Thursday, March 31, 2011

Jailhouse Loft

Take a peek inside......Click here.

Harry's Dog

The dog trots
at the end of her leash
past the affordable housing
and the barky dog house
on the corner
by the old folks home -
she, herself, preferring
to bark at squirrels,
and she does -
past the peaceniks
on the corner
of 1965 and 2010,
where the new old folks home
was supposed to go up,
but never did,
past the invisible arts center,
past the Presbyterian Church
and the pagans on the bench
in front of Tom's market,
the guy with the drum,
the guy with the whistle
and the megaphone
and the whoopie cushion
that never surprises anyone,
past the Emporium and the Underdog,
where she looks in the window
at the endless conversation
about the enemy at the gate,
past the knit knot tree
and the lingerers malingering benignly,
past the senior center,
which is at the center of everything,
past Dino's with its loud music
and hipsters with laptops
surveying the scene,
past the diners in the Winds,
past the skateboarders
and the bad boys in the parking lot
with their caps
turned backward on their pinheads,
past the Corner Cone
where they sell Indian food
on a stick
and American food
in a cone
and poets gather on a stage
where they can't be heard,
past the Post Office
that is about to close
and the pumps at the BP
- gas is 3.65.9 and rising -
past Sergeant Nipper
in his radio motor patrol car,
keeping an eye on the dragon lady
and the teenagers in the parking lot,
past the Chamber of Commerce
where local artists hang paintings
in the restrooms.

Harry's dog is headed
for the Village Council
in the Village Hall
with Harry in tow,
past the police dispatcher,
past the girls in the utilities office,
which is closed for lunch and beyond,
past the rec center and the gym
where a lone kid bounces a basketball,
waiting in vain
for other kids to come and play,
past the economic sustainability coordinator,
and the Mayor's Court
where there is little juris
and lots of prudence.

This is a real, live, barking dog,
with a real dog-eared complaint.
She would love to chase the car,
but the wheels are spinning
and it's going nowhere:
the Center for the Arts,
the senior apartments
and her pet peeve,
the dog park,
all buried under a pile
of endless surveys
and bitter arguments.
She would like to sniff her way
to the bottom of it,
bark out some orders
and get things done
in her own doggie style.

-vh

My apologies to Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Call for miniatures

Les Groby at Bro Bear's, Saturday

Les Groby will be performing at Brother Bear's Coffee, 118 Dayton St., Yellow Springs, on Saturday, April 2, 7:00 pm until 9:45 pm. No cover; tips gratefully accepted.

http://www.youtube.com/gibsonandvega

Quaker migration subject of Historical Society talk

The Quaker Migration to Southwest Ohio

Sunday, April 3, 2011
2:00 until 4:00 p.m.
Senior Center Great Room

John Fitzgerald, pastor of the Leesburg Friends Church in Leesburg, Ohio, and author of the book A Peaceable Pilgrimage, will discuss the Quaker migration into southwest Ohio, including the Little Miami Valley, from 1775 to 1820.

The limited edition 1930s Glen Helen print will be on display an available for purchase.

Admission is free, and light refreshments will be served.

Police chase in Yellow Springs

Dayton media reported yesterday that a police chase through Yellow Springs ended when the pursued crashed into a YSPD cruiser around 10 p.m. Monday. After the suspect, a Greenon High School Student, was arrested, it was learned that he was driving without a license, police reported.

WHIO-TV: Suspect hits cruiser during chase

WDTN-TV: Cruiser struck during police pursuit

Dayton Daily News: Greenon High School student arrested after fleeing police

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Coming soon

Click on image to enlarge

Ohio premiere features YS cinematographer

"North Dixie Drive," directed by Eric Mahoney, edited by Jasmin Way, and filmed by Yellow Springer and Wright State film student Kasey Lane Hosp, is having its Ohio Premiere at the Neon Movie Theatre in Dayton. Tickets are still available for three more showings at 1 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, April 1, 2, & 3.

Contact the theatre at 937.222.7469 or visit their website at www.neonmovies.com

The theatre is located at 130 East 5th Street in Dayton.

"North Dixie Drive" is the portrait of a small community of businesses and people residing in the Northridge section of Dayton, OH. It is the story of big time wrestlers, mechanics, a donut salesmen, an eccentric country singer, barbers, exotic dancers and car repo men. This collection of people, from all walks of life, live and work around a traffic circle situated along highway I-75, and fight to keep their lives and careers afloat in a failing economy. This debut film by Brooklyn, NY filmmaker Eric Mahoney showcases an off beat group of characters in today's Middle America.

Click here for NPR interview with director Eric Mahoney on WYSO.

Visit the official movie website and see trailer here.

Sauerkraut Band at Clfton Opera House

Saturday night

Have you ever heard a German Band that plays genuine German-style music from German music scores as well as playing genuine Big Band hits and remembrances? Well, look no further than the Sauerkraut German Band and they are coming back to Clifton! A long time favorite of the Clifton Opera House, Dick Ray and the band will be in great form on Saturday, April 2. The show starts at 7:30pm, box office opens at 6:30pm.

And remember their signature song... "Ein Prozit"... they finish every show with a great rendition. The Clifton Opera House is located at 5 So Clay Street, Clifton. Call 937.767.2343 or 937.342.2175 for information. Check out the website www.cliftonoperahouse.com.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Godzilla in YS

Yikes! This comic book store looks familiar.

Super-Fly Comics is bringing the King of the Monsters to Yellow Springs with its very own, smashing cover. Super-Fly Comics’ cover is one of just over one-hundred available throughout North America, celebrating the dramatic return of Godzilla to comics. Click here for more. Click on image to enlarge.

Bench to Nowhere: A YS makeover

A Cool Town Toon

YSCF Annual Meeting

Mary Fisher accepts the silver piggy bank, symbolic of the chair of the Development Committee, from outgoing chair Staffan Erickson.

The Yellow Springs Community Foundation held its annual meeting Saturday, March 26 at YSI. Trustees, members and community committee members were in attendance to elect new trustees and witness the appointment of members. Trustee and long time Grants Review Committee member Orlando Brown retired in December and Staffan Erickson completed two five-year terms as a trustee and chair of the Development Committee. They were replaced by Mary Fisher and Sterling Wiggins who were elected at the meeting. Ellis Jacobs and Chris Kristensen were appointed to the YSCF membership. Fisher also took over as chair of the Development Committee where she had been serving as a member.

YSCF President Bruce Bradtmiller brought the group up to date on the new Miller Fellowship program made possible by and endowment funded by a bequest from Dick and Nolan Miller.

Trustees:

Joan Ackerman
Jane Baker
Bruce Bradtmiller
Mary Fisher
Maureen Lynch
Susan Miller
Jane Scott
Sterling Wiggins
Dave Wishart

Members:

Matt Denman
Emily Fine
Barbara Forster
Tia Huston
Ellis Jacobs
Chris Kristensen
Sandy McHugh
Jody Pettiford
Evan Scott
Tim Sherwood
Mary Kay Smith

"A Soldier's Tale" told anew

Free ‘Soldier’s Tale’ Performance at Antioch College on April 23
Concert unveils famous Stravinsky story through lens of Kurt Vonnegut

The Johnstone Fund for New Music will present a concert performance of Igor Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale score and Kurt Vonnegut libretto in a contemporary music, theater and dance presentation at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, in South Gym at Antioch College, One Morgan Place, Yellow Springs, OH 45387.

