Bench to Nowhere: Swamp Thing

A Cool Town Toon

Another Santa sighting

Annual Christmas Breakfast with Santa
Saturday, December 4th (9AM - 11:30AM)
Yellow Springs United Methodist Church

Pancakes & sausage breakfast plus
take home crafts for children, pictures with
Santa and a puppet show at 10:30AM

Children - free Adults - $5

Call 767-7560 for more information

Film at Herndon, Thursday

This Thursday evening (Dec. 2) at 7:00 p.m. the Morgan Fellows are showing the recent documentary "Out in the Sllence" (Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, 2009, 56 minutes) at the Herndon Gallery in South Hall.

This moving film tackles the timely subject of the homophobic bullying of a teenager in a small Pennsylvania town. The film also demonstrates the ways in which change becomes possible when courageous people break the silence and work across differences in a search for common ground.

Please come, and please help us spread the word.

Jean Gregorek and Anne Bohlen, Arthur Morgan Fellows
Antioch College
937-286-8455

Community Chorus and Chamber Orchestra to perform

Don't miss a spectacular evening with the Yellow Springs Community Chorus and Chamber Orchestra, which will perform Handel's "Alexander's Feast" on Sunday, December 5 at 7:00 pm in the First Presbyterian Church.

Subtitled "The Power of Music", the work is an Ode in honor of St. Cecilia, patron saint of music, and tells of the various ways music affects us all. Soloists Jennifer Gilchrist and Vincent Davis (whom you may have heard in the recent Dayton Opera "Porgy & Bess) will join the chorus in this invigorating work. Also on the program, a Handel Trio with Susanne Oldham and Mary White, soloists, and some of the famous Water Music.

Admission is free - bring a friend!

Little Art Brings Films to Focus on Education

"No Textbook Answer" - Dec. 4 at 1 p.m.

In addition to showing the documentary Waiting for Superman from Dec. 3rd to the 8th, the Little Art will present a free screening of "No Textbook Answer: Communities Confront the Achievement Gap" on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 1:00pm. The film, produced locally by the Kettering Foundation, will begin airing on public television stations around the country in 2011.

No Textbook Answer follows eight communities around the country with significant achievement gaps, gaps in achievement levels between white and minority students, and between poor and affluent students. No Textbook Answer documents the efforts of these communities that, instead of waiting for the schools to fill them, decided to do what they could to start filling them themselves. These efforts ranged from providing meals to hungry parents and kids to setting up mentoring programs or after-school activities, to holding a school board candidates’ forum moderated by district schoolchildren.

The 30-minute documentary will be followed by a discussion to answer the following questions: Are my kids and my community facing this problem? What could we do about it? Who can help? For more information visit www.LittleArt.com.

WYSO Mini-Drive: December 9th & 10th

Friends of WYSO,

'Tis the season for giving and WYSO's Mini Year-End Fund Drive is coming up Thursday and Friday December 9th and 10th.

We need a few kind souls to come out and help answer phones and take pledges from 7:30-9:30 AM and 4:30-6:30 PM on both Thursday December 9th and Friday December 10th

Shifts are filling up fast so contact Sarah Buckingham at 937.769.1334 or sbuckingham@wyso.org if you're interested in helping out.

Volunteers like you make it all possible!

Film festival call for submissions

Early submission deadline is Friday, Dec. 17

The Little Art Theatre, a nonprofit single-screen movie house in Yellow Springs, will host the Second Annual Yellow Springs Short Film Festival on Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 1 p.m. The program will be repeated on Sunday, February 6 at 1 p.m.

The festival will include short films that showcase the best of local filmmaking talent, from students to professionals to everyone in between and will feature audience choice awards for the most popular films.

We are now accepting submissions of short films for the festival. This year we are limiting submission to finished films only. The early deadline for entry is Friday, December 17, 2010 and the regular deadline is Friday, January 7, 2011. The entry fee is $5 for the early deadline and $10 for the regular deadline; entry date to be determined by postmark.

To be considered for entry, the majority of each film must have been shot in one of the following counties: Greene, Montgomery, Clark, Madison, Fayette, Clinton, or Warren. Exceptions may be made if a filmmaker from one of those counties shot their film elsewhere. Films should be no longer than 15 minutes in length. We will allow for a 1 or 2 minute leeway to suit the filmmaker’s vision.

To submit a short film, go to http://www.littleart.com/events/shortfilmfest/ which contains the entry form and other submission guidelines. You can also join the festival’s Facebook page for more information and updates: http://www.facebook.com/ysshortfilmfest.

For more information, entrants may contact Vanessa Query, Festival Director, Little Art Theatre, 247 Xenia Avenue, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. Tel. - 937.767.7671; Email - vanessaquery@gmail.com .

YSPD coats for kids program heats up

The Yellow Springs Police Department is collecting coats for kids again this year. To make a donation, checks can be made out to the Yellow Springs Coat Fund. Send checks or walk up to the dispatch window in the Bryan Center. The program has expanded beyond just coats. For more information call 767-7206.

