Brandon, calf Clover pitch with Farmer Rob

If you have children of milk-drinking age, you may have met the camera-hog calf Clover, red-faced herdsman Brandon and Morning Fresh Dairy co-owner “Farmer Rob” Graves.

The Bellvue dairy began mailing 9-inch-by-6-inch postcards in early July to 13,000 homes throughout Northern Colorado as part of a re-branding campaign. The cards feature clever, slightly cheesy profiles of the cream of the 100-plus-year-old dairy’s staff.

Graves said the company launched the campaign to remind the public they are locally owned, 100 percent natural and have “got” more than milk. The dairy also produces several well-respected but controversial cheeses, the subjects of a trade-secrets lawsuit filed by the now-defunct Bingham Hill Cheese Co. (The less said about that, however, the butter, as no Gouda can come of it.)

As with the dairy, the marketing campaign was a family affair. Lori Graves, Rob’s wife and dairy co-owner, brought brother Warren Diggles on board to handle photography and Web design. His photos show fresh-faced, happy employees, including the irrepressible Clover. But blushing Brandon is by far the most Eye-catching.

Born and bred on a Missouri dairy farm, Brandon is a jack-of-all trades who looks after cow and milk crew alike. Jennifer Bryant, owner of Windsor-based Red Rocket Media Group, interviewed the shy herdsman as research for the campaign.

“Whenever he talks to girls, any girls, he just gets bright red,´ said Bryant. “When I interviewed him, he just had this cherry of a face.”

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Laramie hits list

National magazine lists perennially include Northern Colorado cities among best places to work, retire, raise a family, go to college, start a business and, well, just about anything else we do in life.

In fact, Fort Collins just last month hit the No. 1 spot on the Mother of All Lists, Money magazine’s ranking of best places in America to live.

In mid-August, the Eye spied a notice from the Laramie Economic Development Corp., the business-boosting agency in our higher, colder neighbor to the north, that Laramie had landed a top-five ranking on a list of best small towns in America.

American City Business Journals analyzed 577 “micropolitan” areas coast to coast, applying 12 different criteria to the task of finding the best, and the worst, of them. Laramie, population 30,890, claims the No. 5 position on a list that has a distinctively Western flavor. On top was Bozeman, Mont., followed by Jackson, Wyo., Durango, and Eastman, Md.

“It’s no surprise that Laramie, the home of the University of Wyoming, has a strong educational base,” the Bizjournals editors wrote, highlighting one of their more heavily weighted ranking criteria. Laramie ranks third among all micropolitan areas in the share of adults with bachelor’s degrees, at 44.1 percent, and graduate degrees, at 18.5 percent. “And commutes are mercifully short,” the publishers noted.

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Want to get away?

Fort Collins-based Private Escapes Destination Clubs is gearing up to send people off in style, provided they have the wherewithal. The company’s newest and most exclusive offering is the “Pinnacle” collection of five of the poshest vacation residences, each valued in excess of $3 million. For example, members can book a 25th-floor penthouse apartment at 1600 Broadway in New York, overlooking Times Square, or a palatial antebellum mansion in Charleston, S.C.

And travelers don’t even have to fly commercial, what with access to Private Escapes’ private jet service. So go ahead and carry your toothpaste aboard.

Of course, these amenities have price tags: The Pinnacle service carries a $350,000 refundable entrance deposit, annual dues of $22,000, and nightly fees of $185.

As the Private Escapes slogan says, “Free yourself.”

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