A very busy weekend

Ribbon cutting Blacker Fields

On Friday, September 15 the Park Department held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Blacker Fields. The actual cutting was posed with the sun behind people, so my pictures of the group did not turn out well. However, the cutting was accompanied with some glitter cannons and that made an interesting picture.

Before the cutting, several people spoke, including the daughter of Rex Blacker. I do not remember a bigger crowd for a ribbon cutting ceremony.

After the ribbon cutting, there was a ceremonial first pitch, which I did not capture.

Newly installed are six plaques. One of the two on the pillars holding up the Blacker Fields sign tells a bit about Rex Blacker, whose large gift to the Park inspired the Parks for People campaign.

On the other pillar are names of donors who have things named for them.

On the RestRoom/Concession building are four plaques with the names of donors. The first has the really big donors.

The second has medium sized donors, and the last two, not shown here, have the small donors who gave between $100 and $2000. There were a lot of them.

The ribbon cutting took place a couple years after the fields started being used, but the purpose was to honor those who contributed to the Parks for People Campaign and to mark its successful conclusion.

Cemetery Walk

The sixth annual Memories Alive in Weston Cemetery event took place on Saturday with ideal weather; not too hot or cold, little wind, and little sun, which was important in the afternoon because the part of Weston Cemetery covered this year has lost its ash trees. There were two performances. The first in the morning was held in the Hall Shelter. It appeals to those who do not want to walk or who have something else they want to do in the afternoon. I think about 40 people attended.

Something special this year was that attendees could grab a free book. One of the featured descendants was the wife of John Blue, who wrote several books. Not all of them sold so his daughter used the event for inventory reduction. The blue book tells the story of the Blue family as they came from the east and settled in Jasper County. Then part of that family continued west. This is a very common pattern of families that settled here.

In the afternoon performance the attendees were divided into seven groups that rotated around eight stations in the western part of the cemetery. Below is Judy Kanne portraying Margaret Mckinney Lewis, who taught in a couple of early schools. She had three sons, one born after her husband committed suicide because he was afraid that he was going insane, something that had happened to his father and sister. One of the sons was a very successful farmer near Remington and the other two went academic, earning PhDs. One taught briefly in Maine before returning to farming and the other ended up teaching biology at the University of Texas. 

Another person featured was Nora Daugherty Parkison who was a Red Cross nurse in WWI. She was portrayed by a distant relative, Kathy Parkison, who told how nursing developed as a profession, aided a lot by wars.

Others featured this year were Emory Harrison, Dewey Biggs,  and Madelene Sayler Speaks, who was portrayed by her granddaughter Susie Lintner Rayburn.

A comment left on the post from September 8 asked why Frank Clair, the Canadian football coach, was buried in Weston Cemetery. His wife was Patricia Bausman who grew up in Rensselaer. It is not uncommon for people to be buried in places where they did not live but relatives did. 

I am not sure how many attended the afternoon performance but my best guess is about 80. The program for the 2023 Walk can be viewed here.

Fall Frolic

On Saturday evening the annual St Augustine Fall Frolic had a new venue, Potawatomi Park.  I stopped by to take some pictures. The dunk tank attracted a line of kids.

There were a couple of food trucks.

There were several kids' games. Along the path you can see where a new pad has been installed. It will be filled with a bench honoring Jared Valentine.

One of the unusual games was bowling using pumpkins as bowling balls. The bounce houses are alway popular.

There were two sheep for people to admire. They did not seem to be happy to be there.

Quick notes

Other events this past weekend were festivals in Francesville and Wheatfield, a SJC homecoming, and Rock the Arts at Carpenter Creek Winery.

The Gas Utility is replacing the regulator station that is next to McDonalds on College Avenue.

The building that last was leased by Frida's has a new owner, Kentland Bank. 

NuBloom Naturals is gone and the space is again for rent.

Last week Bunkum Road from the Cemetery to Airport Road was being paved. 

There is the feel of fall in the air. Some of the corn looks ready to harvest. Days are getting shorter. The equinox is approaching and the sun will be rising due east and setting due west. Some leaves are starting to turn color. Nights are cool and the days are no longer hot.

Dollar Tree is busy moving into the old Walgreens building and should be opening on Thursday. I enjoyed shopping at the closeout of their old store.