Nice article in the Xenia Gazette: Yellow Springs Police collecting coats for kids

Spring Into Wellness Call for Proposals

Weekend of March 18-20, 2011

The Yellow Springs Arts Council, in partnership with Yoga Springs Studio, will Experience Wellness during its 3rd Annual “Spring Into the Arts” Weekend, March 18-20, 2011. The weekend begins with a “Third Friday Fling” evening and continues through Sunday afternoon. Yoga workshops will be offered by Yoga Springs Studio.

Presenters/practitioners: Click here to download the Call for Proposals

Call for proposals deadline: DECEMBER 6, 2010

Chickens on loose, corner of High and Limestone

11/28/10, 12:20 p.m.


I just got a call from YSPD informing me that three chickens (tw0 red and one black and gray) are running loose at the corner of S. High and Limestone Streets. They would appreciate it if the owner would retrieve them and return them to safety ASAP. For more information, call the non-emergency number: 767-7206.

Do you know where your chickens are?

Third Annual Presby Bash

This Saturday

Plus an extra treat: The Coots final performance of "Parking Spaces"

Slide show from last year's Presby Bash

The last piece of Thanksgiving pie

Pie by Kipra Heerman

Photo by Barry Heerman

Special Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers show at the Clifton Opera House

Saturday, Dec. 4


Make a day of it in Clifton on Saturday, December 4th. The village of Clifton will be buzzing with events all day and evening. At noon the Clifton Winterfest opens it's doors with shopping and cafe dining. 48 artisans and vendors display their goods at this indoor event. Pick up some Clifton Gorge coffee and benefit the Clifton historic building fund. For the energetic nature lovers, the beautiful Clifton Gorge Nature Preserve is nearby on SR343, bring your camera! Clifton has it all.

Later in the day, Joe Mullins will be broadcasting live right down the street at the Clifton Mill. At 7:30pm the Clifton Opera House will host the Joe Mullins and Radio Ramblers show at 7:30pm. What better way to spend a day in Clifton.

To kick off the Christmas season and the introduction of their latest CD "Hymns From the Hills" Joe has asked that every attendee bring a canned food item to help stock the food banks in our area. This special Opera House show is a first time event for Joe and the Radio Ramblers, and we hope that it becomes an annual tradition.

Joe and the Ramblers Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers have officially completed the recording process of their soon-to-be-released gospel project for Rebel Records. Hymns From The Hills features both new and older songs and some of the finest singers and musicians in bluegrass and gospel music. Very special guests on the CD include Ralph Stanley, Doyle Lawson, Paul Williams, Rhonda Vincent, Larry Sparks, Dale Perry, James Allen Shelton, Matt DeSpain, Missy Everidge, and a special children's choir comprised of 22 youth. The CD is a true labor of love for Joe who states, "This project has been a lifetime in the making. When the Radio Ramblers came together in 2006, we were blessed with the right combination of talent to produce a set of songs with a broad diversity of arrangements and dynamics.


For more information contact 937.767.2343 or check the web listing at www.cliftonoperahouse.com. The box office opens at 6:30pm, the Opera House seats 242, so get there early! A door donation of $10 is requested.

Bob Ford and the Ragamuffins at the Clifton Opera House

Friday, Dec. 3

The Clifton Opera House will be hosting a fun filled weekend starting with a performance by Bob Ford and the Ragamuffins on Friday evening at 7:30pm. In keeping with their well known reputation, this Cedarville based band will entertain with their whimsical Irish show. Bob and the two ragamuffins Beth and Jan will keep you laughing and toe tapping. When they hit the stage the fun begins!

Bob and the Ragamuffins will entertain, enlighten and engage you with their skilled musicianship, their humor and their family fun! The timeless beauty of their songs will touch your heart and remind you of days gone by. It's Americana at it's best!

Ever have a longing to hear the "golden oldies" from the 1570s to the 1970s, then don't miss the the Clifton Opera House on Friday evening!

Bob Ford & the Ragamuffins have delighted audiences at the Dublin Irish Festival, Sauder Village, Minnetrista, the Fitton Center, Springfield Celtic Festival, Ohio Renaissance Festival, the Viking Festival, Miami University at Middletown, Appalachian Mountain Music Festival, Centerville Americana Festival and many, many more. Fun for the whole family!

Box office opens at 6:30pm, show starts at 7:30pm.

The Clifton Opera House is owned and operated by the Village of Clifton. Box office opens one hour prior to show time. Located at 5 So Clay Street, Clifton. Call 937.767.2343 for info or check the website for upcoming performances. www.cliftonoperahouse.com

How many is too many?

Forty three catalogs in one week – that was finally our limit. I know we’re closing in on the season to be jolly and full of goodwill but this is just making me more of a curmudgeon than usual. Imagine the cost, time, ink, trees and pollution related to the production of these slick pieces of junk mail – not to mention the landfill impacts.

