Features

Features

Patee Park Steam Engine Getting Much Needed Restoration

My interest in steam locomotives goes back to my childhood in the late 60’s. Now my sights are set on 5614 and at least restoring her to the condition she was in when donated to Saint Joseph.
Because Saint Joseph’s history is steeped in CB&Q history and in the American railroading, the value of this locomotives’ contribution to local and state history can not be under-scored enough, and warrants it being restored to its former glory.

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FeaturesJay KernerRegulars

Playing With Dolls

Somewhere around ten or twelve, it became my job to put up my grandmother’s Christmas trees. She had three. One in each of her second story picture windows, and a third, downstairs in her beauty salon on St. Joe Avenue.
There was a big, fake one, a smaller fake one, and the fakiest of all, the aluminum with the colored light wheel. She rotated them around from year to year.
But one constant was her Character Dolls. One of her customers made them. Fairy tale icons mostly. Robin Hood’s in there. So is Bo Peep. And the Jolly Green Giant for some reason.

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FeaturesJay Kerner

Talking S*** About Sewers

I value my sewer connection. Let me be clear on that!
I think sanitation is what separates us from the lesser beasts. (Though some are certainly separated further than others.)
But modern sanitation ain’t a walk in the park.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go back to those halcyon days, when you could just dump your waste in the river? Arrogantly thumbing our noses at anybody downstream, and blessedly ignorant of anybody above.
But these days, we handle our s*** differently.

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FeaturesJay Kerner

Let’s Dance!

We used to dance. Most people did.
Dancing cut across all divisions and divides. Young, old. North, south. Regardless of color or station. Rich folks danced in palaces, built for the purpose. Po’ folks danced when they had nothing else.
But, one of the things I never thought I’d see in my lifetime, is the slow demise of dancing.

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Features

The Art Experience at Mosaic Life Care

At Mosaic Life Care, we are committed to providing the best and safest care, while creating a warm, inviting environment for our patients, family members and caregivers. Our innovative life-care model combines traditional health care and a focus on key life elements that affect overall wellness. The experiences patients, visitors and caregivers have within our walls is a primary focus at Mosaic Life Care and are enhancing this experience with original, inspiring and healing art created by local and regional artists.

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Features

Military Histories at JRP Senior Center

So, Julie and I did some planning, completed a memorandum of understanding, and in a couple of days, the inventory was transferred into the former library at the Senior Center and readied for public display.
When visitors walk in, they say: “Is this your collection, it must have taken you many years to accumulate?” My response is: “Yes, it’s been my passion, but I am not a collector…, I am a “connector…

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FeaturesMusic

The Butterfly Effect: Post-WWII Music Part 1

Music, probably more so than any other art form, is driven by technology. Early 20th century composers like Ferruccio Busoni envisioned a time when music would be able to “follow the line of the rainbow” by not being tied to any rules or the specific instruments of his time. With the invention in 1906 of the triode aubion tube, music slowly, but very surely, began losing the “weights” and laws previously applied to it. But it wasn’t until the invention of magnetic tape recording that the dream of a truly “free” music began being met…

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