Based on a Russian folk tale, The Soldier’s Tale, also known as L'histoire du soldat, follows a deserting soldier who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for a book that predicts the future. The virtuosic score that Igor Stravinsky composed for The Soldier’s Tale in 1918 has been re-conceptualized many times. In 1993, novelist Kurt Vonnegut revamped the story to explore the life of Eddie Slovik, the only American soldier executed for desertion in World War II, and the first since the Civil War.

This performance was coordinated by nonprofit recital series Sunday at Central, features Columbus Symphony musicians, and is made possible by major funding from the Johnstone Fund for New Music. The ensemble features David Niwa, violin; Gary Wasserman, bass; Robert Jones, clarinet; Betsy Sturdevant, bassoon; Tom Battenberg, cornet; Rich Howenstein, trombone; Bill Lutz, percussion; and conductor Olev Viro. Collaborating with the musicians are area director and choreographer Rani Deighe Crowe, and Melissa Heston and their company of local dancers and actors.

Free parking is available behind the Olive Kettering Library, 260 E. South College Street.

About The Johnstone Fund for New Music:
Columbus community leaders Jack and Zoe Johnstone founded the Johnstone Fund for New Music in 2008. It supports the continuing growth and vitality of new music and aims to position Central Ohio as a powerful incubator of this inventive art form. In addition to offering grants to commission the creation and performance of new works, the Fund inspires collaboration between composers and musicians. For more information, visit johnstonefund.org.

Yellow Springs Tale Spinners

Annual Family Comedy Night at Clifton Opera House


“Comedy Night: The Fitting Room, and Other Tales”
7:30 to 9:30 PM, Friday, April 1, 2011
Admission: $7.00 per person

April Fools Day is fast approaching. But this is no joke, The Yellow Springs Tale Spinners are primed and ready to tickle your funny bone. They have a rich variety of funny stories and tall tales to set you to giggling, chuckling, chortling and plain laughing out loud. These tales are family oriented and enjoyable to all ages. If you are tired of attending family events that are just for children, bring the whole family to our show. You can rest assured that the material is both child friendly and adult tested. Let laughter cure what ails you, blow away those winter cobwebs, and lift your spirit into Spring! We are betting that you will go away from this event, with a big and happy smile!

Location: The Clifton Opera House, Corner of Rt. 343 and Clay Street, Clifton, Ohio. Box office opens at 6:30pm. Call 937.767.2343 for information. www.cliftonoperahouse.com

The Yellow Springs Tale Spinners: Lisa Holmes, Eric Wolf, Harold Wright and Jonatha Wright

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Numbers

Two numbers for people to call to express support for keeping the YS Post Office open.
  • Senator Sherrod Brown 888.896.6446
  • Congressman Steve Austria 937.325.0474

Glen Helen Atrium Gallery Exhibition:

Views from Antarctica: Photography by John Higdon
April 2 - 29, 2011

Glen Helen Atrium Gallery is showing “Views of Antarctica” Photography by John Higdon, from April 2 - 29, 2011. This exhibition opens a wide lens onto the icy, enigmatic continent of Antarctica. The public is invited to meet the photographer at the opening reception on Sunday, April 3rd from 2 - 4 pm. At 3:30 pm Higdon will give a free slide presentation and talk in the Glen Helen Building Auditorium.

This show is a feast of rarely seen images of Antarctica made by photographer John Higdon. Working as a merchant marine, Higdon spent 10 years driving an icebreaker across Antarctic waters, capturing diverse images of everything from ships to sea life, science stations, coastlines and icebergs with his lens. This exhibition is a tour you won’t want to miss!

The Gallery is located in the Glen Helen Building at 405 Corry Street in Yellow Springs. Show hours are 9:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday and 10 am to 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is free. Artwork will be available for purchase with proceeds supporting the Glen Helen Nature Preserve.

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

The Glen Helen Atrium Gallery showcases the work of emerging local and regional visual artists in twelve exhibits each year. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of art goes to the Glen Helen Association, a non-profit organization whose mission is to support preservation and programs at Glen Helen and its 1,000-acre nature preserve.

A Green Space for the Mind

Antioch College symposium to explore contemplation and mindfulness in higher education

Antioch College will welcome leading scholars from throughout the country on April 9 for “A Green Space for the Mind,” a daylong symposium that will explore initiatives to incorporate contemplative practice into academic and social settings in higher education. The symposium will be held in the Herndon Gallery, South Hall, One Morgan Place.

Presented with the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE), A Green Space for the Mind investigates the premise that conventional instruction based on critical scholarship and the scientific method can be strengthened by incorporating the reflective, contemplative and experiential methods.

The day will begin at 10:00 a.m. with a webinar given by Daniel Goleman, an internationally known psychologist and best-selling author who will discuss the topics within his latest book, Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything. Goleman is the author of Emotional Intelligence.

At 1:00 p.m., a panel of leading academics in contemplative education will present on the theory and practice of contemplation in higher education. The panelists are:
  • Linda-Susan Beard, associate professor of literature at Bryn Mawr College and a monk in the Emmaus Community in Vestaburg, Michigan
  • John Makransky, professor of Buddhism and comparative theology at Boston College and the founding teacher for the Foundation for Active Compassion
  • Harold Roth, professor of religious studies and East Asian studies and the director of the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University
  • Clifford Saron, associate research scientist UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain and M.I.N.D. Institute
The panel will be moderated by Robert Pryor founder and director of Antioch Education Abroad’s Buddhist Studies Program in Bodh Gaya, India.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Glen Helen Specialty License Plate before Ohio Senate

State Senator Chris Widener (R-Springfield) and the Glen Helen Ecology Institute announced today that the state transportation budget, House Bill 114, will include a provision allowing for the creation of a Glen Helen Nature Preserve specialty license plate.

The state offers over 200 specialty license plates that include a picture designed by the organization and the name of the organization. Specialty plates are only authorized through legislation and can be bought when renewing or changing license plates. The Glen Helen plate costs $25, which includes a $15 donation to the Glen Helen Ecology Institute.

“The Glen is a special place in Greene County. People of all walks of life visit the preserve to learn about the natural history of our community, to experience the beauty of nature, or to exercise along the hiking trails,” Widener stated. “The specialty license plate will be a great promotional tool as well as provide additional donations to keep educational and conservational programs alive.”

The Glen Helen Ecology Institute initiated a license plate design contest last year. The new design, pending approval from the State Comptroller, will feature a design by the late-Ohio nature artist Charley Harper, who is well known for his wildlife artwork.

According to Executive Director Nick Boutis, “We are grateful for Senator Widener’s ongoing support of this legislation. Ohioans purchasing a Glen Helen license plate can feel good knowing that they are directly supporting our land conservation and environmental education efforts.”

