This event is something to look forward to every year.
For the past seven years St. Luke's Greek Orthodox church, located at 1510 Audubon, has sponsored a Greek food festival.
This event always seems to draws a big crowd and this year it seemed even larger than usual. Parking was at a premium so my wife and I took advantage of a beautiful fall day to walk the two blocks from our house next to Shepherd Elementary School to St. Luke's to eat and enjoy the festivities. I am glad we did.
The food was delicious and the help was friendly.
Different booths offered various items emblomatic of Greek life and culture.
I tried Ouzo for the first time. I liked it.
Fresh pastries.
Then there was the dancing,...!
Before leaving I took a few moments to talk to Fr. Michael Monos, the parish priest, who has been at the church since February 1st of this year. Fr. Monos struck me as energetic and outgoing, and I think the parish is in good hands. I am glad that we have this faith community here in Columbia to add to our diversity and contribute to our cultural life.
This collection of old Volkswagen Beetles near Cosmo Park fascinates me. The Beetle was the longest-running and most-produced car of a single design.
This juxtaposition of industry and nature in the photographs is a post-industrial metaphor at least for us here in the West. We view manufacturing as in decline with finance and service sectors becoming more of the economic engine. Industry declines and nature takes over. I call it "The Detroit Look."
There is an interesting backdrop to this story. These vehicles are located at a once thriving Volkswagon repair shop that was operated by the father of NASCAR car driver Carl Edwards. Edwards grew up around the shop and weekend racing.
The title for this post is from the Latin: "Alas, the fleeting years slip by. (Horace)."
What do you expect from a church that has a web site www.godhatesfags.com?
All photos were taken near the Hillel student center at the edge of the Mizzou campus. Yes this is the same group that goes to the funerals of slain military personnel:
On the 2ed of October the Westboro Baptist Church brought their show to town for the second time. They had a parade permit, duly granted by the City of Columbia, to protest at four locations. They started their evening off with a protest right outside of Hickman High just as it was dismissing, moved to the Hillel Jewish student center on the Mizzou campus where these pictures were taken, moved from there to Stephens College that was putting on a play about the late Matthew Shepard (the young man killed in Wyoming for being homosexual), and from there to congregation Beth Shalom where they were just in time to be seen by the families gathering for Friday night Shabbos services on the first night of Sukkot.
Is this exploitation of children, in these kinds of conditions, in violation to Missouri Child Protection Laws?
They are professional provocateurs who come with a selection of glossy signs complete with a carrying case. The signs would change depending on the situation. At the high school, knowing that many of the students were African American, they had signs proclaiming that God hates Obama. At the two Jewish locations the emphasis was on God's hate for the Jews, Israel, and signs saying that the Jews killed Jesus. Of course they had plenty of signs declaring God's hate for "fags" which is their specialty.
Journalism students flocked to the demonstration site to take advantage of a news story that was at least interesting.
Counter protesters outnumbered the Westboro members by at least three to one although numbers fluctuated.
When I went to cover this to me the real story was the swarm of journalism students that descended on this event as part of their classroom studies, and the Westboro children. I wondered if the Westboro adults knew what a huge favor they were doing for those journalism students who otherwise would be covering a zoning debate at the local city council meeting. Did they know that the "stories" they were diligently relaying to convey their toxic views would just end up in the grading stack of some MU prof? Instead of manipulating and using the media this trip the tables were turned. But, what about the children?
Children were repeatedly interviewed, scrutinized, and questioned. Is this abusive?
What happens when you expose children to this kind of vitriol day after day? How much school do these children miss to act as human shields for their parents who otherwise would be much more likely to be overwhelmed by disapproving crowds? When I watched their faces and how they were reacting to the event it was clear that this was not a happy childhood event to be remembered fondly but something very different. How damaging is it to expose children to this? For one thing there is the constant talk of hate. Then there is the issue of children being used to create a public spectacle. When it was time to leave I watched he children as they almost ran back to the van leading their elders where they were quick to disappear out of the public eye into the privacy of the van. What is it like to be put on display like this as a child?
Here the group heads for their van with the press following still interviewing and snapping pictures on the fly. The young man in front had obviously had enough exposure for one day. Had this kids been pulled out of school to participate in this travesty?
This young couple demonstrates that there are other things to do in the midst of hate and hurt. A lesson for us all.
Capen Park (located at Capen Park Drive off of Rock Quarry Road, South of Stadium) is known for it's trails and bluffs overlooking a creek. But, right next to it is one of two mulch sites which is in and of itself an interesting place to visit and located centrally to several other places worth exploring. I am working on a story regarding Capen park itself to include at least one video and one or more audio files with lots of pictures. That story will probably be in at least two parts. But, I thought i would go ahead and do this separate, but related, story regarding the mulch site. This particular area, located less than a quarter of a mile from the football stadium, has several interesting features and the mulch site is located right in the middle of them.
This is the monster grinder used to make the mulch.
The Capen Park Mulch Site is a location where you can drop off yard waste and get free mulch. Compost is available Wednesdays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m and on some Saturdays at $12.00 plus tax per cubic yard with a loader on site to assist.
Unfortunately some people abuse the system and dump waste and trash. Tires can be particularly problematic to get rid of and here you can somebody took advantage of the situation. One problem with tires is that the city trash service will not pick them up unless they are cut into four pieces which is a little bit of a trick to do. I have a lone tire sitting in my basement, one I inherited from my son when he moved out over two years ago, to attest to that fact. So, people look for alternative means to get rid of their old tires.
I highly recommend the composting workshops which are scheduled periodically. Here is the information from the Compost-Mulch Operations web site:
Fall and Spring compost workshops are held at the Capen Park Demonstration Site located off Rock Quarry Road. For additional details about the compost workshops, call Columbia Public Works at 874-6271, or send your name, address, telephone number and E-mail address to pw-volunteer@GoColumbiaMo.com, and we'll send you the composting schedule and information you requested.
There is also a lot of pretty scenery in the area including the walking trail that runs right on the north side of the site. As you head west along the trail you pass the compost class site and eventually come to an old bridge which is just used now for bicycle and foot traffic.
The picture above and below are views from the bridge.
Steven Chilson, Chili to his friends, is back in the Columbia area after many years at the Lake of the Ozarks where he played with various bands. I have always been fascinated with street musicians having watched them in Stuttgart, Memphis, New York, everyplace in between, and of course here in Columbia. I had the pleasure of listening and watching him play in front of Cool Stuff (why doesn't my friend Arnie Fagan have a web site for his wonderful store?!) on an absolutely beautiful day.
So, I decided to do a short article in appreciation of this talented musician.
Writers write, photographers take pictures, and musicians play and everyone else just talks it. Chili has been doing it for over two decades.
