Labor Day potpourri

Before the remnants of Hurricane Isaac hit us, I took a picture of the Iroquois River from the College Street Bridge.

 We got about an inch of rain from Isaac, but a little more than a week ago we got about two inches. So the inch from Isaac made the rise in the river noticeable. (Check the tire rim on the left in both pictures.)

 I noticed a very large fungus in my neighbor's yard. It was due to moisture before Isaac.

 I have heard that people did not understand the technical problem with the pedestrian bridge. Below you can see one of the two middle crossbeams that has been modified. (I do not know what the beam in the background was for. Also, I try to keep my shadow out of pictures, but I failed here.)

 Below is the bridge with the modified beam put back and the other problem beam taken out. Again, the old bridge will not be bearing any of the load for the walkway. (The old bridge did hold the 7,000 pound I-beam without buckling, so it may be stronger than the engineers think it is.)

 The load will be borne by these seven I-beams. They have had fittings attached to bind them together and, on the outside, to support the glass wall that will serve as a rail. They not only will hold lots of pedestrians, but they should be strong enough to support large vehicles.

 I passed by SJC this morning and stopped to take a picture of what used to be the entrance structure on the east side of the highway.

 Continuing on, I found that the goslings had grown up and were waiting for the movies at Fountain Stone. I wonder if they are old enough to get into the R=rated movies.

 Maybe the theater needs some fake coyotes. These seem to be the geese that grew up near Donaldsons.

I noticed a bulldozer in the field east of Rico's. The area was full of stakes with ribbons indicating that ground moving is imminent. I have heard from several sources that a doctor's office is planned for the area. Maybe this is it. If I had not forgotten to go to an open house last weekend, I might know.

Rico's, by the way, seems to have a "For Sale" sign in front of it--it has been there for several weeks at least.

Another sign I noticed today was for Prompt Ambulance, which used to be Keeney Ambulance. The ambulances have had the Prompt signage for a long time, but it has taken most of the summer to get the signage on the building.

This afternoon the LaRue Pool closed for the season. Today it had an infestation of Sourthern Corn Rootworms. They are tiny beetles that farmers hate. I am not sure why scores of them found their way into the water. Perhaps someone who farms can tell us.

I would like to thank the pool people for opening the pool on the two days for which we were the only swimmers. I apologize for not being there that day when you had to close the pool because no one showed up, but the weather was really bad that day.

News from JCEDO

The Jasper County Economic Development Organization (JCEDO) released its annual report for 2011-2012 and sent me a copy. (I guess I am on their mailing list.) The JCEDO is a "public-private partnership incorporated in 1986 as a 501(c)(3) corporation." It purpose is to "Strengthen and diversify the local economy, attract quality jobs, and encourage entrepreneurial growth to create opportunities for Jasper County  and it residents." The report is a pdf file, but is not currently available on the Internet. (I asked and was told that a new website is under development. When it is completed, future documents of this sort should be available on-line.)

The most interesting part of the document was a look at eleven successful projects that were recently completed or expected to be completed in the near future. In alphabetical order, they are:

The $108 million Advanced Auto Parts distribution center in Remington is now fully operational. It has 566,000 square feet of space.

The American Melt Blown & Filtration plant in Rensselaer is starting up. It will use 67.000 square feet of space in the old Schumacher building and has a projected employment of 40.

ConAgra Foods in Rensselaer relocated four popcorn packaging lines from Iowa in the Fall of 2011, which resulted in about 20 additional employees.

The Fair Oaks Compressed Natural Gas fueling station was completed in September 2011. It supplies the local dairy's truck fleet.

The trucking company How About That is constructing a new building north of Jasper Junction with completion expected this fall. It will be able to accommodate 40 employees.

Iroquois Bio-Energy Company at Pleasant Ridge (the ethanol plant) is construction a 775,000 bushel grain bin with completion scheduled this fall. The cost is $2 million.

The Legacy Farms/Pig Adventure in Fair Oaks is a $10 million, 143,000 square foot pig operation that will be connected with the Fair Oaks Adventure.

Sealy in Rensselaer has leased 32,000 of offsite warehouse space beginning Fall 2011 through Winter 2012.

Solae in Remington, a processor of soy protein concentrate power and soy lecithin oil food ingredients, is leasing 18,000 square feet of offsite warehouse space.

Terborg Distributing of Demotte constructed a new 13,000 square food headquarters/warehouse facility that opened in February 2012. The company is a beverage distributor.

Wilson Industrial Sales Company of Rensselaer is constructing a new 10,000 square foot corporate headquarters west of the I-65 SR 114 intersection. They are relocating from Newton County.

About half of these have been mentioned in previous posts and about half have not been.

Shopping the CDC Thrift Store in Monticello

Last week I was in Monticello and stopped by the CDC Thrift Store. This store is run by CDC Resources (the CDC stands for Comprehensive Development Centers), which also runs Jasper Junction north of Rensselaer. Both stores are meant to earn money to support the mission of CDC, which is to aid developmentally handicapped adults. In Rensselaer CDC houses adults in Jasper Village and has a center at the end of Angelica Street.