Glen Helen is a 1,000-acre nature preserve of woods, waterways, prairies and fields laced with 25 miles of trails in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk. The Glen Helen Ecology Institute is owned by Antioch College and exists to protect the Glen for present and future generations by engaging in land stewardship, education, community outreach and service and research.

Community Dance Concert


Watch excerpts from last night's YS Community Dance Concert. 2nd performance tonite, 8 p.m., Antioch College South Gym. Featuring works choreographed by Yasmina Amal, Victoria Walters, Emma Holman-Smith, Greta Hill, Erin Wolf, Ali Thomas, Jennifer Johnson, Jill Becker, Marybeth Wolf and more. With special musical guests soprano Jennifer Gilchrist and cellist Matt Minde.

Video by Susan Gartner and Tom Osborne

Friday, March 25, 2011

Bench to Nowhere: To Hell in a handbasket...

A Cool Town Toon

Rocky & Pee Wee: Local politics, ugh!

"The People Speak" at Little Art

On Sunday, April 3 at 3:00 p.m. the Little Art Theatre will present a free screening of the documentary movie “The People Speak,” featuring a special Q&A session with the film’s co-producer Chris Moore.

"The People Speak" is a beautiful and moving film inspired by Howard Zinn’s book, A People’s History of the United States. Zinn is the narrator.

Using dramatic and musical performances, the production gives voice to those who spoke up for social change, equality and justice. Hear the words of those who forged a nation from the bottom up.

Featured performers include Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Marisa Tomei, Morgan Freeman, Viggo Mortensen, Danny Glover and Sean Penn., among many others.

Musicians include Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Allison Moorer, John Legend and Pink.

Co-produced by Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Howard Zinn and Josh Brolin.

From Jenny at the Little Art:

Admission to see this wonderful film is FREE thanks to Ken and Margo Bode.

From the Box Office Window:

“From the moment that we had any kind of influence in this town, we were trying to get this project off the ground.” - Matt Damon

The People Speak is a beautiful and moving film inspired by Howard Zinn’s books “A People’s History of the United States”-first published in 1980 and one of the bestselling history books in the United States-and, with Anthony Arnove, “Voices of a People’s History of the United States.” Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and speeches of everyday people, the documentary feature film THE PEOPLE SPEAK gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on equality and justice. Narrated by acclaimed historian Howard Zinn and based on his best-selling books, THE PEOPLE SPEAK illustrates the relevance of these passionate historical moments to our society today and reminds us never to take liberty for granted. 113 minutes. Not Rated.

THE PEOPLE SPEAK is produced by Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Chris Moore, Anthony Arnove, and Howard Zinn, co-directed by Moore, Arnove and Zinn, and features dramatic and musical performances by Allison Moorer, Benjamin Bratt, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Chris Robinson, Christina Kirk, Danny Glover, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, David Strathairn, Don Cheadle, Eddie Vedder, Harris Yulin, Jasmine Guy, John Legend, Josh Brolin, Kathleen Chalfant, Kerry Washington, Lupe Fiasco, Marisa Tomei, Martín Espada, Matt Damon, Michael Ealy, Mike O’Malley, Morgan Freeman, P!nk, Q’orianka Kilcher, Reg E. Cathey, Rich Robinson, Rosario Dawson, Sandra Oh, Sean Penn, Staceyann Chin, and Viggo Mortensen.

CHRIS MOORE (Producer) co-directed and executive produced the Howard Zinn documentary The People Speak. His filmography includes the highly successful series of American Pie films, Reindeer Games, Joyride, the documentary Pop and Me and the Academy Award®-winning Good Will Hunting. Chris was co-creator of HBO’s Project Greenlight. In 2008, he directed his first feature film, Kill Theory. Most recently, he produced The Adjustment Bureau staring Matt Damon. Moore received a BA in American History from Harvard University.

“Striking, exhilarating... the performances are thrilling.”—Los Angeles Times
“The documentary... works beautifully... Each passionate reading flows out of the previous one.”—Boston Globe

“So much of Mr. Zinn’s career, reflected in his “People’s History of the United States” book, has been about the struggle for social change... Some of the readings, like Ms. Tomei’s, are especially resonant now, given the perceptible anger in the country about banks and bailouts. “That’s by design,” Mr. Damon said. “What they were up against oftentimes are exactly the same things we’re up against now.”—New York Times

“This is the perfect format for a history lesson. You’re getting the actual historical text verbatim, so there’s no spin, performed by these great actors. You’re seeing actors read these incredibly dramatic passages in the history of our country, so it’s not at all about, ‘Oh, it’s Sean Penn reading this,’ “ Damon says. “It’s more like, ‘Wow, this is Kevin Tillman talking.’ Or it’s David Strathairn, but he’s now John Brown. These are all speeches and letters and diary entries and things that were actually said by regular people. That’s what’s so moving about it. History is intimidating. There’s so much to know. If I could go back to college again, I would be a history major. I think it’s important for all of us to learn at a young age that there are different perspectives on the same event.” —Matt Damon.

From the Greene Environmental Coalition

URGENT: HELP STOP DRILLING IN STATE PARKS AND NATURE PRESERVES
TELL YOUR LEGISLATORS TO VOTE NO ON HOUSE BILL 133 AND SENATE BILL 108

CALL YOUR STATE REPS TODAY
HB 133 BOB HACKET 614 466-1470
SB 108 CHRIS WIDENER 614 466-3780

THESE BILLS ARE DUE FOR FINAL TESTIMONY AND POSSIBLE VOTE NEXT WEEK:
Senate Bill 108 Tues March 29 10:45 am
House Bill 133 Wed March 30 7 pm

For more information contact GEC website www.greenlink.org

Arts Council Events

Community Dance Concert, this weekend

Click on image to enlarge.

Click here for video of last year's Community Dance Concert.

Invigorating the Local - tonight

Brian Holmes, Claire Pentecost & the Midwest Radical Cultural Corridor Project

Click on image to enlarge.

Friday, March 25
7:00 PM
Nonstop Institute
305 N. Walnut St., Yellow Springs
donation requested

Cultural critic and blogger BRIAN HOLMES, photographer and writer CLAIRE PENTECOST, and other artists from the MIDWEST RADICAL CULTURAL CORRIDOR, a cultural geography project, will be speaking on Friday, March 25, as part of a spring series at Nonstop called INVIGORATING THE LOCAL—Conversations at the Intersection of Alternative Education, Open Media & Civic Participation. The presentation by Holmes, Pentecost and the Midwest Radical Cultural Corridor project will articulate geopolitical conditions while calling for agency and commitment to the local. Come and discuss recent events in Wisconsin and Ohio, networks, sustainability, small Midwestern communities, and events in North Africa and the Middle East.

