Their words put into Perspective and 40 Categories

Harry Truman said, "There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know." His words first appeared in a biographical work by William Hillman, sixty years ago.   They now appear in Wisdom from the Oval Office, a new book by Pierce Word who has assembled 40 categories of quotations of all the presidents of the United States. It is considered the largest assemblage of U.S. presidential quotations in publishing history. Its pub date is July 26, 2013

Along with Mr. Truman, the words of Washington, Obama and the others, are presented about a broad range of subjects such as love, religion, God, and friendship, subjects not the usual presidential subjects, but war, peace, honor, leadership, freedom and liberty receive an abundance of attention. The flow of quotations and the manner in which they are categorized shows, interestingly, the frame of mind of each president such as Lincoln's spirituality, Nixon's binocular view of love and fear, and Obama on parental love. Of particular interest is the diversity of interest on the subject of politics of which they all have commonality.

The idea for The Wisdom from the Oval Office was compiled by author Pierce Word while a student at the University of Chicago. Frustrated at the difficulty he had finding the "right" quotations for his various academic projects, he knew there had to be a better way and made one with his new book after culling through library stacks and  Internet portals for two years.

The results of his two year search was hailed by reviewer Gordon Osmond of "Bookpleasures.com" who wrote "...as for anyone interested in savoring the full range of presidential statements as a means of acquiring a fuller understanding of this country's past glories and contemporary challenges, this book is surely required reading. The aptly named Mr. Word should be sincerely thanked for it."

Author Pierce Word is a resident of Chicago, Illinois and received his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago. He did graduate work at the University of Cairo in his pursuit of Mid-Eastern studies

Wisdom from the Oval Office, 9781933909448 was published by History Publishing Company on July.23, 2013. It is available at Barnes and Noble booksellers and in fine bookstores nationally and on BN.com and Amazon.com and other internet sites globally.

PORT BYRON, IL - PORT BYRON, IL - The Nick Teddy Foundation, of Port Byron, IL, has begun a teddy bear donation drive at studio, library, and YMCA locations in the Quad City area. Bears will be donated to pediatric patients at Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria, IL, http://www.childrenshospitalofillinois.org and to grieving and traumatized children served by Rick's House of Hope in Davenport, IA. http://rhoh.org

New teddy bears, of all sizes and descriptions, in original packaging, can be dropped off at collection boxes at the following locations: Haven Studios, 105 South Chicago St, Suite 5, Geneseo; RIver Valley District Library, 214 S Main St, Port Byron; Cordova District Library, 402 Main Ave, Cordova; Bettendorf Family YMCA, 3800 Tanglefoot Lane, Bettendorf; and Two Rivers YMCA, 2040 53rd St, Moline. Collection ends September 1.

The Nick Teddy Foundation was established in 2012 in loving memory of Port Byron native Nick Strub, who died in November 2011 of complications of Ewing's sarcoma. This pediatric bone cancer currently affects children in the Quad City area.

Last year, the Foundation's 2012 "Nick Teddy Fight Against Ewing's Sarcoma 5k" registered more than 450 runners and raised over $17,000 to be used exclusively for Ewing's sarcoma research. The Teddy Bear Drive is an additional effort to provide support to hospitalized pediatric patients, and to area children dealing with the after-effects of cancer and other distressing family events.

Remodelers continue to see increase in business

Des Plaines, Illinois, July 23, 2013?The National Association of the Remodeling Industry's (NARI) second-quarter Remodeling Business Pulse (RBP) data of current and future remodeling business conditions continues to soar, as quarter-over-quarter increases are seen nearly all sub-components measuring remodeling activity.

Deep into the "remodeling season," so to speak, remodelers are reporting the highest overall rating on overall business conditions at 6.31, up from 5.97 reported during the first quarter. This rating has steadily increased in the six quarters NARI has been tracking thus far.

"This summer, many companies entered the summer with a backlog of jobs, which is something most haven't seen in the past few years," says Tom O'Grady, CR, CKBR, chairman of NARI's Strategic Planning & Research Committee and president of O'Grady Builders, based in Drexel Hill, Pa. "What's also positive is that the inquiries and bid requests are still steady, which provides some more market stability for remodelers."

Growth indicators in the second quarter of 2013 are as follows:

• Current business conditions up 5.7 percent since last quarter
• Number of inquiries up 4.7 percent since last quarter
• Requests for bids up 3.3 percent since last quarter
• Conversion of bids to jobs up 4.6 percent since last quarter
• Value of jobs sold is up 5.9 percent since last quarter

This trend is expected to continue, as remodelers predict that three months out, their sales will be as strong as they are now. The No. 1 and 2 reasons for growth continues to be postponement of projects (up 5 percent at 87 percent) and improvement of home prices (up 6 percent to 65 percent), but economic growth has moved into the No. 3 reason for growth, at 49 percent (up 7 percent).

"As consumer confidence has increased, so has the confidence of the remodeling community," O'Grady says. "It appears that everyone has finally settled into this 'new normal' economic picture, and more bids are turning into remodeling projects, and at higher price points."

Remodelers, although optimistic, remain cautious about the future, with the outlook from three months from now going down 1.3 percent from last quarter.

Other significant contributors to overall activity:

• Certainty about the future was reported by 47 percent of respondents
• Low interest rates was reported by 35 percent of respondents (its lowest rating in three quarters)
• Growth in stock market was reported by 37 percent of respondents

"One of the things we saw from the comments of the second-quarter RBP is that many homes were impacted by disasters in the past three months?from the storms along the East Coast, tornadoes in Oklahoma and the explosion in Texas," O'Grady says. "Remodelers in those areas are involved in the clean-up, and that's impacting their businesses."

To review the research in its entirety, please send your request to marketing@nari.org.

NARI is the source for homeowners seeking to hire a professional remodeling contractor. Members are full-time, dedicated remodelers who follow a strict code of ethics with high standards of honesty, integrity and responsibility.

Visit the NARI.org site to get tips on how to hire a remodeling professional and to search for NARI members in your area.

Click here to see an online version of this press release.

DES MOINES, IA (07/22/2013)(readMedia)-- Claire Vandercar of East Moline was named to the Drake University Dean's List for the Spring 2013 semester. Students must achieve a grade-point average of 3.5 or above to earn this honor.

Drake is a private, independent university in Des Moines, Iowa, with an enrollment of approximately 3,400 full-time undergraduate students and 1,900 graduate students from 49 states and 50 countries. Drake University's mission is to provide an exceptional learning environment that prepares students for meaningful personal lives, professional accomplishments and responsible global citizenship. The Drake experience is distinguished by collaborative learning among students, faculty and staff and by the integration of the liberal arts and sciences with professional preparation.