Updating a once-was-a-church

On the corner of Elza and Warner is an building with two apartments that was once a church. A year an a half ago it was empty and for sale. Over the last few months it has been completely renovated.

In addition to the new siding, it has new windows and a new roof. There also has been extensive renovation on the inside, which is not yet finished. The picture below was taken in December, the one above in January.

A bit of past history is here.

Local Facebook pages

The Jasper County Library has a list of local Facebook pages. I am sure they have missed a few--but you can tell them about it if you know of one.
See http://www.facebook.com/myjcpl#!/myjcpl?sk=app_4949752878

(I do not see the Doghouse there, or Wheatfield Indiana. I am sure there are a lot more in DeMotte and Wheatfield. I wonder how long the list will be as they add the ones that they missed.)

Going, going, but not gone

About a month ago I had a post showing a few of the impressive snow piles around Rensselaer. This was the one in the parking lot of CVS.

A week ago it was much shrunken.

Today it was smaller still. It is nice to see that the snow is melting even if we get little dusting like we got this morning. Some of that snow is visible as the clean snow on the pile.

There is a sign on the courthouse lawn that you cannot read in the picture above. It is an announcement of the Jasper County Fair Association Pork/Chicken Dinner on March 13, from 11 until 2:00. Ticket prices are $7.00

The big pile at Brookside Park is much smaller, but still tall enough to hide the car that was parked on the other side.

I have been checking Lake Banet every few days, and today it was totally ice free. The last time I was there, which was probably sometime last week, it was still completely covered with several inches of ice. I was quite surprised that there was no ice at all along the shore that I could find. When I lived in Minnesota I spent a couple winters very near a lake, and watching the break-up of the ice is fascinating. It happens very quickly--in a matter of hours.

In other news, Jamie's Cafe and Banquets has changed hours. They are now open in the late afternoon on Fridays and Saturdays. They have also changed their menu. The customers wanted French Fries and now they can get them. ("It is not from the benevolence of the butcher ...." I hope you know the rest.) Jamie's Cafe and Banquets has a Facebook page, but hardly any fans.

Back to the spring news, Friends of the Sands has a volunteer workday on March 19 at 9:00. They will be replanting seedlings at the greenhouse. They also have pictures of their new building that you can find on their Facebook page.

Desperately seeking sunshine

Rensselaer has a new business, Sol Seekers Tanning Salon. It is located in the old Sears Building in the spot that was previously His and Hers Tanning Salon.

They may have an old location, but they have all new equipment and new ownership,

If you do not want a real tan, you can get a spray-on tan.

There are three rooms three tanning beds, including one that has mood music and mood lights.

It will join at least two other tanning businesses in Rensselaer, the Laundry Room and Sunchasers on Washington Street.

I had more questions to ask, but they started getting customers so I got out of the way. Sol Seekers has a Facebook page and you can learn more about them there.

While looking for Sol Seekers' Facebook page, I found the Facebook page of Sprigz, which I had not seen before. They also have a website that was done a couple of years ago but looks like it was never finished. I have wondered if it is more important for a business to have a web page or a Facebook page. They do different things. In the case of Sprigz, it looks like the Facebook page is more important. They seem to be pretty active, more active than City Office and Pub or Slice of Pie Pizza but not much different from the Doghouse.

Busy Bee has a Facebook page and they have announced that they will be opening on March 11, another sign of the return of the sun. They must be doing something right on Facebook because they have over 1500 fans.

Someone (not me) should put together a directory of all the Rensselaer businesses that have Facebook pages. I would be happy to link to it.

Have a nice Mardi Gras.

Fallen parapet

Sometime late last week there was some excitement in downtown Rensselaer. A number of bricks from the decorative parapet on the old Murray Building fell. They had enough weight to crash through the metal awning that protects the sidewalk in front of the building.

Here is a close-up of the place from where the bricks came. What causes a bunch of bricks to suddenly fall out of a wall?

Below is a better shot of the collapsed awning and the bricks on the sidewalk in front of the entrance to the store that a few months ago was J&L Antiques and Things.

The building is for sale. This odd event will not help the owner move the building.