Brian Holmes’ blog Continental Drift and recent book Escape the Overcode: Activism Art in the Control Society (2009) have been described as “a unique weaving of theory, art, activism, geopolitics and geopoetics that offers us powerful tools for change.” Claire Pentecost’s work has long addressed the boundary between the natural and the artificial, leading her to explorations into industrial agriculture and bio-engineering, including her long-term collaborations with the arts collective Critical Art Ensemble (author of The Electronic Disturbance, 1994). And the Midwest Radical Cultural Corridor has networked with small communities in the midwest—Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, and now Ohio—inviting its collaborators “to look at our collective existence on all the relevant scales: the intimate, the local, the national, the continental, and the global.” See nonstopinstitute.org for links to projects and publications by Holmes, Pentecost, and Radical Midwest Cultural Corridor members.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Fowling Out: A comedy of errors

I got the call around dinner time, Monday night. The guinea hen, or whatever it was that has been hanging out with two roosters in the area of E. Herman and Livermore, was spotted again. The police had called me about it two weeks before. This was the second time I was over there. This time it was trapped in Linda Rudawksi’s neighbor’s yard and had been strutting around, cackling all day long and attracting onlookers and a great deal of speculation about what kind of bird it was. Many of them thought it was some kind of turkey.

The roosters, Linda told me, were last seen headed down Herman towards Xenia Avenue and downtown.

I asked the kid if he wanted to help me catch the bird. Normally, he would demur on anything that took him away from online video gaming. But he considers himself a world-class chicken catcher and never passes on a chance to strut his stuff. I threw the cage in the back of the Outback and we were on our way.

We spotted the bird as soon as we turned the corner onto Herman.

“Stop the car and let me out!” the kid shouted upon spying exotic plumage.

Soon the chase was on. We tossed some cracked corn to the bird and it got close, but no closer than five feet or so. Every time we moved toward it, it would move away. We tried to corner it, but just when we would think we had it; it would fly away or rush past us like the Road Runner of cartoon fame. Passersby were taking note. A neighbor from across the street brought us blanket. That did the trick.

We got it into the cage and headed home. Once we got it into our backyard, we had to decide what to do with it. There were lots of opinions; none of them viable. Amy wanted to put it right in with the chickens. I thought it was way too soon for anything like that, so while we continued to ponder the problem, I placed the cage next to the chicken run, so the new bird could see that it would not be alone in its captivity.

While this was going on, the kid disappeared into the house and reemerged with his laptop in order to show off his conquest to his online friends. He was balancing the computer in one hand and repositioning the cage with the other when suddenly everything fell apart, literally. One of the sides of the cage came loose and the bird burst out and headed for the brush in the corner of the yard.

I was hopping up and down, cursing and the dog was barking as mother and son chased the bird around the yard with a net. Soon Amy had it and passed it off to the kid who held it down while I repaired the cage and we all took turns blaming each other.

What happened next was probably my fault. It was taking me too long to fix the cage, which needed much more work than I had originally thought. I told the kid I didn’t like the way he was holding the bird and suggested he readjust his grip. So, he let go of its feet and grabbed it by the tail. Soon he was left holding a hand full of tail feathers as the squawking bird flew about 20 feet up into a tree next to our house.

I was late for band practice and hadn’t eaten dinner.

“Leave her alone,” I said. “We’ll either get her in the dark or she’ll fly out of there tomorrow. Hopefully, she’ll end up in back in our yard."

When I came home, it had climbed farther up in the tree. There was no way to climb up after her. The next morning, it stayed put, taunting us with its two syllable call, “Buck wheat, buck wheat.” Amy put out food and water and we left it alone. I did an Internet search and learned that, indeed, what we had was a Guinea Hen. A couple hours later, we noticed that she wasn’t making any noise. We looked up into the tree and saw that she was gone. She was not in our yard.

Case closed? Not so.

It was dinner time again when I got another phone call. It was Shirley Kristensen who lives over on Meadow Lane. She told me how there had been a bird prancing around and making a racket in her yard all day. She said she thought it was a Pea Hen.

“It’s a Guinea Hen,” I said.

“Oh, really... How do you know?”

“Does it have a white head?”

“Yes. How did you know that?” she said.

I told her the story and offered to try to catch it again. But I was off to a meeting and would have to do it either in the dark after I got back, or in the morning. I was too tired for the hunt when my meeting was over, so I waited. In the morning, Shirley called to tell me the bird was gone.

“It’s probably still roosting in a tree in your yard,” I said.

“I don’t hear it.”

“Okay, I’ll be over to look for it.”

I spotted the bird as soon as I arrived at Shirley’s house. It was in a neighbor’s yard. It recognized me right away and took off running to a far corner. I drove around to Spillan and knocked on the neighbor’s door with my net in hand.

“Do you mind if I go into your backyard to catch a guinea hen?” I asked.

I got the okay and the chase was on again. It ended when the bird flew up into another tree and I gave up.

Amy was waiting in the car with the dog.

“That’s it for now, until I get another call,” I said.

Last night I got an email from Mek Logan, informing me that he had spotted a Guinea Fowl on Meadow.

"Is it yours?" he asked.

“I had it for about 15 minutes,” I replied.

This morning it’s on Facebook. I hope this doesn’t go viral!

Photos by Linda Rudawski

Related posts:

Chickens still on the run

Chickens on loose

Community Dance Concert

March 25-26

Dancers rehearse for "Flam Tap, Body Slap, Be Your Own Drum," choreographed by Ali Thomas and Lara Bauer and part of the upcoming YS Community Dance Concert. Concert dates are Friday and Saturday, March 25-26 at Antioch College South Gym, 8-10 p.m. Cost: $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors.

Photo by Susan Gartner

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Bench to Nowhere: Thank goodness that's over...

A Cool Town Toon

Affordable housing forum, March 27

Announcing a Public Forum About Affordable Housing in Yellow Springs

Sunday, March 27, 2-4pm
Yellow Springs Senior Center Great Room, 227 Xenia Ave.

A Community Conversation About Affordable Housing, Presented by Home, Inc. Sponsored by the James A. McKee Group

Miller Fellowship Grants Announced

The Yellow Springs Community Foundation (YSCF) has announced the names of ten Yellow Springs nonprofit organizations that will be recipients of grants to pay the direct labor costs of Antioch College students to work as interns under its Miller Fellowship Program during the 2011-2012 academic calendar.

The Miller Fellowship Program is funded by the Nolan J. and Richard D. Miller Endowment Fund, whose purpose is to support fellowships for Antioch College students who engage in service for the benefit of the Yellow Springs community. The basic premise of the endowment is that it is meant to foster mutual respect between Antioch College and the Yellow Springs community.

Over the past few months, YSCF received a total of 27 proposals from 12 different village nonprofits that desired to place Miller Fellows in their organizations.

The recipient organizations are: Yellow Springs Arts Council, Yellow Springs Community Access TV, Glen Helen Ecology Institute, Home, Inc., Yellow Springs Senior Citizens, Tecumseh Land Trust, Yellow Springs Tree Committee, WYSO, Yellow Springs Exempted Village School District, and YS Kids Playhouse.

