Culture in Perfect

Saturday for the second night in a row BBBH and vanilla were out and about.  Started the evening
with an AYCE catfish dinner followed by the theatah.

Our local players, Tipton Community Theater, presented "It's a Wonderful Life."  Who among us did not think "Jimmy Stewart" when we read that title?  Having seen the movie (who hasn't?) I was curious as to just how this tale would be presented on stage.  Not to worry.

The actors and prop managers transported us smoothly and quickly from a humdrum mid-America auditorium to Bedford Falls and we found ourselves absorbed in the affairs and travails of George Bailey and a small New England town.

To add to the pleasure of revisiting the story was the fact that the players on stage were our friends and neighbors some of whom surprised us with their thespian abilities and all of whom acquitted themselves with aplomb, panache, even.

Topped off the evening in the rotunda visiting, congratulating, and high-fiving the actors.

Anticlimax:  Into the FORD and home to FALL into BED.

Sweet.

Tipton Artwork

The mural on the wall of the Diana Theater is complete, the scaffolds have been removed.

The vignettes on the "film" strip, left to right

The Kelley Round Barn; St. John the Baptist Church; Courthouse Clock Tower; Nickel Plate Station; City Park Entrance.

 The number on the admission ticket at the right is 06261926 which if I am not mistaken is the date of opening of the theater.

Muralist Robin Conyers

Downtown Beautification

The Diana has its new adornment on the east wall.  Nearly complete, the "unveiling" ceremony was held Saturday.

What

will the morrow bring?

How cool is that?

From The Tipton County Tribune, December 29, 2016

 

Our health care providers take pride in their work, we take pride in our health care workers.

Look at the company they keep.

Christmas Kickoff

The article on the front page of our local newspaper announced Friday's "'Tis the Season" celebration in downtown Perfect.  Many fun things planned for residents of all ages, but the clip about the ice sculptor caught my eye.  I am sure his art work is stunning and to see him work should be entertaining.

But the thing I wonder is Where on Earth did he find "18 odd chickens"?  I know that cats are odd, and I have seen some strange rabbits, but just what makes a chicken odd?  17 chickens would be an odd number of chickens, but eighteen?

I am so confused.  Silly, too.

Well, it is December now, so on with the Christmas celebrations!

Downtown

West side of Square, Tipton, Indiana

 Picture not dated but doubtless more than a century ago.

Picture September 1, 2016

The first picture is hanging in the store which currently occupies the red brick building.  It is a somewhat faded sepia print and the above is the best reproduction I could make.

The second picture was taken Thursday afternoon.  I tried to replicate the scene from the past and missed a little bit.  But note the wall around the courthouse lawn.  The first building that shows on the right side of the top picture does not show in the recent picture because it is no longer there.  Parking lot and outdoor displays for the merchant occupying the building.  Note, too, that utility poles are prominent in both pictures, yet they are different.

Traffic signals  were introduced sometime between the making of the two pictures, yet I would guess that if someone who lived in Tipton in 1916 were dropped down to view today's scene they would know where they were.  Might be both amazed and appalled.  The first reaction because of the obvious changes, the second at how little commerce is actually conducted in this formerly hopping and busy locale.  (You know, malls and automobiles.)

Heads up! Tipton's 48th annual Pork Festival will take place right here on the square next week, Thursday September 8; Friday September 9; Saturday September 10.  Be there.

 

Friday night, 9 o'clock.

Little Gem and City Business

Two years ago I showed you the Little Gem building and. . . Well, go look at the article, I'll wait.
http://vanilla-ststt.blogspot.com/2014/04/little-gem.html

Today is an update.  The city did indeed purchase the entire corner and the three building situated thereon.  This is how it looks today.

The Little Gem remains intact.  We are pleased that 

it has been saved.  New municipal offices in the

background.

 The two buildings seen in the background of

the 2014 picture have been converted into City Hall

and municipal offices at a cost of a cool million dollars.

 Facade at the main entrance.

Bits and Pieces

or, Around our Small Town

Stopped at our local cafe, saw the Studie in the parking lot as I left.  This is the Hawk.  As a young man I often drooled over the Hawk line but never purchased one.

A few evenings later, BBBH and I went to the local cinema.  Our single-screen theatre operates seven days a week and we joined the proprietors in celebration of ninety consecutive years in business.  The current patriarch of the family is 86 years of age and has literally worked in this establishment for eighty years.