So last week, after hearing an ad on NPR, we decided Catalog Choice (http://www.catalogchoice.org/) was worth a try. The idea is that through this one central website you can “opt-out of unwanted advertising materials”. The basic service is free and it’s fairly easy as long as you have the catalog mailing label. Don’t expect instant results. It’s a slow process but we are getting some confirmations that the scheme does work.

On the other hand, I’ve heard the opinion that these catalogs are important for retail sales and provide jobs for marketers, advertisers, designers, postal employees, paper manufacturers, printers, etc. Could it be that mail order catalogs are the secret to stimulating an economic recovery? Is it worth the risk? Yes.

A. Reader

Yellow Springs in radio reading

Village is fictional setting for story by local writer
- to be read on NPR station in Cleveland

A new book from The Kent State University Press, Christmas Stories from Ohio, includes a story set in a town based on Yellow Springs. The characters and events in local writer Scott Geisel’s story “Spring Early” are fictional, but the setting is drawn straight from Yellow Springs. Those familiar with the village will recognize the hardware store, coffee shop, school, streets, and the general small-town sensibility and closeness that Yellow Springers enjoy. The book is available through the Greene County Libraries and features work by historical and contemporary Ohio writers. In December, a Cleveland NPR station, WCPN, will air a program that will include a reading of the story or excerpts from it.

Reflections on a Yellow Springs Thanksgiving

By Susan Gartner

Friends, family, neighbors, and guests came together yesterday for the Annual Yellow Springs Community Thanksgiving Dinner at the First Presbyterian Church. Sponsored by the Yellow Springs Interspiritual Council, the event attracts young and old, friends and strangers, encouraging a spirit of community and connection.

“It’s kind of like sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with two-hundred and ninety-nine of my own family members!”

That’s how Dayna Foster described the event when I spoke with her the day after an estimated 300 guests participated in the community feast. Foster is one of the coordinators of the event which holds a certain magical quality to it when I think of all the many “elves” that help to pull it off each year.

Coordination of the event is three months in the making with meetings starting in September. Volunteers are recruited in advance for a long list of tasks including the cooking of the turkeys, table set-up and clean-up, and washing dishes. Guests are invited (but not required) to bring a dish to share. The overflowing tables of food — including vegetarian and vegan entrees — suggests that Yellow Springs is a village that likes to cook!

Foster is grateful for all the assistance that makes the event so successful including the ad placed in the YS News, courtesy of Jackson Lytle & Lewis Funeral Home, and the impromptu elves that turned up on Thanksgiving day.

“People just showed up early,” she told me, “and asked, ‘What can I do?’”

The plan for next year is to reimburse the turkey cooks for the cost and preparation of the turkeys. This year’s free-range turkeys came from Tom’s Market and Foster hopes that next year’s cooks will follow in that tradition.

About 25 volunteers are needed the day of the event to cover tasks such as room set-up, keeping the serving tables continually supplied from dishes warming in the church’s oven, managing overflow and directing people to additional seating, washing dishes, monitoring coffee and drinks, clearing plates from the tables, taking down tables, putting away chairs, and putting the room back in order.

Each year towards the end of the dinner, Foster makes the announcement for guests to use one of the carryout containers provided, load it up with leftovers, and bring it to someone who was unable to attend. Foster would like this to become a more coordinated effort next year with homebound persons signing up in advance and volunteers committing to deliver the meals afterwards.

“You don’t even have to come to the meetings,” she assured future volunteers. “I do a lot of coordinating by e-mail.”

I asked Foster what the view was like from the kitchen – how were the volunteers holding up from the barrage of dirty dishes? “They were tired but happy,” she said. “They felt good about being part of such a good thing.” Foster herself enjoyed looking out over Westminster Hall and seeing villagers greeting strangers and engaging in conversation. “That’s the payback for us,” she said, “seeing people enjoying themselves, meeting new people, having good conversations, and eating good food prepared by villagers.”

As for Foster, herself, actually having a chance to enjoy the meal, she told me with a laugh, “I did sit down long enough to eat with my dad!”

For more information or to volunteer or to get on the list of homebound persons who might enjoy a meal delivered next year, contact the church at 767-7751 or e-mail ysic@earthlink.net.

Commmunity Thanksgiving Dinner 2010

Friends, family, neighbors and guests came together yesterday at the First Presbyterian Church for the Annual Yellow Springs Community Thanksgiving Dinner. Sponsored by the Yellow Springs Interspiritual Council, the event attracts young and old, encouraging a spirit of community and connection. Thanks to the many volunteers who help to make this such a successful and heartwarming event. For more information and to volunteer for next year, please contact ysic@earthlink.net.

Photos by Susan Gartner

Destination YS

This Weekend in the Village

November 26
An Afternoon of Giving
Carriage Rides & Pictures with Santa
Free with a donation for the Food Pantry;
Ye Olde Trail Tavern, 228 Xenia Ave.,
1-4 pm.

