Weekend happenings Nov 2014

Last night we missed the heaviest band of snow; it was to our south. However, it definitely felt like winter over the weekend. SJC played their last football game of the season and had a small but loud crowd. The team had a good season, winning its last game and finishing 8-3.

 The local high school has had an even better season and it is not over yet. Next Friday the team will play Central Catholic in the semi-state round, a matchup that most people expected when the playoffs began. The game will be in Rensselaer and even if the weather is cold, there will be a big crowd.

This is the time of the year to turn to indoor activities. Last Thursday St. Augustine held its annual Turkey Dinner and Bazaar. It would be interesting if they would advertise how many years their turkey dinner and bazaar has been going on--it is probably more than 50 years. The raffle with the big wheel is part of the tradition, though prizes have changed. I remember when most of the prizes were goods--turkeys, hams, etc. I think even earlier they gave away live turkeys. Now most of the prizes are money or gift cards.

On Friday evening and Saturday the Prairie Arts Council had its Annual Holiday Art and Fine Crafts Show and Sale. On Friday evening there was a very big crowd.  There were a lot of interesting arts and crafts for sale. The number of books that were available was surprised me. Publishing a book has become very easy via small publishing companies or self-publishing. At least two of the books were printed here in Rensselaer by PrintCo, which I did not expect. One of the things you can do with the new print-on-demand publishing is publish very small runs (as small as a single copy) for very little money. (A single copy of a small book could be published for about ten dollars including shipping--I know, because I have done it. That may be a reason that there are over 6 million titles available on Amazon.)

 And now for some important news. "Detour Ahead" signs are pre-positioned along Cullen Street (SR 114) because 114 will soon be closed at the Pleasant Ridge rail crossing. Heavy traffic will be re-routed down to SR 16. (Of course cars can use county roads for a shorter detour if you have a county map.) Also, US 231 will be closed in Monon at the railroad crossing so that CSX can do that crossing as well. Here is the announcement on Facebook.