What was showing?  There is the bill at the bottom left of the page.  Once again Disney has managed to irreparably screw up a fine set of literary characters.  In their defense, though, they only "borrowed" the Dodgson characters.  None of the nearly nonexistent story line had anything whatsoever to do with the original story.  Further defense: special fx.  Otherwise, nothing.

The comedic jeweler's establishment abuts the movie house.  Below is his latest offering.  I'm a little conflicted, or confused, or something because I don't want to set off Her fireworks.  Or perhaps he is thinking along a different line.

The fox? As we left the showing and drove past the courthouse a block away BBBH saw a fox run across the court parking lot.  When she tells me she saw a fox I fully believe it and certainly would not argue with her.  Especially since an on-going argument I once had with her when she told me she saw a "herd of elk" on the roadside.  I missed the sighting then, too, but several weeks later when we passed that spot she said, "See, there are the elk."  And she was right.

The sleek little G6 in front of the Studebaker is ours.  We bought it from the local dealer ten years ago next month.  It has now been driven 25,700 miles.

ImPerfect

 It is below zero outside, it's warm and cozy inside.  What better way to spend such a day?

The temptation this week has been to cover my head and shut the world out.  I feel I am about to give up on it; it's not worth the effort involved in staying in touch with it.

Making an exception, of course, in your case.  I shall always try to find time for you.

Are things really as bad as I made it seem?  Yes, probably.  Maybe worse.  The glass half-full analogy does not apply, for the glass has been tilted mouth-downward, and the last drop is barely clinging to the rim.

Now let me be clear.  There is nothing wrong with the relationship with my Maker, the marital bonds are as strong as ever, and no one is actively mistreating me.

It is the condition of this old world in which we live.  Clearly there is not much, probably nothing in fact, that I can do for it.

Do you suppose I could achieve some peace of mind were I to cancel the subscriptions to the newspapers, cancel my subscription to cable, and shred my library card?

Postal Service and History Lesson

You are going to the post office in our village today.  Just before you get to the steps, you may notice the startled Uncle Sam who has somehow landed on his derriere at the base of the flagpole.

Then as you look up slightly and to Uncle's left, your right, you will see the cornerstone of the building.

 Now there is some history there.  I recall the name Henry Morgenthau, Jr. from my junior high school days when one learned the posts in the President's cabinet using the St. Wapniacl mnemonic.

We learned not only the posts, but of course the names of the people who were occupying those positions at the time.  Hence, I recall Morgenthau.  This was the man who said, after serving eight years in FDR's administration

 "We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work....We have never begun to tax the people in this country the way they should be.... I don't pay what I should. People of my class don't. People who have it should pay.... After eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started...and an enormous debt to boot!"

Nevertheless, Morgenthau remained in his post until President Truman appointed Fred Vinson to replace him in 1945.

The name Louis A. Simon is less familiar, but he was a noted American architect who designed many U.S. Post office buildings, most of them in Colonial Revival style, which this one is.  But he has many other buildings to his credit, including the noted Music Box Theater in Chicago and the Federal Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Mr. Melick is unknown to me.  The fate of the engineer, I guess.  But our sturdy, functional, and attractive building is darn near as old as I.

Indulgences

Rainy morning, driving home from the post office, Jefferson Street, half block east of Main.

The cute little vehicle in front of me sports a vanity plate.  At first glance, I thought it read "Mini Bug."  It doesn't.

I followed Mimi Bug through town.  At the fork she followed the highway,  I continued straight on Jefferson Street.

I have probably mentioned here in the past that I used to purchase vanity plates.  It is sort of like giving free money to the State.  But then, I suspect most of us, Self included, fritter away money on sillier things.

I once bought a 46" flat screen TV.  Account for that.  Frittering money away.

Unending, too, because I pay a monthly fee for a cable feed. I have several rants related to that, but I'll spare you for the moment.

Red Brick Roads #T

When I moved to Tipton 45 years ago, there were still several streets in town that were paved with brick.  Eventually they were all removed and paved with modern macadam technique, with the exception of a couple of short less-traveled sections which were simply paved over.  I turned down one of these short stretches on my bicycle and noted that winter ravages, summer storms, increased twenty-first century traffic have dug a hole in the tarmac, exposing brick beneath.