In accordance with the new Antioch College curriculum, for the 2011-2012 academic year, Miller Fellows will be available for 10 hours per week during the fall, winter and summer quarters, and 40 hours per week during the spring quarter.

The Nolan J. and Richard D. Miller Endowment Fund was established earlier this year through a bequest. Nolan Miller (d. 2006) was Associate Editor of The Antioch Review, a noted writing teacher and a beloved Antioch College professor. His brother, Richard (d. 2007), was a highly regarded artist working in many different media. Under the terms of the bequest, some priority is given to those nonprofits serving the needs of the elderly in Yellow Springs. Other public service institutions are supported, in keeping with the basic premise of the endowment that it is meant to foster mutual respect between town and gown. The Foundation is working closely with the College to structure the program so that it meets the goals of the donors, as well as the education goals of the new curriculum and the needs of local nonprofits. The program complements the new Antioch College curriculum, which will stress community service, along with its historic co-op program.

This Sunday at Clifton Opera House

Back Porch Swing Band - March 27

The Clifton Opera House is going to be swingin' with the return of the Back Porch Swing Band on Sunday afternoon, March 27th at 3pm. They will be bringing their old timey flavor and swingin' rhythm to Clifton. This group combines the talents of several noteable musicians responsible for the tapping of thousands of feet across Ohio for the last 15 years.

The band specializes in Western Swing, but plays several musical styles , ranging from Appalachian tunes, Blues, Old Country & Folk, to Swing music from the '20's, '30's, '40's. Requests from the audience are frequently honored. Dance music includes swing, two steps, waltzes, polkas, shaddishs, and square dances. Grab your partner, those aisles were made for dancing!

The group consists of Pete Shew, lead vocals and guitar; Adam Jackson on fiddle; Kris Geis does their lead and harmony vocals; and Dale Irwin on upright bass.

The historic Clifton Opera House is located at 5 So Clay Street, Clifton. Box office opens at 2:00pm. Call 937.767.2343 for information.

Community Dance Concert

March 25-26

Dancers rehearse for "Flam Tap, Body Slap, Be Your Own Drum," choreographed by Ali Thomas and Lara Bauer and part of the upcoming YS Community Dance Concert. Concert dates are Friday and Saturday, March 25-26 at Antioch College South Gym, 8-10 p.m. Cost: $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors.

Photo by Susan Gartner

At the Library, Saturday


Volunteer Vacation in Crete

With

Martha Worrell

Saturday March 26, 1:00 p.m.

Yellow Springs Community Library

Hear about Martha’s recent trip to Crete with Global Volunteers.


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Education Speaker Series

Just a quick reminder that Matt Fischer will be speaking to our community tonight at Antioch College’s Herndon Gallery (South Hall) at 7 p.m. This is the FINAL opportunity to experience the Future of Education Speaker Series. You will not want to miss Matt’s talk on the future our children will experience after high school and college.

Please come and bring the kids!

Mario Basora
Superintendent, Yellow Springs Schools

Community Dance Concert

March 25-26

Dancers rehearse for "Flam Tap, Body Slap, Be Your Own Drum," choreographed by Ali Thomas and Lara Bauer and part of the upcoming YS Community Dance Concert. Concert dates are Friday and Saturday, March 25-26 at Antioch College South Gym, 8-10 p.m. Cost: $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors.

Photo by Susan Gartner

Knot Fibb'n at Clifton Opera House

Saturday, March 26

The Clifton Opera House presents the entertaining celtic band "Knot Fibb'n" on Saturday, March 26th at 7:30pm and we are NOT FIBBING, it is going to be a great show!

From Columbus to Nashville, Chicago, Brooklyn & Savannah, through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Iowa & Wisconsin ... presenting a unique, crisp style to the traditional Irish-American music scene, the four members of Knot Fibb’n have covered a lot of ground performing, recording and entertaining tens of thousands of fans in the years since they first joined forces around a dining room table in November of 1997.

Their schedule is a busy one — Knot Fibb’n has played the Bethlehem Celtic Classic, Dublin Irish Festival & Blarney Bash, Chicago Gaelic Park Irish Festival, Hunter Mountain International Celtic Festival, Manheim Celtic Fling, Columbus Arts Festival, Brooklyn Great Irish Fair, Rochester Irish Festival, Ohio State Fair, Old Tyme Folk Music and Celtic Music Festivals in Waynesville, Dayton Celtic Festival, Dayton Feis 2000, Highland Folk Festival in Delaware, Middfest in Middletown, Multicultural Festival in Parkersburg WV, and various other festivals and concert series in Ohio, West Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

The band has completed two four-night runs at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, and has also played many of the Irish-themed pubs and clubs in the Central Ohio, Cincinnati and Dayton areas. Knot Fibb'n has opened for Chicago fiddler Liz Carroll and Irish guitarist John Doyle, Cape Breton Nova Scotia fiddler Natalie MacMaster, Irish-American supergroup Solas, Irish rockers The Prodigals, Celtic accordionist John Whelan, Irish musician Larry Kirwan and his Bronx, NY-based band Black 47, and Nashville Celtic band Ceili Rain. www.knotfibbin.com

The Clifton Opera House is located at 5 So. Clay Street, Clifton. It is owned and operated by the Village of Clifton. All donations are used for the maintenance of the historic Opera House. Call 937.767.2343 for information.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Motorcycle Accident Injures 2

From the annals of MTFR:

A motorcycle crash late Sunday afternoon on Corry Street injured two local residents, one seriously. Miami Township Fire-Rescue and Yellow Springs Police units were dispatched to the intersection of Corry Street and Grinnell Road at 5:09 PM.
The 25 year old male driver of the motorcycle received serious head injuries during the crash, the impact of which dislodged his helmet. He was initially unconscious, but later regained consciousness. MTFR personnel assessed and treated the patient, deciding to transport him by air ambulance. CareFlight was called and transported him to Miami Valley Hospital.

The 22 year old female passenger received minor injuries and was assessed at the scene, but refused ambulance transport to the hospital. The Yellow Springs Police Department is investigating the crash.

A creative act of kindness

A good Samaritan found some eye glasses and went to the trouble of putting up the sign and attaching the glasses to the top - hoping that the owner would come by again - didn't that use to be called a "random act of kindness" - photo taken on Allen near Rice.

A. Reader

Wellness Weekend, a reflective, restorative retreat

by Susan Gartner



The Opening Reception for the YS Arts Council's "Art of Healing" group exhibit took place Friday, March 18, in conjunction with Third Friday Fling and YSAC Experience Wellness Weekend. The event highlighted 30 artists and performers and included music by Yellow Springs Strings, food, wine, and a Fundraiser Arts Raffle.

I participated in two of the weekend wellness workshops: a small group session with keynote speaker Dr. Sherry Wheaton on Saturday afternoon at Antioch Midwest University and a Soul Collage workshop at the YSAC Gallery on Sunday morning. Both sessions were well worth the $39 registration fee and made for a very thoughtful, reflective, and restorative retreat following Friday night's high-energy party.

Thanks to all who volunteered in front and behind-the-scenes and made the weekend such a big success.

