How Do You Show Your Waukee Pride?

Admit it. When it comes to showing Waukee pride, you’ve let your freak flag fly.

Maybe you painted your face half purple/half gold. Maybe you pulled out the old air horn at a Warrior football game. Whatever you did, you were showing your pride. You love this city and you wanted everyone to know it.

For those of us a little less – how should we say it? – adventurous, there are simpler ways to show just how proud you are to be from Waukee.

Raygun, a T-shirt shop in Des Moines’s historic East Village, came up with a unique way to pay homage to the city that prides itself on possessing “The Key to Good Living.” In May, Raygun released a gold-colored tee that really says it all: “Waukee: The Key to Hood Livin.’”

“We knew the slogan for Waukee was, ‘Waukee: The Key to Good Living,’" said Raygun merchandising manager Ryan Looysen. “So, we used a little campy humor and substituted the word "hood" for "good", and flipped "living" for "livin' ", because obviously Waukee is not the hood, and the thought of Waukee even being brought up in the same sentence as the expression "the hood" was a funny notion.”

Looysen said the T-shirt, which costs $19, has been a moderately popular sell at the store. Sales are in line with those of another western suburb - West Des Moines (“West Des Moines is the Best Des Moines” and “West DUH Moines.”)

If you prefer to share your pride among friends, maybe you should check out Facebook.

Waukee native Carmen Smith, 44, started a Facebook group, “You know you’re from Waukee if…” in August. It’s essentially an online bulletin board where friends and fans of Waukee can post their favorite memories of their ‘hood.

Smith, a 1985 graduate of Waukee High School now living in northern Virginia, said the page's 212 fans say a lot about how this once small town has grown.

“There’s all these things that people post that you either remember or you don’t,” she said. “That’s the great part about it. These are all things you didn’t appreciate at the time they happened, but are a great reminder of home now.”

So, maybe you’re more interested in keeping your Waukee pride on the down low. Like, really low. Like on the ground low. That’s easy.  You can show your Warrior spirit with the now famous Waukee “W” painted on your driveway or sidewalk.

For $20 or $30, depending on the letter size you choose, the Waukee Vocal Music Boosters will do all the work so you can be a flag waver too.