Greensboro Daily Photo

Skyline in Downtown Greensboro, NC, USA

Yesterday afternoon, downtown Greensboro was so beautiful, bathed in sunshine with billowy white clouds. We were walking around looking for what we call "serendipity photos", photos that seemingly jump out at us. The lighting and contrast on this scene caught our eye. The most obvious feature is the Jefferson Standard/Jefferson Pilot/Lincoln Financial Group buildings, with evidence that the photo was taken at precisely 3:53 p.m. Also featured prominently is the back side of Schiffman's Jewelry Store. Then, there is what Retired Greensboro Journalist Extraordinaire Jim Schlosser loves to find, a ghost sign. He would know, but we're thinking the white band, on the tall red brick building to the right, used to have "Ellis Stone" written on it.

Today is such a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning. We encourage you to head downtown and see what beautiful photos you can snap. All it takes is a cell phone camera and a little noticing.That little alley to the left has the most delicious bakery, Breakfast in Paris. That would be a great place to start. You might even meet up with us there.

Happy Saturday! 

Carolina Home Partners

Carolina Home Partners, located at 700 Battleground Avenue, is a beauty of a house. While it is an island surrounded by roads in and out of the city, it sits perched on the hill on the south side of Green Hill Cemetery.  Constructed in the 1880s, it was formerly the cottage of the gatekeeper of the cemetery. It was nearly destroyed in 1973, but was restored and has been used by various businesses over the last 50 years. The pitched roof and pointed details are fitting with the Gothic Revival style*

It is now part of the Fisher Park National Register Historic District, so, hopefully, it will be well maintained for years to come. The current tenants Carolina Home Partners, is a real estate group. We're betting they will be good stewards of this Greensboro gem. 

Happy Friday!

* Reference and read more, HERE.

Be Kind Kids on State Street

Be Kind Kids is a consignment boutique specializing in children's clothing. Located at 407 State Street and looked next to Wonderland Bookshop (for children), Be Kind Kids is part of the State Street revival. The store has been open for at least three years and they add inventory all the time. Also, if their website in any indication, Be Kind Kids, or BKK as the owners affectionately call it,  are so much more than just children't clothing.

The 400 block of State Street has added so many new shops over the last few years, starting with Eclectic by Nature and then Vida Pour Tea, two of the anchor stores in the heart of State Street. Let's hope BKK and these other businesses along State Street thrive. We always say this is the one street in Greensboro that comes closest to feeling like a street at one of the North Carolina beach communities. Also, talk a walk from Church Street to Elm Street, a little over 1/2 mile, and you will see the charm in this self-contained street. For the record, Greensboro Daily Photo is giving State Street the nickname Entrepreneurs' Row. There must be at least 30 independently owned businesses on this street.

Happy Thursday!

Greensboro Bound Book Festival

The Greensboro Bound Book Festival was held in Greensboro on Saturday, May 17th. With a total of fifteen sessions, the festival was a smaller festival this year  than it has been in the past; however, the sessions that were held were very good. The four venues were 1_ Greenhill Center for NC Art, Greensboro History Museum (photographed above- during the festival), Van Dyke Performance Space, and Greensboro Public Library.

One of the most exciting events surrounding the festival was the May 15th,  lead-up event featuring bestselling author Percival Everett. It was held at UNCG, in the Elliot University Center- Auditorium, a partnership between the UNCG  University Libraries and Greensboro Bound. That event was free, but tickets had to be secured ahead of time as it quickly became fully subscribed. Mark you calendars for next year. The festival is usually the third Saturday in May. For anyone associated with the public schools and higher education, this is a very busy time of year.  Contributing to and making time for Greensboro Bound is a good investment in the literary future of our community. It is a really good way to find material for a summer reading list.

Happy Wednesday!

Golf in Greensboro

Greensboro is known as a golf town.  There are ten golf courses in Greensboro and if you add a 20 mile radius around the city, there are an additional 23 courses. According to Golf Link,  there are 542 courses in North Carolina, with a combination of public, municipal, and private courses. The above photo was taken on the Farm Course of the Greensboro Country Club. It is convenient to photograph because the course is highly visible from local streets. The above farm course originally opened in 1963 and eventually became part of the Greensboro Country Club. It got redesigned in 2009, and remains  a beautiful, challenging course.