Holiday Kiln Opening Sale
Miami Valley Pottery 145 E. Hyde Rd
Friday, Saturday & Sunday 10am-5pm
miami valley pottery

Choose & Cut Christmas Trees
Young's Jersey Dairy, enjoy complementary popcorn and hot chocolate!
Begins Friday November 26th-December 19th.
9am-6pm

Entertainment
November 26 Weekend

Peach's
Friday - 10:00 pm
Seefari
Saturday - 10:00 pm
Rumpke Mountain Boys

Sunrise Cafe
Thursday - 10pm
DJ 501

Brother Bear's
Friday 7-9:30pm
Open Mic

___________________

Little Art Theatre
Now Featuring Matinees on Tuesday & Friday!

Starting Friday:
Nowhere Boy
Fri., 26th: 4pm, 7pm, 9pm; Sat.27th: 7pm, 9pm; Sun28th.: 3pm, 7:30pm; Mon.: 7:30; Tues. 4pm, 7:30pm; Wed.: 7:30pm

Click here for your Guide to Holiday in the Springs

E-book readers at YS Library

Program on e-book readers, Thursday, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Have you been curious about what it's like to read a book on a hand-held digital device? Now's your chance to get up close to one of these mysterious gadgets. On Thursday, Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m., members of the Yellow Springs Library Association Board of Trustees will hold a panel discussion on the use and features of various models of e-book readers as well as how to use the library's free digital download section. They will bring their personal devices to demonstrate, including Nook, Kindle, Sony Reader and I-Pad.

Bike path to reopen in Clark?

State and Federal grants require Little Miami Scenic Trail in Clark County to remain open




According to an article on Wednesday in the Springfield News-Sun, the State has given Clark County until Dec. 10 to reopen the bike path that was closed last week by the County Parks District due to budget concerns.

Springfield News-Sun: State: County must reopen park, bike trail

Related post: Springers affected by Clark County cutbacks

Rocky & Pee Wee: Chickenland retreat for chicks

Happy Thanksgiving from the Chamber

The Chamber has a great deal to be thankful for this Thanksgiving with our great members at the top of the list. Thanks also to a great Chamber staff, Village employees that provide excellent services and a community that is like no other. Enjoy your family & friends this Holiday season.

Home for the Holidays Events:

Community Thanksgiving Dinner
1st Presbyterian Church, 314 Xenia Ave.
Thursday, November 25; 2-4pm

An Afternoon of Giving
Carriage Rides & Pictures with Santa
Free with a donation for the Food Pantry;
Ye Olde Trail Tavern, 228 Xenia Ave.,
Friday, November 26; 1-4 pm

Holiday Kiln Opening Sale
Miami Valley Pottery 145 E. Hyde Rd
Friday, Saturday & Sunday 10am-5pm

Choose & Cut Christmas Trees
Young's Jersey Dairy, enjoy complementary popcorn and hot chocolate!
Begins Friday November 26-December 19; 9am-6pm

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Dark Star Books employee Lee Blasingame paints a colorful holiday message on the storefront window.

Photo by Susan Gartner

Bench to Nowhere: A heavy travel day

A Cool Town Toon

Click on image to enlarge.

Thanksgiving in Bushwick

There was no river; there were no woods.

My mother grew up the daughter of poor Italian immigrants in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. When there was work, my grandfather was a laborer and my grandmother did piece work in a sweatshop. My mother, always a good student, had to quit school at sixteen and get a job to contribute to the family income. There was a depression and then a war. It probably didn’t seem like there was much to be thankful for.

My mother married my father when she was eighteen. He was a young Marine officer who had just graduated from college. Shortly after the wedding, he was shipped off to the South Pacific where he was when I was born in the hospital at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. After my birth, my mother found a rent controlled apartment in an elevator building in Woodhaven, Queens and moved away from her parents, about a 20-minute ride on the Jamaica Avenue El. There were just the two of us, until my father returned from the war and things started looking up.

Dad worked as an insurance adjuster and went to law school at night. Soon I had two sisters. Fortunately, when he graduated, he landed a job in the Brooklyn DA’s office. We moved into a bigger rent controlled apartment in the same building. We weren’t exactly the Nelsons, but I didn’t know that.

On Thanksgiving day, the old man would pack us into the ’37 Plymouth and we’d head off down Eastern Parkway to Bushwick for dinner at my grandparent’s. Once we left Queens, there were no trees.

Grandma and Grandpa and my young uncle lived in a coldwater flat on the second story of a four story brownstone walk-up on Himrod Street. The neighborhood’s claim to fame was favorite son Jackie Gleason, a symbol of hope on a bleak landscape of rows of identical buildings. The Irish were there before the Italians took over. Later, it would be the Puerto Ricans.

