08/13/2026
Why so much spirit wear, Kristi?
Well, I'm glad you asked! Let me give you a little history. In the summer of 1995, much to my disappointment at the time, my family transplanted to Geneseo....
I was entering into my freshman year of highschool. Did we move from far away? No, not really, but at 14 years old Geneseo felt like a whole new planet. We moved from East Moline into farm country. A place where farmers drive tractors on the roads and sometimes it smells like livestock and manure. I was disturbed by the fact that we now lived in the "country". Our neighbors had horses, cows and corn in their yards. So much had changed for me and I was reluctant to give it a chance. (My parents would say something a little more extreme. Heck, the realtor probably remembers that one highschool girl crying all through out the walk thru of her new house and saying how much she hated it😂).
Yet, I started highschool, played the sports, did the activities, got used to the smells and eventually met "my people". I ended up making connections with a community of friends whose families had been here for generations. Good people. People I love to this day. Those friends are still some of my very best and we get together as often as we can. Some of us are even raising our kids in this community together and have kids that will graduate together, just as we did.
Geneseo changed who I was. It gave me roots. I became more country and less city. It gave me a place to grow. It taught me pride. I fell down many times in this town, and was raised right back up. It showed me the value and depth of tradition. My boys are playing football this year with other boys whose moms and dads I graduated highschool with. We see each other at all the events. We are connected. We have shared lives and memories.
Can just anyone make a cute spiritwear shirt and sell it? Sure. Does everyone have the love that I have for this town? Not even close.
Ironfox reinvests in Geneseo because Geneseo is part of who I am.
I had the pleasure of making a donation to the class of 2027/28 prom fund at back to school night this week thanks to your love of the Ring the Bell sweatshirts.
Thank you for helping me love this town. I thank those in this town who take a chance on me. God bless you all and may God bless Geneseo, IL.