To those who missed the Friday night opening, the YSAC Gallery will have open hours on Saturdays, March 26 and April 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Gallery is located at 309 Xenia Avenue, next to Speedway. Feel free to stop by and enjoy the stone terrace and garden areas anytime.

Photos by Susan Gartner

Kettering Banjo Society at Clifton Opera House

This Friday

A traditional favorite is returning to Clifton. The Kettering Banjo Society will perform on Friday, March 25 at 7:30pm. This group has been a staple performer at the Opera House over the years. Come out and tap your toes, these guys are a lot of fun! The Clifton Opera House is located at 5 So Clay Street, Clifton. The box office opens at 6:30pm. Call 937.767.2343 for more information.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Dayton International Festival tickets

Now available in town at a discount

Tickets to A World A'Fair at the Dayton Convention Center, May 20-22, are available in town from Amy Lee at 767-7048, monalee168@yahoo.com. Adult tickets are $5.00 if purchased in advance ($7.00 at the door); youth tickets (ages 6-18) are $3.00 in advance ($4.00 at the door). Lee is selling tickets in her capacity as Vice President of the Dayton Association of Chinese Americans (DACA). Advance ticket sales from members of participating organizations are available until Thursday, May 13 .

Ticket good for admission to one day of the festival.

There's a new clown in town



Yesterday was one of those days when town fills up with tourists in anticipation of the first day of Spring.

Video by Susan Gartner

Ohio Poets Spring into National Poetry Month

Co-sponsors the Ohio Poetry Association and the Antioch Writers Workshop will usher in National Poetry Month with a reading by Ohio poets on Saturday, March 26 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Antioch University Midwest. Readings by featured poets Jamey Dunham, Connie Willett Everett, T.M. Göttl and Herbert Woodward Martin will be followed by an opportunity for poets to meet and share their work with the public. "We're delighted to not only bring these masterful poets to the stage, but delighted as well to encourage poets to bring several poems to read for up to five minutes during the open microphone reading," said Sharon Short, Director of AWW.

Prose poet Jamey Dunham of Cincinnati is an Assistant Professor of English at Sinclair Community College, where he edits the journal "Flights." His poems have appeared in "Sentence," "Fence" and "Boston Review" among other journals. His poem "An American Story" was included in the anthology "Great American Prose Poems: Poe to the Present."

Columbus poet Connie Willett Everett is senior editor for Pudding House Publications, and she co-coordinates the Poetry Forum at Rumba Cafe in Columbus, Ohio. She received degrees from Ohio University and Bowling Green State University, including a MFA in creative writing. Everett served as fiction editor for "Heartlands Magazine" for 15 years, and she has presented several workshops in her community.

T.M. Göttl of Brunswick is Vice President of the Ohio Poetry Association and a member of the Buffalo ZEF Creative Community. Her work is online, in publications such as "Pudding Magazine" and "Verse Wisconsin" and has been heard on 91.3 WAPS Akron and 89.7 WOSU Columbus. She is the author of the full-length collection "Stretching the Window" and the chapbook "Angels and Copper."

Herbert Woodward Martin of Dayton is an acclaimed poet, professor, and Paul Laurence Dunbar interpreter. His four books of poetry include "The Forms of Silence." He has also written an opera, "Paul Laurence Dunbar: Common Ground."

The event will take place Saturday, March 26, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Antioch University Midwest auditorium, 900 Dayton Street, Yellow Springs, Ohio. AWW's Sharon Short will introduce the reading emceed by OPA's Mark Sebastian Jordan. For more information, visit ohiopoetryassn.org or antiochwritersworkshop.com.

Invigorating the Local

Brian Holmes, Claire Pentecost & the Midwest Radical Cultural Corridor Project

Click on image to enlarge.

Friday, March 25
7:00 PM
Nonstop Institute
305 N. Walnut St., Yellow Springs
donation requested

Cultural critic and blogger BRIAN HOLMES, photographer and writer CLAIRE PENTECOST, and other artists from the MIDWEST RADICAL CULTURAL CORRIDOR, a cultural geography project, will be speaking on Friday, March 25, as part of a spring series at Nonstop called INVIGORATING THE LOCAL—Conversations at the Intersection of Alternative Education, Open Media & Civic Participation. The presentation by Holmes, Pentecost and the Midwest Radical Cultural Corridor project will articulate geopolitical conditions while calling for agency and commitment to the local. Come and discuss recent events in Wisconsin and Ohio, networks, sustainability, small Midwestern communities, and events in North Africa and the Middle East.

Brian Holmes’ blog Continental Drift and recent book Escape the Overcode: Activism Art in the Control Society (2009) have been described as “a unique weaving of theory, art, activism, geopolitics and geopoetics that offers us powerful tools for change.” Claire Pentecost’s work has long addressed the boundary between the natural and the artificial, leading her to explorations into industrial agriculture and bio-engineering, including her long-term collaborations with the arts collective Critical Art Ensemble (author of The Electronic Disturbance, 1994). And the Midwest Radical Cultural Corridor has networked with small communities in the midwest—Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, and now Ohio—inviting its collaborators “to look at our collective existence on all the relevant scales: the intimate, the local, the national, the continental, and the global.” See nonstopinstitute.org for links to projects and publications by Holmes, Pentecost, and Radical Midwest Cultural Corridor members.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Mister Omar’s YS Chess Kings in Cincinnati

By Susan Gartner





Mister Omar’s Chess Academy, founded by Omar Durrani, took 12 Yellow Springs Chess Kings to the 10th Annual Queen City Classic Chess Tournament held at Bengals Stadium in Cincinnati on Saturday, March 12.

“This was extremely exciting for all of us,” said Durrani, exhausted but happy with his team’s performance after they returned last weekend. Over 700 children from all over the Midwest participated in the event. “There were teams competing from schools that take 40 kids and easily have 5-10 kids in one age bracket. We didn’t have that. The YS team consisted of one second grader, four third graders, four fourth graders, two fifth graders, one sixth grader, and one seventh grader.”

This was the first time any of Durrani’s Yellow Springs students had been to a chess tournament.

“My Yellow Springs Kings really shined in this competition,” he said.

Durrani said the excitement ran high from the beginning, starting at the hotel where parent chaperones John Spar and Ellen Marie Lauricella, and the YS Chess Kings stayed Friday night in preparation for the 6:30 wake-up call, team breakfast, and 9 a.m. start time. “I am so appreciative of John and Ellen for all their time and effort with this project,” said Durrani. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”

After arriving at the clubroom in the Bengals Stadium and meeting up with two of Durrani’s Cincinnati chess students, each child was assigned their opponent and table. Coach Durrani and John Spar were allowed to escort the kids to their individual table only during the first and second rounds of the five-round competition. “They were very excited and ready to play,” Durrani said. “I told them, ‘be patient, be calm, play a good game,’ It was incredibly thrilling to talk to the kids at that time. They were very focused. I told them to just remember all the hours they put into training and just let that come to their mind and not let the nerves and excitement of tournament affect their ability.”

