025-07-02+173948.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 - Can locals afford leisure? Wanting to understand the affordability of the Wareham for locals, I dug into local cities’ population, growth, and poverty rates. The results were not encouraging. The largest cities (Manhattan, Junction City, and Fort Riley) are largely shrinking. All three have a poverty rate above the national average of 11.1% (2023). Sources: Manhattan, Ogden, Fort Riley, St. George, Wamego, Belvue. Silver Lake, St. Mary’s, Junction City https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/1751502345100-CIW3020WCD3GMUZ0UHYB/Screenshot+2025-07-02+192205.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/1751502356949-ZDM5NU208436UJ7FMC3Z/Screenshot+2025-07-02+192419.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/1751502351169-BV5GP5FH0JGMB62OAQ84/Screenshot+2025-07-02+192317.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/1751502345099-XQHYNH0961TGNIW5H4GR/Screenshot+2025-07-02+192222.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/1751502348166-N47SIDTZ5UNP0C0QDLU6/Screenshot+2025-07-02+192242.png Tea Time Blog - A Little Bird Told Me #1 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/68447e4eb1c22a7680b5be8b/1751502351336-G5FXYTPQQRWV2HBFAGHL/Screenshot+2025-07-02+192331.png Tea Time Blog - 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