Beloit Fine Arts Incubator – Photoshop Class

The Fine Arts Incubator… I’m a big fan.

They’ll be hosting a six week Photoshop class starting Jan 17th and taught by award winning photographer and educator Chris Quillen. Additional information and registration contact the BFAI at (608) 313-9083. This event and other BFAI events added to the Beloit NPA events calandar.

2008 Downtown Beloit Holidazzle… Wow!

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Folks that know Ana-n-I know we gravitate to where the LIVE music is happening. And this year’s Holidazzle did not disappoint. Frankly there was more going on then we had time to enjoy and missed some great stuff. There was so much to take in. I love that we can enjoy this level of live entertainment right next door to the historic neighborhood. The shopping, the other special events, the running into friends as we walked from venue to venue was all great fun. I heard it was successful from the downtown merchant’s perspective as well. That too was good to hear.

Among other things we caught Lance Brown’s Group at Cafe’ Belwah. OMG… wow, they were great! We took note of when they’re going to be there again and will be sure to be there. I’ll update it onto our calendar shortly.

Afterwards we headed over to Suds O’Hanahan for The Bel-Cats.

We’ve seen them before, always enjoy them and try to catch them whenever we can. I was pained however to hear we’d missed the Gospel Bells from the Lighthouse Fellowship Church. They were performing just a block over at the Pleasant Street Coffeehouse. Matt Goodwin was sitting in with them as well. Ugh… I heard it was amazing. I’d have really liked to have experienced that. Oh well… next year.

Beaux Arts Bash – Beloit Fine Arts Incubator

Wine, Dine & Twist Your Spine!

A fundraising event for the Beloit Fine Arts Incubator.

• Saturday January 17th. 2009
• 6:00 PM to Midnight
• In the new Beloit College Science Hall
• $75 per person ($35/person is a tax deductible gift)

Live music by the Stateline Playboys, a significant collection of original works and rare artist’s proofs (did someone say Picasso, Dali, Chagall?).

And for the truly indulged we encourage to come dressed as your favorite artist or work of art. The BFAI staff is already working on their costumes.

Dinner catered by Peter Kraemer of Beloit College, dancing to the Stateline Playboys, an exceptional fine art exhibit, costumes (optional), silent auction, and more. Help support the arts, join us for the fun and an evening you won’t forget.

For tickets and information please contact Jerry or Connie Sveum at 608-362-5903. Reserve your place by Jan. 3 2009. Hurry, space is limited.

The Beloit Fine Arts Incubator is a 501c3 organization run entirely by volunteers. It’s mission is to provide resources to help emerging artists, offer community education and cultural events, and expand on the “Arts Center” theme. Any financial or volunteer support is always welcome.

Stay For Lunch

We had the pleasure of attending a book release party for a good friend and neighbor Anne Goodwin, who’s just published her first of what is hoped to be more books. A lot of folks turned out. She’s clearly a wealthy woman in friends.

“Stay For Lunch” is a wonderful, personal and very touching story. I read it to Ana this morning and was frankly getting choked up in the reading. Its the type of book where the telling of her story evokes one’s own personal stories. I’ve got some phone calls to make today.

Get the book. It’s good for you. Thanks Anne for sharing your story.

A Great Online Community For Old House Lovers

I’ve subscribed to the Old House Journal for many years. I’ve saved issues from when it was owned by Clem Labine and had hole punches along the spine for 3-ring binders. I’m a big fan. Anyway, if you’re not aware you should check out MyOldHouseJournal.com It’s a great resource and online community for lovers of old houses.

Shoveling the @%#$ walks

Of course with all the snow fall over the last week or so the subject of shoveling the @%#$ sidewalks has come up a few times. And at some point it turns to the sidewalks left unshoveled.

I’ve been reluctant to touch on this as, well… we don’t happen to have a sidewalk out front so don’t share this same burden as some of our neighborly brethren. I can though relate in that I too hate shoveling. We don’t have a snow blower but do have a long, morphing drive way that gets longer and wider with each winter’s snow. By late February it lengthens to nearly a mile.

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Meeting Minutes 12/08/08

It was an icy bad-weather evening last night. And the bad weather not-withstanding we had thirty one people join us including a bunch of new neighbors. We met some new neighbors from Central and some new neighbors from Emerson. Not yet really well represented are Wisconsin Ave. and Milwaukee Ave. If you know of anyone on those streets it would great to have those areas represented.

Sgt. Northrop from the Beloit PD joined us. We’d forwarded to him a raft of questions and incidents we’d hoped to talk about. Frankly I figured we’d likely go about half an hour > forty five minutes and have time for other agenda as well. It would seem though we tapped into something a lot of people wanted to talk about. The exchanged showed no sign of let up for the full hour and a half we had. It could have likely continued if we’d not called time. It was a very positive, supportive exchange which I was particularly glad about. Very light on the pissing & moaning. Heavy on the what-can-we-do support. Lots of questions. Lots of good background information. Lots of actionable things we could take home with us which was great! Frankly there was too much for me to try and recount here. If you missed it we’ll most likely touch on this again in some form again.

The short-list of things you’ll want to keep in mind or try to put into action…

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Campbell Center for Historic Preservation

Did you know that perhaps the single most comprehensive and respected educational center for Historic Preservation in the entire mid-west is just under two hours away from Beloit? It’s the Campbell Center for Historic Preservation in Mount Carroll IL. Among the broader offerings a couple of the classes I’ve always been curious about…

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Church Street monthly coffee (12/07/08)

This morning was the most recent monthly Church Street neighbors coffee. This is regularly scheduled on the first Sunday of the month, 8:00 a.m. at the Pleasant Street Coffeehouse. As Bill would say… you’re not there you leave yourself open for us to talk about you.

It’s a good time. Some great conversation including the solutions to many of the worlds problems were presented and now simply await adoption by government leaders… if only they’d ask us. More mundane conversations passed around including:

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Holidazzle coming up – Friday December 12th

I think our neighborhood in particular benefits from and has a vested interest in having a strong down town. Lets support our downtown merchants this holiday season and mark our calendars for the upcoming Holidazzle event on Friday the 12th from 5:00-9:00 pm. It’s a great time.

A dazzling evening of celebration featuring artists, and specialty craftspeople in forty-plus locations as they display one-of-a-kind gifts and unique pieces of art. Live music, Santa visits, children’s events and holiday treats make this a truly special evening for the entire family.

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