The apartment was called a coldwater flat, because tenants had to make their own heat and hot water. There was a potbelly stove and a manually operated gas water heater. Each resident had a coal bin in the basement. It was also called a railroad flat, because there was no hallway. To get from one end of the apartment to the other, one had to walk through each of the rooms.

My old man would drop us in front of the building and look for a place to park the Plymouth. We had to climb a long flight of stairs to get to their apartment door. All the way up we were lured by the aroma of garlic and olive oil, homemade tomato sauce, a turkey roasting in the oven, and handmade spinach and cheese ravioli drying all over the kitchen.

Our dinner was a feast by anyone’s standards. The ravioli was just a first course, during which I would enter into mortal combat with my uncle over mushrooms sautéed in garlic and olive oil. By the time the turkey and vegetables were served, we were all pretty much stuffed. After dinner there were Italian pastries from the local bakery. I remember my mother letting me have only half a cannoli. She knew my eyes were bigger than my stomach.

My grandfather, who spoke no English, had a giant multiband international radio that look like a Wurlitzer juke box. I don’t remember ever hearing it work, but I do remember getting yelled at for poking at the many different colored buttons. Shortly after Thanksgiving, he would start setting up his antique Lionel train set for Christmas. Every year, at the base of the Christmas tree, he would create a mountain village reminiscent of the village where he was born. The train would run in and out of a tunnel and, although it was only a simple loop, it created the impression of a whole other world; the world of my grandfather that I would never know. When I think of him now, I think of him cracking walnuts for his grandchildren and offering us roasted chestnuts that we always declined, or teasing us, telling us through my mother that there were mice in the walls.

Eventually, the males would gravitate to the black and white TV in the living room to watch football while the women did the dishes. Soon there would be a chorus of snores as the tryptophan kicked in. It was warm in that coldwater flat in Bushwick. And, while I’m sure the adults still had plenty of worries, we kids felt safe and secure in the that Thanksgiving routine.

The last Thanksgiving we celebrated in Bushwick, I arrived on my own on the el. It must have been 1957 and I would have been thirteen. I had been to a football game at one of the high schools. That winter we would move to the suburbs on Long Island and, thereafter, dinner would be at our house. We still had the ravioli and the mushrooms, but it was never quite the same without that long climb up the stairs to Grandma’s place.

Years later, I defended a drug dealer who was charged with killing a woman in a drive-by shooting in Bushwick in a building like the one where my grandparents lived.

For Amy and me, Thanksgiving is still a family affair. If we dine with others, it’s because we have invited them to our place. This year doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving. My two grownup children live in Seattle and I haven’t had Thanksgiving with them in over ten years. Amy’s daughter got married this year and will be off to North Carolina with her in-laws. So there will just be the three of us – three people and a 14 lb. turkey.

Amy is taking it especially hard. We talked about putting it off to Sunday, when May and her husband, Chris, will be home, but I want turkey on Turkey Day. And besides, I love the leftovers. I suggested a nice ham for the makeup dinner and Amy agreed, as long as the three of us who are left sit down together on Thanksgiving as a family and eat together; no computers, no Internet war games for a least a little while. Maybe later, we’ll play some Guitar Hero until the tryptophan kicks in.

Click on image to enlarge.

Banjos N Brass to play Clifton Opera House

Springfield Banjos N Brass will play the historic Clifton Opera House on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m.

This interesting group mixes a blend of traditional jazz forms to provide a wide variety of sounds of the ragtime and early jazz eras. They add several different modes of playing, with they’re various instruments, such as brass, woodwinds, percussion, bass, banjos, vocals, guitars, and Honky Tonk piano. The selection of “Tin Pan Alley” tunes were the Hit Parade numbers of that era, and the lycerists and composers were the elite of that era, making them classic numbers transcending the decades of popular music.

The music is toe-tapping to say the least, and the zest the performers exhibit duing the performance makes the show “contagious” to the audience. They have been performing for nearly forty years around western Ohio region and have performed for high level dignitaries. The Clifton Opera House is owned and operated by the Village of Clifton as a fund raiser for the historic building maintenance fund. Call 937.767.2343 for information. Box office opens at 6:30pm.

Clifton Winterfest sparkles on Friday, Nov 26th

The village of Clifton will be bustling with activity this week as the second annual Clifton Winterfest opens on Friday, November 26th. The indoor shop will feature handmade gifts and crafts offered by various artisans from the surrounding area.

The Winterfest shop will open at Noon on Friday and remain open daily thru December 24th. The shop hours will be Noon to 9pm on Fridays thru Sundays and 4-9pm on Monday thru- Thursday. The locally known "Gingerbread Antique" located on SR343 will be wearing a bright and shiney new face for this event.

There will be live on stage music performances, fun filled events and indoor shopping all month in Clifton; a month of fun! Various artisans will be giving "hands on" craft demonstrations throughout the Winterfest.

On Wednesdays thru Sunday, Rue Farms of Springfield will provide a cafe on the premises with a varied menu.