The first brick paving in Tipton was laid along two and one-half blocks of Jefferson Street in 1890.  This brick was common building brick, yet it survived the rigors of traffic for nearly a quarter century before it was replaced in 1914 with vitrified brick.  At that time, twelve miles of Tipton streets were paved with these bricks.  This allowed Tipton to boast the largest number of  "feet per capita" of any city in Indiana.*

I have a few of the brick pavers which were lifted from the streets of Tipton in the 1990s.  These bricks are quite attractive, and imagine if you can the thousands of wheels that rolled across this bit of history.

*Pershing, Marvin W. History of Tipton County, Indiana: Her People, Industries and Institutions, 1914

This is post number 1900 on String Too Short to Tie.  That works out to 26.9 posts per month over the life of the blog, or a post on 90% of the available days.  Conclusion:  This is not quite a daily blog.

Pork Time on the Square

Workers are driving tent stakes, moving bleachers, blocking off a fair portion of our lovely downtown area.  It is Tipton County Pork Festival time again and preparations are in full swing.

Festivities scheduled from noon, Thursday, September 4 until the end of Saturday, September 6, on the Square in Tipton, Indiana.

Think of this as my annual public service announcement.  Check the Festival website by clicking here.  More importantly, come and spend your money!

History and Agriculture

 We have passed this marker literally dozens of times.  Time to scrutinize it with more care.

 Seems that June 3 is the appropriate time to observe the anniversary of the organization of the county, so herewith we will remark the organization of Tipton County.

Our spin on the scooter took us through miles of corn and soybean fields.  The browning at the base of the plants is evidence of a soon-coming fall.  This field is quite typical of the corn in the area.  The tip of the fingers on my right hand is seven feet, eight inches from the ground.

From Vanilla's Clipboard

A wind farm is up and running in our county. Another has received approval, but protests the limitations set by the duly authorized government agencies from which approval is required.

Thousands upon thousands of words have been submitted to the local newspaper as "Letters to the Editor."

The discussion has progressed, naturally, given that it is an argument amongst human beings, from reasoned debate based on findings of fact to ad hominem attacks on citizens with whom we have  all lived for decades.

This is probably the most divisive issue that has arisen here in a half century, and perhaps ever.  STSTT does not purport to be the voice of reason, presenting the solution to the problem and making everyone happy.  There is sufficient wrong-headedness on both sides to go around.  We need not add to the clamor.

I am sad.  Present me no arguments for or against "green energy."  Instead, if you can, reassure me that people are basically reasonable, good, and altruistic, being concerned for the welfare of all.  Currently, I have my doubts.

My Neighbor's Backyard

Our next-door neighbor's backyard.

 This is a hole in our neighbor's backyard.

This is the digger that made the hole in our neighbor's backyard.

This is the (biased) tale of the digger that made the hole in our neighbor's backyard.

The neighbor inspired the (biased) tale of the digger that made the hole in our neighbor's backyard.

T'he former pool of the neighbor (who) inspired the (biased) tale of the digger that made the hole in our neighbor's backyard

was removed.

And the shade tree was removed.

And the neighbor asked if we were okay with equipment moving from the street to the backyard via the (very narrow) strip of grass between our houses.

Well, he did ask.  vanilla is a nice guy, if not a prince.

He said, Okay, so long as the ground isn't wet and soft.

The digger is now in the backyard.  Look in the hole.  It has considerable water in it

It came from the skies.

The forecast calls for a week of considerable rain.

The digger may or may not be able to continue work on the hole.

vanilla is not going to be pleased, well, I mean he will be less pleased than he is now, if the digger is removed from the backyard anytime soon.

You may think vanilla has a serious case of the envies because he is not getting a new humungous pool in his backyard.

Not so.

BBBH wanted to look for a property that had a pool when we bought this place, and

I told her if we bought such a place the first thing we would have to do would be to 

fill in the pool.

But the neighbor has a real case of the envies, for he admitted that the removal of the very nice hard-walled above-ground pool that was removed was not getting it, because the family and friends had deserted it in favor of his mother-in-law's in-ground pool.

So, seriously, he needed to find a way, expense be hanged, to get the party back in his backyard.

So the (biased) tale of the digger that made the hole in the neighbor's backyard

will continue through the chapters of construction and so on and so on, concluding with

Noisy parties in my neighbor's backyard.