Lots happening in July

 Murals

Work on this summer's murals has begun. Below is a picture taken on Saturday morning of the water tower near I-65. (Note to self: the lighting will be better in the afternoon,)

A closer look.

The artist is Cameron Moberg. He did one other mural in Rensselaer this year, a wall in the gymnasium at the Rensselaer Middle School. After he finishes the tower, he will do a mural in Remington.

The City of Rensselaer Facebook page has an earlier view of this mural.

One the way back from taking the above pictures, I encountered some wildlife that I rarely see.

Seussical

The Fendig Theatre for Children presented Seussical last week. Seussical is far from my favorite play, but it was an excellent choice for a Theatre for Children. It had excellent and very colorful costumes, energetic choreography, and was well cast. On Friday night I thought the sound track was too loud as it drowned out some of the solo singers but I was told that the volume was lower on Saturday. (In the distant past, they had a pit band. It would be nice to bring it back.)

Before the performance there was an announcement that people should not take pictures, so I did not. However, I have several pictures taken on Wednesday at a preview at the Cup of Joy Cafe, Too. Pictured below are Thing 2, Thing 1, Sour Kangaroo, and Horton the Elephant. The story is a mishmash of 15 books by Dr. Seuss, with most of the plot involving Horton.

The Cat in the Hat had a major role and did an excellent job.

Next year will be the 50th year for the Summer Theater. The first performance I saw was The Hobbit in 1978. It was, if I remember correctly, performed in the basement of St Augustine Church and they cut battle scenes because they seemed too violent. The first play one of my children was in was Annie in 1984. My kids were in crowd scenes or with only one or two lines, with one exception. A son played Winthrop in the Music Man (1992) and did an excellent job.

Sidewalks

Almost all of the concrete work is finished for the Brick Street Project. On Thursday a separator strip had been poured where Van Rensselaer meets the highway.

Also on Thursday the sidewalk on Harrison was being poured.

On Friday the sidewalk on Ayda's corner was finished

as was the sidewalk on Harrison next to the Courthouse.

Below is a picture taken on Friday of the crossing of Harrison next to SR 114.

On Saturday the last bit of sidewalk was poured, at the end of the alley that leads to Van Rensselaer Street.

Next the contractors will fill the streets with dirt and gravel to get them ready for the bricks.

Jasper County Plan Commission meeting

The Jasper County Plan Commission met Monday evening with a two-part item on its agenda, a rezone from A1 to A2 and a primary approval of a two-lot subdivision. The property is in Barkley Township and the parcel is about ten acres, which is large enough for only one residence because it is zoned A1. The purpose of the change in zoning was to allow the establishment of a two-lot subdivision, which would allow a second residence to be placed on this ten acre lot. Both requests passed.

Odds & ends

As mentioned in the previous post, the Clinic of Family Medicine has moved into its new Washington Street location. Below is a picture of the reception area.

All clinics seem to have hallways. Here is the one for the Clinic of Family Medicine. The interior has been completely remodeled.

A bit down the street the exterior of Earth Body Magic Potions is having its façade renewed.

On Sunday the Good Samaritan Food Pantry had an open house at their new location. They had a ribbon cutting in April.

The Iroquois River did not hit flood stage after the rains that came with the remnants of Beryl, but the recent rains since then may send it to flood stage. As I write this it is at 10.52 feet and still rising.

The Japanese beetles are back but do not seem to be as bad as they were a few years ago.

I had an unexpected and quite improbable meeting on Sunday morning as I was leaving the house. A car drove by and then turned around and out popped a former SJC colleague of mine. He was returning to his home in Bloomington and had gotten off the Interstate because it was congested. We had a short chat because I was on my way to church and did not want to be late. We agreed that SJC had been poorly run and the problem was not just a few people at the top but it ran deep.

The County Fair is coming. Enjoy it.