Come out and meet the Alpacas of Stewart Heritage Farm on Saturday, November 27th from Noon to 4pm. Local photographer Talitha Green will be available to take your picture with the smiling alpacas. Check out the website www.cliftonwinterfest.com for the updated performance schedules and more information.

Three local business women formed the Ohio Artisans Group to organize and host the event. This will be the first of many such group endeavors. A raffle to benefit the village of Clifton's historic building fund will be held on December 19th.

Clifton, Ohio, "The Gateway to the Gorge" is located at the junction of state route 343 and highway 72. Admission and ample parking is free. The building is handicap accessible. Tour buses are welcome.

For more information contact: Brenda Walter: 937.767.2343; or Brenda Hanes 937.430.0603

Harry's simple turkey recipe (repost)

(Based on Thanksgiving 2008)

12 lb. Turkey at 325 degs. for 3.5 hours

Wash turkey, clean cavity with salt. Stuff cavity with apples and onions. Add a cup of water to bottom of roasting pan. Use a pan that will keep the turkey raised.

Baste with mixture of melted butter, basil, and white wine, then cover turkey with aluminum foil for first 2 hours. Brown for last 1 ½ hours.

Baste every 20 mins. Use fresh mixture for first hour, then continue to baste with drippings from pan. Add water if needed.

Basting Mixture: Melt ¼ lb of butter and add dried basil flakes and a couple dashes of dry white wine.

Substitute freely. Adjust cooking times for size of turkey approximately 20 min. per lb.

The rest:

• Dice giblets, brown in butter and add to two jars of Heinz turkey gravy. Stir in drippings from pan and simmer for a few minutes.
• Stove Top Turkey Dressing (follow directions on box)
• Instant mashed potatoes (ditto)
• Wrap sweet potatoes in aluminum foil and place on rack with turkey for last 1 ½ hours.
• Get someone else to make the green beans.

Community Thanksgiving at Presbyterian Church

The Seventh Annual Community Thanksgiving will be held in Westminster Hall at the first First Presbyterian Church on Thanksgiving Day from 2–4 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Yellow Springs Interspiritual Council. All villagers are invited. Turkey and sides will be served. Admission is free.

Traditional – Vegetarian – Vegan

A dish to share is appreciated but not required.

For more info, call 408-1391 or email ysic@earthlink.net.

YSI undergoing management changes

Yellow Springs' flagship business, YSI, Inc. has announced that it has filled two new positoins and made other changes in its top management, the Springfield News-Sun reported, yesterday. The company has hired a chief operating officer and a director of life sciences.

Springfield News-Sun: Yellow Springs company announces management changes

Bench to Nowhere: From the Latin, "to hold on"

A Cool Town Toon

Click on image to enlarge.

Glen Helen Nature Arts and Craft Show

Reader submitted photos from the 29th Annual Glen Helen Nature Arts and Craft Show held this past weekend.

A beautiful day in the village

11/21/10

Photo by Susan gartner

Chew on this...

Harvey Paige took this photo of shredding trucks on Livermore Street in the vicinity of McGregor Hall, Saturday morning.

Third Weekend Fling - Friday night

Carolers

Eco-Mental's Third Anniversary

Carriage rides started at the Little Art

November’s Third Weekend Fling in the Springs featured artist receptions and holiday events on Friday night.

Carolers sang in front of Eco-Mental, celebrating its 3rd Anniversary; free carriage rides were offered in front of Little Art Theatre; Urban Handmade Holiday Celebration included a free outdoor screening of “It’s A Wonderful Life”; Yellow Springs artist Liz Zaff greeted guests at her opening reception for “The Polaroid Project,” paintings on cardboard at “Would You, Could You” In A Frame; belly dancers Cami Knick (left) and Erin Wolf helped local painter Travis Tarbox Hotaling get in the spirit of the event during his opening reception at YS Arts Council Gallery. The exhibit, “Portrait of a Woman,” features the work of Hotaling and Jade Nikita McConnell.

Photos by Susan Gartner

Click here for more photos from Friday night.

Coots Repertory Co. joins Presby lineup

The Coots Repertory Company, actors Ron Siemer, Jerry Buck and Walter Rhodes, and playwright Virgil Hervey*, will put on the ten-minute play "Parking Spaces" at the First Presbyterian Church's third annual "Season's Joy" celebration at the Emporium on Dec. 4. The show starts at 7:00 p.m. The play is scheduled to close out the first half, just before intermission.

"Parking Spaces" was first performed this summer at the Corner Cone as a part of the Soft-Serve Playhouse 10-minute Play Festival. It was performed again at the Corner Cone during Fall Street Fair. According to Hervey, this will be the play's final performance.

"I think we've beaten this one to death," he said in a recent interview. "It's time we started rehearsing our next play, "Eddie's Ark." We need be ready when the next 10-minute play festival comes along and it takes awhile for these guys to learn their lines."

