End of July pictures

Two new murals

While at the Art-in-the-Alley festival on Saturday I noticed work on a mural.

It was being painted by Ryan Preston and Cameron Moberg.

It was replacing a mural that had severely deteriorated. I mentioned that the wall did not hold paint and they said it was because of the water coming off the roof. Below is what the back of the building looked like in April. Notice the new mural keeps one bit of the old mural, the "I'm OK" bubble.

The mural in its prime can be seen here.

Rein Bontreger's mural on the back of Unwind Massage seems to be complete because he has signed it.

More County Fair pictures

In a post last week I had some pictures from the County Fair. Here are more.

This exhibit had pig races. A couple of my granddaughters watched a race and thought they were amusing.

I have always liked Ferris wheels.

This is a picture of one of the two funny little people who were roaming around the Fair.

A view toward the barns from outside the Commercial Building.

ConAgra was giving away popcorn.

One of the booths that was scheduled for the Commercial building but did not show was for the Tri-County Bible school. I asked one of the people at the Tri-County Bible Church booth about it and was told the plan is to open in the Fall of 2025 in the Core Building at SJC.

EDP Renewables, which plans to start construction of a wind farm in Carpenter Township in 2025, was giving away a variety of items. The cow stuffed animals were a big hit with my young granddaughters.

Bob's Bumpy Barrels were back again this year.

On Friday evening 4-Hers were taking their goats to the livestock auction.

Below is a picture of what the Fair Board would like to build, an enclosed show arena.

Here is a video of the steam engine in action.

It had a belt connected to a large saw that was cutting planks from logs.

The Fair ended on Saturday night with fireworks. A video is here.

Art in The Alley

The annual Art in The Alley was the first event to be held in the almost completed Filson Park. The fountain was operating and as far as I know, no one waded in. This year the event overlapped the last day of the Fair, which probably hurt attendance.

One of the scheduled events was an improv performance by members of the Carnegie Players.

Unscheduled was a few minutes of dance by a local line-dance group.

While I was there, the biplane and helicopter rides that the Airport had were almost constantly in the air.

Miscellaneous pictures

Bricks are being placed on Van Rensseler. It will take a while to finish this part of the project.

On one of my trips to the Fair, I saw a deer in a soybean field.

Last Thursday workers were beginning to install batting cages near Staddon Field.

Shovels at SJC, scissors at Plevna

 On Friday there were two events heralding the start of something new. At SJC there was a groundbreaking ceremony signaling the start of the new Building & Trades program. This program, which will train students to build houses, has previously been discussed here.  This sign at the site, (which is not where the first house will be built) lists partnerships and sponsors.

On the left is Ernest Watson, fourth from the left is the chair of the Board of Trustees for SJC Mike Van Eekeren, and on the right is Mayor Phillips. 

A short video showing dirt flying.

I talked to a number of the people attending.  I asked about the prospect of training EMTs and was told that the program needs a medical doctor to be very involved in the program and they have not found one willing to devote the time and effort. The various medical certificate programs will be scheduled a year in advance so prospective students will know when they are coming. The new CDL Academy has started and has had its graduates get their CDL licenses. I met the new CEO and I think we will see a more responsive SJC going forward.

The new signs along the highway have three of the four tracks that the College is offering: Building & Trades, the CDL Academy, and Health Sciences. The fourth is for-credit college courses offered with a cooperating and accredited college.

There is no prospect of the old SJC coming back, but there is a good chance that SJC will become a better neighbor to Rensselaer in the years ahead.

Plevna ribbon cutting and grand opening

The former McAllister dealership is no more. The building is now an outlet for the Plevna Implement Company.

MacAllister was primarily a dealer in Caterpillar equipment and Caterpillar has been focusing more on construction equipment and less on agricultural equipment. MacAllister followed that direction and there is a limited market for construction equipment in Rensselaer. In contrast, Plevna is focused on the agriculture markets, so when they saw a chance to buy the MacAllister building and move to this part of Indiana., they took it. They originally had considered a grand opening in June but decided that was not a good time because planting went late this year. A grand opening during County Fair weeks seemed like a better bet.

There was some miscommunication between the City and Plevna about the timing. The City thought the ribbon cutting would take place at 10:00 but Plevna thought it would take place at noon, when they would start serving lunch to guests. Because the Chamber of Commerce had the ribbon and the Mayor had another commitment at noon, the ribbon cutting did take place at 10:00. At first there was an attempt to line people under the big Plevna sign.

But more people decided to line up by a row of equipment and that is where the ribbon was cut.

Below is a very short video showing the ribbon being cut.

Plevna offers a variety of brands of farm equipment, most brands that are under the AGCO umbrella. In addition to selling new equipment, they service old equipment. Currently they have seven employees and hope to increase that to about 15 in a year. Below is the front of the building, where customers would most likely enter.