After the first round of play, the YS team was 10 wins and 3 losses. After the third round of play with only two more games to go, the YS team was in third place overall.

“I had to really stop our level of excitement early on,” said Durrani, “amongst the parents as well as the children because the children were feeding off of this energy. I didn’t want the kids to dwell on it. For the rest of the day, I was maintaining a level of neutrality. I knew we had two more games to play. Being in third place midway through the day doesn’t mean anything if we end up losing games. We’re not here to get a trophy. I reminded the kids all through the day—‘Why do we play chess? Because it’s fun.’”

Durrani said the day was an emotional roller coaster. “There were some tears of disappointment along with the cheers, but I made sure to nurture every one of my students. They would be at their highest high when they played a game and then it was really hard when they would lose.”

For Durrani’s eldest student, 7th grader Jeffrey Crawford, play went past 6 p.m.

“My one and only seventh grader was in the bracket of 7th through 9th graders. He was in the beginning of a very difficult bracket, playing against high schoolers. He had the most difficult time. I’m proud of his determination. His level of excitement was very contagious.” Friday night, after everyone else was asleep, Crawford and Sulayman Chappelle even snuck in an extra practice game.

“I couldn’t be upset,” said Durrani about discovering the after-curfew game. “It showed me how much they love chess. But I had to stop the game and insist they go to bed.”

The day ended with an awards ceremony. Upon the completion of five games, each child received a medal for participation. The children that had 3.5 wins and above received a trophy. Mister Omar’s Chess Academy took home four individual trophies and two team trophies.

Tyresse Benning was the anchor man on the fourth grade team. “I had two top players on my fourth grade team going in,” said Durrani, “and Tyresse was one, 4-1, leading the team to a second place finish overall.” Second grader Ivan Spar was 4-1 in his play for the day and Zenya Miyazaki was 4-1 anchoring the third grade team to fourth place.

“I had one student, who went undefeated in his tournament play,” Durrani continued. “Samuel Green, the YS Kings captain, finished 5-0 and placed individually second amongst all the other sixth graders that played. The play of Zenya and Tyresse allowed our third and fourth grade teams to place. They were a pivotal part of our success.”

Durrani would like to thank all of the villagers and businesses who contributed to the Chess Academy to make the trip possible including The Emporium, Tom’s Market, Unfinished Creations, Sunrise Café, Dunphy Real Estate, and Bob Baldwin. He would also like to thank the parents that came to the tournament to support the team and to all the Cincinnati and Yellow Springs parents for their commitment to their children and to Mister Omar’s Chess Academy.

“This was a team effort and a force to be reckoned with,” said Durrani.


For more information about Mister Omar’s Chess Academy, go to www.MisterOmar.com. If you have pictures from the event, please send them to Durrani at durranio11@gmail.com for posting.

Submitted video edited by Susan Gartner

Future of Education series continues this week

The final speaker in the Future of Education Speaker Series is coming to Antioch College’s Herndon Gallery (South Hall) next Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Matt Fischer will be coming to speak with our community. If you are available, we would love to have you join us. I have seen him do a similar presentation to educators in the past and found it to be a very positive and hopeful message that sparks deep reflection about learning in the 21st Century. Matt’s presentations have received rave reviews from teachers and administrators alike.

Matt will be unique in the series, given that he will be the first speaker who has a background outside of academia. This will give our community a different perspective about the future our kids are facing after high school and college. As a master of creativity in the advertising world, Matt has a front line perspective on the 21st Century skills needed to pursue the future our kids imagine for themselves.

I believe Matt’s presentation will be greatly relevant to the future of education. This is one you will not want to miss.

*Though these events have been well attended, we have not had a lot of our current parents or future parents in attendance. If you are a parent of a student or future student, please attend and bring the kids! We really need your perspective as part of the 2020 process.

Mario Basora
Superintendent, Yellow Springs Schools

Federal cuts to NPR to affect WYSO




Federal funding accounts for 12 percent of WYSO’s annual $1.3 million budget, Station Manager Neenah Ellis told the Dayton Daily News.

Dayton Daily News: Federal cuts would hurt local public broadcasting

Friday, March 18, 2011

"For Sale" sign up at YSI

Local company, YSI Incorporated, a leading supplier of water monitoring and testing products, yesterday announced that it is seeking a strategic partner to help the Company achieve its full potential in the dynamic markets it serves.

“For the past several years YSI has experienced strong growth and we see many opportunities to continue along that trajectory,” noted Rick Omlor, CEO and President. In 2010, the Company reached a significant milestone of $100 million in revenue. “In order to continue this level of growth the Company will need to continue to invest in new technology, additional international offices and more strategic acquisitions. Although YSI is a private Company, we have a very diversified shareholder structure. Over the past few years growing segments of our shareholders have begun seeking liquidity for their investment in YSI and we must consider the needs of the Company and the desires of our shareholders.”

“After careful consideration of all of our options, our Board of Directors has determined that we should seek a strategic partner for our Company. A partnership will give us the opportunity to continue our growth and allow us to fulfill our fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders.”

According to Omlor, “YSI’s Management and the Board are committed to moving through this transition in an orderly and controlled way. It is the Company’s intention to identify and negotiate with a strategic partner that will continue to provide opportunities for its people; and will continue to serve the customers to the level of YSI’s standards and their expectations. Additionally, it is YSI’s intention to work with the selected strategic partner to respect and maintain the Company’s legacy, culture and values and their contribution to the communities they serve.”

Founded in 1948, YSI is a leading developer and manufacturer of water monitoring and testing products. YSI has 370 employees in 22 locations serving customers throughout the world.

Chickens still on the run

Update:

Two chickens were waiting for me when I arrived on the crime scene. They were on the other side of a fence in the next backyard. Armed only with a small bag of cracked corn, I tried approaching the suspects in a friendly manner. They stayed at least 10 yards ahead of me the entire time during the chase that ensued. At times, I could hear crowing in the distance. From the look of them, they are both cockerels (young roosters), about six months of age. According to the homeowner, there is a third perpetrator at large, possibly a guinea hen, that was not sighted during this outing.

No arrests were made at this time. I will see if I can get some animal rescue folks involved. The best method is to determine where they are roosting at night and grab them in the dark. They have poor night vision and will not try to evade capture in the dark. Another method would be to start feeding them in the same place every day. Eventually, you will gain their trust and should be able to get close enough to snatch them. However, with roosters, this might not be easy.

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Those pesky chickens that were sighted in the area of Livermore St. between Kurt and Herman, two weeks ago, are still on the loose. I got an email this morning from a woman on E. Herman who said they are in and out of her backyard and I have been hearing from friends in the area who have made multiple sightings that at least one of the small flock is a rooster. I'll be over there this morning with some cracked corn to investigate.

Related post: Chickens on loose

Opportunity for local artists

Decorate a mailbox

Home Inc. is holding Hoof-a-thon fundraiser at Young's Jersey Dairy on June 4, 2011 and is seeking the support of area artists to decorate mail boxes as part of the fund-raiser. We'd like the mailbox decor to be using cows as the theme, although that's not a requirement. We will display them at the registration booth, in front of the Jersey Dairy Inn on the day of the event, They will be used as prizes for various activities. The metal or wooden mailboxes will be available to artists after April 1st and need to be decorated by June 1st.