Photo by Susan Gartner

*Hervey edits this blog.

Clean Gene to feature local musicians

DJ Clean Gene presents A Local Music Feature on Wednesday, November 24, 5-9 p.m. at Peach's Grill. Thanks to all local musicians and Happy Thanksgiving!

WYSO Shop: Open for business

Shop till you drop and support WYSO

Beginning today you can shop for books, music and DVDs at The WYSO Shop.

Click here to get to our new shopping page. You can also find it in the drop down menu tab "Support WYSO".

You'll get a great discount on the items you buy and a portion of the proceeds benefits WYSO!

Is this all they've got?

The barricades of the Little Miami Scenic Trail in Clark County went up today. This one at W. Jackson Road looks like an invitation to civil disobedience. I expected something out of Les Miserables.

Related post: Springers affected by Clark County cutbacks

Free chickens

Free to a good home, a dozen chickens, mostly two-years and younger. Must get rid of them immediately. 937.409.6901 (ask for Bob)

Back Story: Granddog vs. Groundhog Part 2

Granddog was over the other day. We had him on Sunday because Amy had a meeting at UD and I was going to drive here there and wait for her. The last time we did that, we were dog sitting, so we brought the dog along and I walked him around the campus. He seemed to enjoy doing that, so we asked if we could bring him along with us for a reprise. Then we asked to borrow him again during the week, since we had to be in Fairborn and May was going to be stopping by our house that night, anyway. As I wrote earlier, pet-wise, this is the best of both worlds.

At some point, I was downstairs in my home office when Amy called down to me that the groundhog was in the backyard and would I let the dog out to chase him. After what happened last time (me pulling a very eager dog off a very scared young groundhog), I didn’t think this was such a good idea. But, I went up to the kitchen to look out the back door. I thought that, if the groundhog were inside the confines of the Chickenland fence, we could let the dog out just to give the groundhog a good scare.

Well, he wasn’t in Chickenland, and he wasn’t a small animal like the last time. But, he was more than two-thirds of the way to the escape route under the back fence. So I decided to let the dog out. With that kind of a head start, I was sure he would get away and, perhaps, never return. But for some reason, as the dog scampered down the stairs from our back deck, the groundhog failed to perceive the danger and was slow to respond.

“Run, you damned fool!” I yelled.

His reaction was to turn and slowly lope towards the fence, and not even to that part of it where the escape tunnel is located. Needless to say, Granddog grabbed him before he got away and I had to run out there and pull him off yet another groundhog. There is a danger in this, as the groundhog is not likely to appreciate that I am its rescuer, and may very well end up biting me. Have you ever seen groundhog’s teeth?

Fortunately, this time Granddog cooperated better than the last time, when I had to carry him struggling all the way into the house.

It looks like we are going to have him for about a week over Thanksgiving. This will be the true test of whether we should get a dog of our own. We miss him a lot when he is not with us and both Amy and I have been alternately longing for a dog and swearing that we will never get one. In tune with all this, we went over to see Roscoe the other day. Roscoe is up for private adoption, as seen on the Blog and a poster on the bulletin board downtown by Mr. Fub’s.

Roscoe is some dog! He is so smart that he listens to every word of human conversation and if the word “sit” happens to come out, his butt will suddenly hit the floor. He reacts immediately to all the usual commands, except maybe “heel!” I have never seen a dog respond so fast. We fell in love with him as soon as we saw him, but the problem for us is our chickens and our house birds. Granddog likes to scatter the chickens from the other side of the fence, but they are getting used to each other. I’m pretty sure he could be trained not to do that, because, in just a short time, we have taught him to ignore our parrots. But, as smart as Roscoe is, I don’t think he can share a home with another pet, except another dog. Be that as it may, Roscoe’s name keeps coming up around our house.

I have visions of Granddog, Roscoe and the groundhog someday cavorting together in our backyard.

Pass It On Kids to host musician benefit tonight

Photo by Susan Gartner

Yellow Springs Musicians Co-op Benefit at Center Stage (Pass It On Kids), 136 Dayton Street

Friday, Nov. 19
Doors open: 7:30 p.m.
Show time: 8-11 p.m.

Featuring Soul Rebels (pictured above) and Blue Moon Soup

Suggested donation: $5.00

Donations go towards the Yellow Springs Musicians Co-op, created to make equipment available so that musicians who can't afford appropriate stage/sound/lighting equipment can pool their resources.

An All-Star Family Jam will follow the show.

Bike path update

A quick check of the Little Miami Scenic Trail where it crosses W. Jackson Road in Clark County, about one mile north of town, this morning, showed that the blockade that was supposed to go up yesterday is not yet in place. Following...

Related post: Springers affected by Clark County cutbacks

Destination YS

This Weekend in the Village

Click on image to enlarge.