Monticello has a bunch of one-way streets, and the CDC Thrift Store is on one of them. To get there from US 24, which runs from west to east through Monticello, follow it until it turns north and then west again. The first stop light after the second turn is Illinois Street, the street on which the thrift shop is located. However, it is one way going the wrong way. Go to the next light and turn north on Main Street and follow it over the railroad tracks. Go a couple of blocks further north and then turn back to the east to get to Illinois. You will find the thrift shop on the west side of Illinois Street a bit north of the railroad tracks.

 The store is bright and very clean looking. On one side is clothing.

 Looking the other way you see all the other stuff, including furniture mixed in with the other items.

 Glassware and other kitchen stuff is neatly arranged on shelves.

 There was a selection of Halloween merchandise already up and ready to buy. I have not noticed the Halloween stuff in local stores, but I have not been paying much attention.

 Like Jasper Junction, the Thrift Store has a small eating area.

 The kids' stuff is in its own little area. Last time I was left with grand kids in a thrift store, they told me to quit looking at the stuff I thought interesting: "Quit wasting time, grandpa. We need to get to the toys."

The CDC Thrift Store has a very different feel than Jasper Junction. It is brighter, more inviting, and more upscale. It does not have vendor booths. It lacks the mystery of the "Man Building" and the Furniture Annex. If you have a chance, check it out. You never know what you can find in a thrift store.

(Some people have noticed "For Sale" signs at Jasper Junction. CDC does not want to close Jasper Junction; it wants to move it into Rensselaer. The first step is to sell the building they are in.)

We exited Monticello going north. On the way out, we passed something that Rensselaer and most other small cities in the United States lack, and outdoor movie theater.

Monticello and Rensselaer are both about the same size, but they are very different communities.

Update: CDC Resources is on Facebook and you can find notices of specials at both Jasper Junction and the Thrift Store there.

Art Show August 2012

The current exhibit at the Fendig Gallery features images that probably seem pretty familiar to people in this area, such as this one, titled "Store and Storage 1".

 Or the one below, titled, "Crossing the Kankakee."

They look a lot like old postcards, but they are not photographs. They are drawings by Lynn Retson, who lives in Porter, Indiana, which is near the Indiana Dunes. She says that her goal is to search out the poetry in the ordinary. She works in graphite and pastel, or pencil and chalk, and does some amazing things with these simple media.

She had a number of cloud pictures, such as the one below, titled  "Coming Rain."

My pictures of her work do not do them justice. You should notice that I am getting a lot of reflection. When you seem them in person, your brain does a good job of ignoring those reflections.

The reception for the exhibit was on Friday night and featured a harpist. The show runs until September 28, 2012.

The hours of the Fendig Gallery seem to have changed. The sign in front now says M-F 2:00-4:00.

Historical news-updated

Earlier this year the area of the downtown around the Court House Square was designated a historic district by the National Register of Historic Places. A sign is now in place to proclaim that designation. I cannot find the district listed on the Interior Department's website, but it may eventually get there.

The main building in the district is the Jasper County Court House, which this morning was having new slate tiles placed on the roof.

While on the topic of historic news, the Jasper County Historical Museum has a number of old garments on display, including several WWI uniforms. Below is a pair of pants from WWI once worn by E. S. Swartz

There is also an army uniform from Edwin Rhoads.

And for those who want to make love not war, the museum has the bridal dress that Blanche White wore when she married Charles Halleck on June 15, 1927.

In other historic news, a small problem, about two inches of a problem, has delayed the laying of the I-beams on the old Bowstring Bridge. If you look carefully at the last picture in this post, you may be able to see the problem. The I-beams were not supposed to touch the bridge, but they did because not all the cross beams were the same height.

Update Wednesday, Aug 29

The Rensselaer Central High School Band performed at the Tuesday Nite Farmers' Market last night. I think it is the last of the entertainments for the Farmers' Markets. I had a prior engagement for the evening, so could not wait around and hear them play.

 Speaking of bands, South Newton High School has a new band director this year, a 2012 grad from SJC. The prior band director, who did a good job of rebuilding the band and often brought it to Rensselaer parades, has taken a job at a church in Georgia. He will be missed not only by the South Newton community, but by many people in Rensselaer. His move probably means that the Fendig Summer Theater will need a new director next summer, as his wife directed Suessical.

This morning I stopped by the Court House because I saw the workers sending slate tiles up to the roof. I talked to the worker on the ground, noting that I had never before seen a slate roof installed. He commented that I probably would never see another one. The roof is guaranteed for a hundred years, but should last longer than that.

 Below you can see the lift going up with a load of slate. There is a second lift that runs along the stairs--it the shiny metal thing. It is used when things need to be taken to the various levels.

Blackboards used to be made of slate, though I have not seen any lately. Maybe next year for one of Tuesday Nite Farmers' Markets the organizers can hire a crane, attach kids onto the wire, give them some chalk, and hoist them up to let the decorate the Court House Roof. Now that would be something.