September already

The Labor Day weekend has begun as I publish this. For many people it marks the end of summer. It used to mark the beginning of school, which may be why it marked the end of summer. The days will be getting much shorter over the next six weeks and the sun will sink to the south. Some of the later flowers of summer are blooming but not yet most of the asters.

This has been a very productive year for fruit trees. I have heard several people comment on bumper crops of peaches, pears, and apples. (Which reminds me that quite a few years ago I used the term "bumper crop" in a class and had several students tell me that they had never heard the term. I was surprised, but perhaps they did not have the advantage of growing up in a rural area.) I have also heard that some fields are already being harvested.

The Weston Cemetery Walk event had its first reading by re-enactors last weekend. One purpose of the reading is to get the presentations as close to eight minutes as possible so that the flow of people from station to station will be smooth. This year will focus on the eastern part of the cemetery and will feature eight people buried there. The walk will have an interesting mix of people. Do you know why Sparling Avenue has its name? How many young men from Jasper County died in the Civil War and are buried in Weston Cemetery? Who is the most famous author buried there? These questions and many others will be answered on September 18.

The primary election next May in Jasper County will feature voting centers. You will no longer have to vote at your local polling place but will be able to vote at any of the ten voting locations in Jasper County. For Rensselaer the closest will be at the Fire Station and the Fairgrounds.  More information is available at the County Clerk's office here.

The basketball court at Brookside park is now painted and both goals are installed.

Construction continues at McDonalds. On Wednesday I noticed that the old walls were gone. I was told by a supervisor that the old windows had been donated to the Fire Department to be used for training. 

On Friday the new front was being closed in. 

Also on Wednesday I noticed a concrete truck inside the new electric department storage building pouring concrete. I am used to buildings being build from the bottom up: first the floor, then the walls, and finally the roof. This building started with the roof, then did the walls, and finally did the floor.

On Friday the new floor was finished.

On Friday the Tourism Commission met. It approved a request from the Prairie Arts Council for $4300 to help clear-coat the new murals (to protect them from weather and vandals). Revenues from the inn-keepers tax are up this year compared to both 2020 and 2019 and some of that growth is due to tournaments at the Blacker Fields. The Jasper Jaunt bike ride drew 36 riders and had favorable comments. A new Tourism and Community Relations Coordinator was introduced to the Commission. She will be working part time for a while as she is a senior at Purdue. (The person she replaced has moved down the block and is working for Gutwein Seeds.)

There are multiple of events scheduled for next weekend: Little Cousin Jasper Festival, Rock the Arts at Carpenter Creek, several dinners or breakfasts, and a car show at Fair Oaks Farms. In the past the second weekend of the month featured the Rensselaer Cross Country Invitational, but I believe that meet no longer is on the schedule. (Update: I was told that the Invitational still exists but now is a middle-school-only event. It is one of the bigger middle-school meets.) (The Jasper-Newton Foundation seems to have discontinued their community event calendar.)

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend.