Ribbon cuttings and more

On Wednesday Wagner Lumber and Supply had a ribbon cutting. The business was Woods Lumber and Seeds until late May when it was sold. It is located immediately north of the railroad tracks on McKinley Street.

 Dollar Tree had its ribbon cutting on Tuesday but I had another commitment so could not attend. The Rensselaer Republican posted a picture on Facebook.

One of the people at the Wagner Lumber ribbon cutting works at Fair Oaks Farms and she had some brochures about the new Winfield Crop Adventure. I said that they had not had the big opening ceremony for that one that they have had for some of the other new attractions. She told me that in fact they had had a big ceremony, but it was not geared for the local audience. The Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, had attended as had other people important in agriculture. The event was by invitation only. Searching the Internet, I found a several places that reported on it, including here and here.

Speaking of crops, there is now a wide assortment of veggies at the Farmers Market.

 Tuesday night was Kids Night at the Farmers Market. In the distance below you can see Franciscan Alliance, which was checking bike helmets and giving some away. IBEC had a booth next to them and was giving kids balloons, many of which soon departed for the stratosphere. On the left is the table of ConAgra, which gave away pudding and popcorn. I asked if they produced the pudding locally and was told that the local plant only processes popcorn.

 The recent rains have saturated some soils. In my plot at the community garden the carrots are rotting because of the saturated soil and the cabbages look like they may be dying as well. More rain is in the forecast and we do not need it.

 The recent rains have delayed work on the high water treatment plant. The pits were flooded and apparently they were pumped out by trucks such as the one above.

Early this week highway crews lined or painted US 231. I assume that means the work is finished. Big Dog announced that it will no longer be renting tools, party supply, and equipment to the general public.

Work on Halas Hall seems to be almost finished. I think this is the final look. Gallagher Hall still has a lot of work remaining.

Below is a follow-up picture of the fire at Rich's Cycle Solutions. This truck was in the building when the building burned. There is a dumpster on site and much of the debris has been placed in it.

I noticed this tree at the Fair Grounds last week. I am not sure exactly what it is, but it is some sort of chestnut.

There are efforts to bring back the chestnut. One approach has been to cross the American Chestnut with European or Asian chestnut to get the genes necessary to defeat the fungus and then continue crossbreeding to try to get the maximum amount of American Chestnut DNA. The other approach is the GMO approach, to take a gene from another species that will give the tree protection from the fungus.