Entertainment
November 19 Weekend

Peach's
Friday - 10:00 pm
Sasha Collette & The Magnolias
Saturday - 10:00 pm
Crazy Joe

Sunrise Cafe
Thursday - 10pm
DJ 501
Friday -10pm
The Nu Shu Band

Brother Bear's
Friday 7-9:30pm
Open Mic

___________________

Little Art Theatre
Now Featuring Matinees on Tuesday & Friday!
Now Playing:
You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Fri., 19: 4pm, 7pm, 9pm; Sat.: 7pm, 9pm; Sun.: 3pm, 7:30pm; Mon.: 7:30; Tues. 4pm, 7:30pm; Wed.: 7:30pm
The Line Shack
Sat., 20: 3pm


Farmer's Markets
Every Saturday
7:00 am - 12:00 pm
King's Yard
Behind Ye Olde Trail Tavern

Bike and Build award to Home, Inc.

Emily Seibel of Home, Inc. (2nd from the left) and Roger Reynolds of the Yellow Springs United Methodist Church (far right) with members of Bike and Build when they visited the church last year.

Home Inc. received an unexpected $1,100 grant from Bike and Build this week. For the past three summers, the United Methodist Church and Home,Inc. have partnered to host Bike and Build riders for an overnight stay in Yellow Springs. So far, the riders have used Yellow Springs just as a resting point on their way to Santa Barbara, Cal. But the longer term plan is that the 30 or so bikers will stay for a workday with Home, Inc. - that's a lot of manpower to help with remodeling and construction projects.

Thanks to all of you in the community who provided food, showers and entertainment for the bikers - they leave town happy and with very high regard for Yellow Springs. For more information on bike and build go to http://www.bikeandbuild.org/cms/content/view/32/49/.

Reminder: Show at the Glen this weekend

Click on image to enlarge.

The Glen Helen Nature Arts & Crafts Show is this weekend. The show is on Sat., Nov. 20 from 9 am to 5 pm and Sun., Nov. 21 from 11 am to 5 pm at the Glen Helen Building, 405 Corry Street in Yellow Springs.

There will be a silent auction on both days of the show and baked goods will also be available. The $4 admission goes to support Glen Helen and its 1,000 acre nature preserve. A coupon for $2 off the entry fee is available at www.glenhelen.org.

For more information call the Glen Helen Ecology Institute at 937.769.1902 or visit www.glenhelen.org.

Chamber Chat, Thursday morning

Please join us for the Chamber Chat tomorrow (November 18) focusing on Buying Local & Supporting Local Businesses. We’d like to discuss how to develop a workable program that both businesses and residents can support. We need input from all local businesses, not just retail. The meeting will be held at the Bryan Center , Rooms A&B from 9 - 10 am. Please join us for this informal Chat to share ideas for increasing your customer base and better serving the needs of residents.

The Backyard Flock: On strike!

I was afraid this might happen. Our recent drought has brought lawn mowing to a standstill and, therefore, I had no grass clippings to use as litter this last coop cleaning over the weekend. So I had to go back to piling straw on the floor of the coops and stuffing a handful into each of the nesting boxes. Since then we have had only one or two eggs a day. Finally, yesterday, we had none - eleven chickens and no eggs, in spite of the fact that Amy finally resorted to cutting a few handfuls of grass for the nesting boxes. We are convinced they are making a statement; although, other factors may be playing a role.

We are into the days of declining amounts of daylight. Chickens need about 12 hours of light to make an egg. Production always goes down in fall and winter. Some of them are molting. They stop laying for a few weeks when they molt. Then, it rained yesterday. Less light, cold and wet – it had to make them miserable. I know it did me. And there was the dog.

Our daughter’s dog spent the afternoon at our place. He loves to take runs at the fence to Chickenland and scatter the chickens. Maybe he put them off their game. Yesterday, he caught a groundhog in the backyard and roughed him up real good as the girls watched in shock from behind the coops. They don’t have a problem with the groundhog, who frequently dines alongside them at the trough. They do have a problem with the dog. Perhaps they felt some empathy.

Whatever the reason, production is down, especially with the Araucanas. We haven’t seen a blue or green egg in over a week.

My little buff cochin made me proud yesterday. She refused to budge when the dog charged the fence. She stood her ground as the others made like Chicken Little. I have taken to calling her Lady, because she is so reserved and polite. Every morning she avoids the scramble for table scraps and waits patiently while I fill the feeders with cracked corn and crumble.

This Friday at the Fling

Click on image to enlarge.

Some dog!

My name is Roscoe. My owners can't take care of me anymore and I am free to a good home. I am one year old and I am very, VERY energetic. I am housebroken, neutered, in good health, and have had all my shots. I get along well with other dogs but not with cats or chickens. I am good with kids. I am a dog who requires lots of attention. I know the basic commands (sit, stay, come, down) and am not very good on a leash, but I'm a quick learner. I come with a dog crate, a leash, a collar, and lots of treats. Please don't make me go to the pound!!! Call 767-9409