Greensboro is perhaps best known for the Wyndham Championship (once known as the Greater Greensboro Open), part of the PGA Tour. We are also known for Gillespie Golf Course and its Civil Rights history. There will be social, fundraising, amateur, and professional tournaments in the Greensboro are all summer long. Our 33 area courses will be busy, busy, busy. However, is you want to play, you have plenty of options for a tee time.

Mary Flynn, Author

Greensboro native and Grimsley High School graduate, Mary Flynn (left), was in town this past weekend to discuss her latest novel "Torn" with a Greensboro book club. She was hosted by Sandra Shields (right) a dear friend from St. Francis Episcopal Church. Mary has been writing and publishing for at least the last fifteen years and "Torn",  about the timely topic of abortion law and access, is Mary's eleventh novel. 

Mary's genre is realistic fiction and she touches on an array of topics. Three of her books take place in the Wilmington area, where she and her husband moved several years ago after retiring from the Guilford County Schools as a speech pathologist. In the above photo, on the table, is a copy of "Lumina", a book about the Lumina Pavillon* from the ocean side of Wrightsville Beach, NC.  It is always fun to read a local author, especially one as accessible as Mary.  As her schedule permits, Mary is available to talk to organizations and book clubs. You can reach her or order her books at her blog, TheOneNovel.com. There is also an author interview on this link. If you are looking for some good summer reading, consider one of Mary's novels. There is something for everybody!

Happy Monday!

* See an Our State magazine article about Lumina Pavilion, HERE.

Bluebird at Green Hill

Sundays, we like to post something religious or spiritual at Greensboro Daily Photo. We were walking in Green Hill Cemetery yesterday looking for something to post. There is a large tombstone in for form of a cross near the entrance. The name on one side is Rucker and on the back side Fry. We got our picture, and as we were leaving, saw this male, western bluebird on William Francis Clegg's worn tombstone. Sadly, William was born July 17, 1910 and died a little over a year later on September 13, 1911. We have been using the Merlin Bird ID app daily to identify birds in our Greensboro yard. So, somehow, it felt very special to see this bluebird so close and so low to the ground near downtown Greensboro.

When we looked at the other side of the tombstone and saw William's birthdate, we remembered one of our relatives was also born on July 17, 1910. One of many things we love about Greensboro Daily Photo is that it causes us to notice in ways we might not otherwise notice. We hope you, too,  have something that inspires you to notice the beauty in the little things around you. Green Hill Cemetery, located at 901 Wharton Street, is a very special place to walk and reflect on life and the importance of making our time on earth matter. 

Happy Sunday!

Ukrainian Night at Cafe Europa

On Thursday night at Café Europa in downtown Greensboro, two performances honored Ukrainians and Ukrainian Americans who support Ukrainian independence. The first group to perform was Red Kalyna, a band based in Mebane. They were followed by the Fedynskyj family.

Jurij Fedynskyj is a Ukrainian-American luthier and researcher. Along with his wife and five children, he travels and performs songs of history, morality, and patriotism from Ukraine. Some pieces feature the family playing traditional instruments, while others are performed a cappella. Their music last night ranged across what is now contemporary Ukraine including high culture Baroque as well as traditional songs and dances in Slavonic, Ukrainian, a prayer song in Latin and songs in English. 

In the tradition of the von Trapp family, the Fedynskyjs travel the world, singing and sharing stories about Ukraine to raise awareness, promote peace, and help defend their homeland. Their performance was heartfelt and deeply moving. The five Fedynsyj children are remarkably talented, and their a cappella harmonies are pitch-perfect.

Everyone in the photo is wearing a vyshyvanka—a traditional embroidered garment closely tied to Ukrainian culture. The Thursday performance coincided with Vyshyvanka Day, always the 3rd Thursday in May, and several others in the restaurant also wore vyshyvankas to celebrate and show their support.

From left to right: Back row: Miroslav F.,  Jurij "Jurko" F., Misha Shvets holding Kvitoslava F. . Midrow: Loreins "Tychko" Vellani, Iryna Tkachenko, Mariya F, Natalia F., Adriana F., Olga Vakulenko. Front row: Lesya F.  

Read more here.