Behind the front are storage spaces for parts and a large area for working on equipment. On Thursday it was set up for a lunch. I was surprised at how many place settings there were, but was told that they had sent out 1400 invites to area farmers.

In the back was an enormous combine.

In the supply room I did see one piece of equipment that I could afford.

From the building they have a fine view of airplanes taking off and landing at the airport, which has been very busy this week with crop dusters.

A closing

While the events above celebrate beginnings, another institution announced a closing. The Jasper County Recovery House issued a press release stating that it will be closing because they "could not find adequate employees to keep the center open." The Jasper County center opened in 2018.

County Fair, murals, and a lot of pictures

At the Fair

For the 100th anniversary the Jasper County Fair sought out some new activities. One of them was called Foam Play. A foam cannon shot foam into the parking lot and the kids waded in, getting soaked. I had several grandkids visiting and they enjoyed it. I do not know if four of them enjoyed their wet ride back to Indianapolis.

Also on Sunday there were tethered balloon rides. 

The balloon did not go very high, but there was a long line of people waiting for a ride.

I noticed an antique steam engine west of the Retired Iron barn. My interest in steam engines is explained here.

As I was leaving the balloon area, the fair queen and her court drove up in their queen-mobile. I did not wait to see if they took a balloon ride.

The Health Department had its mobile health clinic on display. I do not know if anyone ever was in it.

The carnival area seemed to be bigger this year than in recent years.

The Shake Barn is always popular.

I have not visited most of the animal barns yet. I stopped by the sheep barn to take a picture.

On Tuesday afternoon bingo was a popular event in the Community Building.

Below are a few of the many food booths at the fair.

Sunset at the Fair.

Murals

On Wednesday morning the City held a dedication ceremony for the water tower mural. First there were short talks by Cameron Mobery and Mayor Jeff Phillips talking about how the project came to be, the obstacles that had to be overcome, and the people who helped make the mural possible. In the picture below are Rein Bontrager, Mayor Phillips, Cameron Moberg, and Ryan Preston.

Behind them is a banner that lists the artists and sponsors. The name of the mural is "Autumn Caught 'Em". The leaves represented to Mr Moberg memories of his times in Rensselaer.

There was no ribbon to cut, but there were confetti guns to shoot.

Here is a short video of the confetti.

After the confetti had fallen, everyone went inside the fence for a picture by the base of the tower. There was a rather large crowd of people who attended this event.

Then to my delight the door at the base of the tower was opened and people could go inside and look up. This is what they saw.

The large gray pipe contains the water main that fills the tank and also releases water from the tank. It is insulated. There is a white pipe to its left and that is an overflow pipe. A ladder goes up to the very top of the tower; there is a passage through the water at the top. A wire alongside is for a safety harness. There are several platforms on the way up so a climber can rest.

I looked at the back of the base to see where the overflow pipe outletted. 

It took Cameron and Ryan seven days to paint this mural and one more day to clear coat it. Here is the finished result. (The best time to take a picture probably is at sunset in the summer.)

Cameron Moberg is now working on a mural in Remington.

I thought downtown Rensselaer was not getting a mural this summer, but I was wrong. Rein Bontreger is painting the back wall of the building owned by Unwind Massage, located next to the City Parking lot. It is best viewed from the bowstring-arch bridge.

City Council meeting

The Rensselaer City Council had a very short meeting on Monday evening. It approved two transfers of funds and a burial rights request for four lots. There were two quotes for a new recycling truck and the Council approved the low bid of $62,640 from Gutwein Motors. The purchase will be funded from monies from the Solid Waste District.

The City employee picnic will be this Friday. The audit of the City has been completed. The Redevelopment Commission will meet on August 5. Two employees have passed their CDL tests and two more will be starting the process. 99 lead sewer lines have been identified. Perhaps by the end of the week blacktopping at the ends of the brick streets will start. The gas department has been moving the gas meter at the high school to the outside of the building.

Brick Streets

This week the work on the Brick Streets has been preparing a foundation for the bricks.

Underneath the gravel is a mesh layer that is meant to keep layers separate and to keep the top layer smooth.

Also this week landscaping was underway.

On Tuesday City Hall got a new flagpole, replacing one on the roof.

Some people may not realize it, but there are bricks under the pavement of Washington Street.

On Wednesday a sand layer was added to a bit of Van Rensselaer and the first bricks were laid down.

Filson Park

The last bit of sidewalk along Kellner Street was finished on Wednesday. There is still sidewalk along Van Rensselaer that needs to be removed.

On Saturday the Art-in-The-Alley event is scheduled for Filson Park. It will be interesting to see how the event turns out in a not-yet-finished park.  Here is the schedule of events:

12:00PM Art in the Alley Opens w/Carnegie Players Improv

2:00PM Free Downtown Mural Tour

3:00PM World Music Special ♫

5:00PM Greg James & the Peaches ♫

7:00PM Art in the Alley Closes!