Call Joan Horn to sign up for one. 767-7971 or joanhorn@att.net, or Carol Culbertson at carol@cculbertson.com. We appreciate your supporting Home Inc. in this way.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Bench to Nowhere: Erin go Bragh!

A Cool Town Toon

Arts Council Events

Click on image to enlarge.

BearFoot Boogie this Saturday at Bryan Center

BearFoot Boogie 3
John Bryan Center
100 Dayton Street
Saturday, March 19
7:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.

Hosted by Brother Bear's Coffeehouse
$5 at the door; kids 10 and under free

Featuring The Show at 7:30
Jessica Kinzer (keyboards, vocals)
Ryan Henry (guitar)
and Mills Lawn principal Matt Housh (drums, vocals)

followed by

Blue Moon Soup
Ben Clonch (guitar, vocals)
Robbie Marion (fiddle, vocals)
Jon Bauman (standup bass, vocals)
Brendan Moore (mandolin, vocals)

All ages welcome! Family-friendly! Come out for an evening of fun and dance!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

At the Library , Thursday

Music in the Library with Bob Lucas
Thursday March 17, 6:30 p.m.


Come hear Bob weave tall tales, lies and hyperbole set to music.

Bob Lucas is a songwriter, actor, singer & multi-instrumentalist. For the last 15 years he has been working for the locally known as well as nationally famous Mad River Theater Works where he holds the position of music director and songwriter in residence. As a songwriter he has achieved success having his songs recorded by international recording stars such as Alison Krauss, New Grass Revival, Sam Bush and Kathy Chiavloa. His debut solo album, “The Dancer Inside You”, received a four star rating from Downbeat Magazine. Two of his songs have been released on the award winning Alison Krauss and Union Station album “New Favorite”. Listen to Bob’s music at http://www.boblucasmusic.com/music.html.

Community Dance Concert

Friday and Saturday, March 25 & 26 at 8:00pm
South Gym Performance Space, Antioch College Campus

There is always something interesting to see at a Yellow Springs Community Dance Concert. This is no dance recital! Hang onto to your seat and watch dancers and choreographers from 5 to 50+ years spin, fly, slide, slap the floor, and jiggle coined hips. With over thirteen years of creative tradition, the Yellow Springs Community Dance Concert event will take place at the South Gym Performance Space on Antioch College Campus, in Yellow Springs, corner of Livermore and Marshall Streets. Performances are Friday and Saturday, March 25 and 26 at 8:00pm. Tickets are purchased at the door, $8 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. For more information contact Melissa Heston, 937-901-0344, melheston@gmail.com.

YSCDC 2011
The Yellow Springs Community Dance Concert 2011 features choreographers and dancers from the Yellow Springs community ranging from budding artists to well-seasoned professionals, and includes a myriad of dance forms from street dance, belly dance, modern dance, and jazz, among others. This year’s concert includes the following choreographers and dance groups: Tricia Gelmini, Marybeth Wolf, Valerie Blackwell-Truitt, Jill Becker, Egyptian Breeze Dance Troupe (belly dancers), Ali Thomas, Lara Bauer, Victoria Walters, Jade Turner, Greta Hill, Amanda Haisch , Jennifer Johnson, Eric Wolf, Erin Wolf, and Emma Holman-Smith, among others. Many of the works are premieres and have been created especially for this event.

One of Yellow Springs professional dance artists is Tricia Gelmini. Tricia is an independent dancer, choreographer and teacher. She received an MFA in dance from Smith College and a BA in dance and psychology from Antioch College. She was an adjunct faculty in Dance at Antioch College for many years and is currently an adjunct faculty member in Dance at Earlham College. Tricia has created works for and danced in many of the Yellow Springs Community Dance Concerts, Cincinnati Contemporary Dance Theater's Choreographers Without Companies concerts and soirees, and choreographed for the Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse. For this year’s concert Tricia will premiere the work entitled, "What Words Can Not Say," with music Abbonda di Viirtu by Francesco Landini and "Tulli Tulli Traditional," performed live by vocalist, Jennifer Gilchrist and musician, Matthew Minde. Tricia often choreographs in collaboration with her dancers and this work is no exception.

Jennifer Gilchrist, lyric soprano, was raised in Yellow Springs, OH. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Music degree in Applied Voice. She moved to Boston, MA to pursue vocal studies at the new England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Helen Hodam, and received her Master of Music in 1988.

Jennifer sang five seasons with the Boston Cecilia Chorus under the direction of Donald Teeters. She had solo opportunities with the chorus, including in Benjamin Britten's "Ceremony of Carlos," Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms," and during holiday concerts. A highlight for her was singing with the Boston Cecilia when they combined forces with two other choruses and sang Mendelssohn's "Elijah" at Boston's Symphony Hall, accompanied by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, directed by Seiji Ozawa.

Since moving back to Ohio in 2005, Jennifer has performed as a soloist with the Yellow Springs Community Chorus, the Yellow Springs Chamber Orchestra, and the Bach Society of Dayton. She lives in Yellow Springs with her two children, Eliza and Miles.

Matt Minde has had a hidden life of performing music when not working his day job as a graphic designer. He has studied ’cello and viola da gamba, plays guitar, mandocello and recorder, and has had the opportunity to learn and perform on crumhorn. Locally, he has performed with the Yellow Springs (Antioch) Chamber Orchestra, the Yellow Springs Community Chorus, and the Dayton Mandolin Orchestra.

Growing up in a household where opera was the family business likely cemented for Matt the intimate connection between music and theater, and he spent several years producing sound design and writing music for small theater groups in Chicago. Matt first performed with a Yellow Springs improvisational dance group last Spring at the library, and learned as much as he enjoyed. He is thrilled to be contributing to this dance project. Matt lives in Yellow Springs with his wife, Jennifer, and children Joseph and Eliza.

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Partnership with Community and Antioch College
Antioch College’s South Gym Performance Space had often been home to the Yellow Springs Community Dance Concert and the closing of Antioch College represented a huge loss to the dance community not only for performance space but also much needed rehearsal space. Jerome Borchers, Chair of the Yellow Springs Center for the Arts Steering Committee, Matthew Derr former Acting President of Antioch College, Thomas Brookey, CFO of Antioch College, and YSCDC Producers Ali Thomas, Marybeth Wolf and Melissa Heston have arranged again for rental of the performing space and technical equipment for this event in the soon to be re-opened Antioch College. “We are very pleased with this arrangement and see this as one of many community/Antioch College collaborations yet to come,” said Jerome Borchers. YSCDC Producers, Ali Thomas, Melissa Heston and Marybeth Wolf want to thank current president Mark Roosevelt, former president, Matthew Derr, Thomas Brookey, and Jerome Borchers for their help and generosity in opening the South Gym Performance space once again to the Yellow Springs community dancers.