It was delicious

Before.

And after.  It was delicious.

Not really. The little pig was at the first annual CDC Resources Hog Roast on Friday night for a different purpose.

For a few more pictures, see here and click the arrows.

This weekend marks a change in leadership at CDC Resources--on Monday a new Executive Director takes over. Here is the press release.

The Board of Directors of CDC Resources is pleased to announce that Mr Onias Taruwinga has accepted its offer to serve as the next Executive Director, replacing Michael Cruz who is retiring after 21years with the agency. 

Mr Taruwinga comes to CDC Resources with extensive experience and success in organizations similar to CDC Resources. Since 2008 he has been the Executive Director of Mosaic Inc of Terre Haute Indiana. Mosaic of Terre Haute is similar to CDC Resources in the services it offers to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and in its size. However, unlike CDC Resources which is an independent organization, Mosaic of Terre Haute is part of a much larger organization, one with operations in over a dozen states and a headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Prior to leading the Terre Haute office of Mosaic, Mr Taruwinga spent over seven years in positions with ADEC, Inc of Bristol, Indiana, another agency that provides services for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Mr Taruwinga was born in Zimbabwe, Africa. He came to the United States in the early 1990s to attend Andrews University in Michigan. He has an MBA from Bethel College of Indiana and has completed the course work for a Ph.D. at Purdue University in West Lafayette. 

A retirement Open House for Michael Cruz, will be held on Wednesday, June 18 at Pine View Banquet Hall, 1969 N West Shafer Drive in Monticello from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm EDT.

Ribbon Cutting A Home Away From Home

On Wednesday the Chamber of Commerce had a ribbon cutting at the new day care center, A Home Away From Home in the old Horton Building.

The little girl in the tutu was eager to show people around the building.

I noticed that the entranceway was made of cast iron. A century of foot traffic has worn part of it smooth and obscured the manufacturers name. You can still make out the "Aurora Ill."

They were eager to welcome Mayor Wood to the ceremony.

I missed the city council meeting on Tuesday night because I had another meeting I had to attend. The mayor told me that the council had had a good discussion about the land east of Weston Cemetery that the city had been hoping to develop as a park. The many DNR requirements probably make the project way too expensive.

The fire department has announced on its Facebook page that it has purchased one of the old fire trucks used by the department in the 1940s and plans to restore it. SJC has received a grant to aid in getting students into internships. Fair Oaks Farms published another picture of the restaurant showing paving that was not there a week or two ago when I was there and announcing an opening of July 1.  The Hog Roast sponsored by CDC Resources to help fund their programs for intellectually and developmentally disabled adults will take place this evening from 5:00 until 8:00. I hope to see you there. Maybe you will  be able meet both the outgoing executive director and the incoming executive director.

Blue at St A's

On Wednesday I noticed a three-hole golf course on the Susan Lot at St. Augustine's School. I stopped in the office to find out what the story was.

 The secretary was all excited about Blue visiting the school. I had to ask what Blue was. As most of you undoubtedly know, Blue is the mascot for the Indiana Colts (though it looks more like a chicken than a colt.)

 The visit was a response by the Colts to the Chaganti accident, which took the life a fourth grader at the school.

The golf course was set up for PE education and was done by an avid golfer.

Remember Green Stamps?

A couple months ago a elderly family member passed away and I have made three trips to Chicago as a result. While helping clean out the house, I stumbled on a bag of old trading stamps. Are you old enough to remember them?

The Plaid Stamps were a promotion of A&P and have no value, but I was surprised to learn that that the Green Stamps might. They can be converted to a successor product, greenpoints, but there are restrictions on the conversion.

I remember my mother getting these stamps in the late 1950s and early 1960s. However, my main memory of them was how much my father hated them. At the time he was operating a small drug store in Little Falls, Minnesota and competitive pressures had forced him into offering the stamps--everyone else was offering them and customers expected them. However, they cost him more than they were worth to the people who received them. The trading stamps were a fad for a few years and then stores started to advertise that they were offering lower prices because they were not offering green stamps, and the fad died away. I do not recall if he was able to get rid of them before he closed his store--he closed when the first chain drug store opened up in town. He was too small to compete and the town could not support a fourth drug store. The same dynamic played out in Rensselaer many times.

Memorial Day 2014

There was a large crowd for the 2014 Memorial Day ceremonies in Weston Cemetery.

 The honor guard consisting of veterans stood along Bunkum Road.

 Mayor Wood gave the speech, recounting how Memorial Day emerged from people's desire to honor the dead of the Civil War.

On the patriotic theme, there are some very good pictures of Jasper County eagles on the SJC Facebook page.