Beating the Drum (another go at the VAAC)

I am posting a .pdf file of the Historic 1906 Washington Street Arts Center Needs Assessment, completed in December 2006 by Ciavarella Design of Mitchell, as a way of showing how the conclusions and recommendations of this report–paid for by a $5000 contribution by the City of Vermillion (Thanks, taxpayers!)–are not being followed by the [...]

What I’m Growing This Year!

Yup–the official and probably incomplete list of everything I can think of (not including the flowers or the solely medicinal herbs) on this feels-like-spring day:
A:
Asparagus (cheater–this patch was planted generations ago, but I’ll be mulching and improving), Arugula
B:
Beets (red and enormous yellow), Broccoli, Broccoli Raab (rapini), Bok Choi, Basil (sweet, lettuce-leaf, and lemon), Beans, Borage
C:
Chard, [...]

How to Fix the Church of the Arts

So, my partner and I took a stroll by and around the proposed new Church-of-the-Arts building in the illuminating light of day.  From what we could see, not even setting foot in the door, the proposed new home of the arts is in even worse shape than the 100-year-old current residence of the arts.  All [...]

Grab your Hoes and Pitchforks!

A lovely day in the southern paradise of the Dakotas.  It finally got above freezing, and we’ll have a couple more days where it may reach the forties (and also may rain).  Maybe I’ll finally get my sidewalks cleared off of the accumulated ice and snow, so I can have I nice, smooth skating rink [...]

Update: Arts Center, Farmers Market, Community Garden

I have been sitting on my behind pretty much all day, focusing on writing e-mails and making phone calls concerning the proposed sale of the Washington Street Arts Center, and what this would mean for both the Vermillion Area Farmers Market and the Vermillion Community Garden Project. I am deeply involved in both projects [...]

The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry

Being an English teacher, I thought I should occasionally post on books that rocked (or are currently rocking) my world. So, today I’m inaugurating a new category: BOOKS.
This collection of essays brings me deeper and deeper into an interconnected consciousness. Sometimes, when I resurface from one of Berry’s essays, I realize that my [...]

R-Pizza Lives!

From time to time I am going to post on local eateries, with shameless favoritism bestowed upon establishments that have demonstrated a desire to purchase locally-grown food. Those that don’t, I probably won’t blog about at all–so restaurant owners, be on notice.
Last summer, the newest incarnation of Vermillion’s downtown pizza joint opened. Most [...]

Vermillion Walk-About

One thing I know about Vermillion is that it’s possible to walk anywhere you need to go in around the time it would take to drive there–sometimes a little longer, sometimes even quicker. So my little part for sustainability lately has been to walk to where I need to go as much as possible. [...]

A Drinkable Box Wine (Wine Snobs–exit now!)

If you include red wine in your diet, and you are not rich, and/or you are not afraid of wine snobs’ looks of disdain, Peter Vella sells a very drinkable Cabernet in a 5 liter box.  It is better than two-buck Chuck (or three-buck Chuck, if you are anywhere but California).
One caveat: do not mistake [...]

Without the Arts Center, Witherto the Farmers Market & Community Garden?

For the past five years, I have been president of the Vermillion Area Farmers Market. In that five years, we have “lived” in three different settings. Now it looks like our home for the last two years, the Washington Street Arts Center (operated by the Vermillion Area Arts Council) may be sold.
To make [...]