Greensboro Daily Photo

MUSEP Jazz Evening at Guilford College

MUSEP has been providing free summer music concerts around Greensboro for forty years. Yesterday's concert was held at Guilford College. Due to the heat, attendance was down. However, those who attended were well protected by all the mature trees on the campus. The Piedmont Triad Jazz Orchestra played two sets of great music for the crowd.

Next Sunday's concert will be at Country Park from 6:00 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. The lineup includes "Low Key" a Classic Rock to Pop group and "Sam Frazier and the Side Effects " with their Songwriter/Americana Sound. If you are in town, like music, and can arrange transportation, this is a must-attend event.

Sir Charles- Grateful, Loves Jesus

Every Saturday morning, Sir Charles Shepperd Jr. can be found, with his wife Carmen, at the Greensboro Curb Market on Yanceyville selling the sauces he perfected. From sweet and mild to spicy and kicking, there is a sauce for everyone. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Charles settled in Greensboro after moving around in the mid-west pursuing a career in sports. He loves interacting with customers and is very open about the life events that lead him to Greensboro and how his relationship with God deepened. 

In 2013, Charles had a heart attack and his heart stopped beating for 45 minutes. Carmen found him unresponsive on their bedroom floor. She called 911 and they coached her through trying to revive him until they could get there to take over. Charles tells of seeing bright lights and feeling like his life had ended before he was revived. That experience deepened his faith and he wears his feeling on his chest and on his head: Grateful and Heart Jesus. Churches and other faith based spaces are only as strong as the people who inhabit them and, while the farmers' market is not a church, people like Sir Charles and Queen Carmen bring joy to so many people. And yes, the sauces are delicious. You can try them as they are generous with samples, smiles, and encouraging words. Happy Sunday!

Penguins at the Science Center

Splish Splash! The penguins are jumping for joy because the Greensboro Science is Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.  Even if you missed the celebration last night, you should go today and enjoy this Greensboro resource that has been getting better and better since opening in 1957. It has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums  and is a member of the American Alliance of Museums. If you join, you will get lots of free and reduced price entries to other science centers and museums throughout the United States.

Head to the iconic space on North Lawndale and learn more about these African penguins. They are an endangered species and are so cute. They will entertain you for hours. They may even convince you to participate in the next Tuxedo Trot. 100% of the profits from the event go to help with conservation of African penguins!

Full Moon Fun!

Did you happen to see the full moon on Tuesday evening? The July full moon is known as the Thunder Moon. In the above photo, the moon was rising over the little pond on Tory Hill Drive. You can see the reflection of a floodlight in the very center of the photo and the full moon at the top center and the reflection of the moon at the bottom. Greensboro looks so dramatic under the moon glow.

Get Outdoors sponsored a full-moon paddle on July 17th.  If you missed it, they will host another one during the next full moon on August 15th at a local city lake. They will even provide glow sticks. These outdoor, group adventures are so much fun and great exercise. Hope to see you there from 8:00- 10:30 p.m., paddling by the light of the moon!

Watching Bumble Bees in Greensboro Gardens

We're pretty sure this is a bumblebee. There are almost two dozen species of bumblebees in the eastern United States and it was if half of them were in our Greensboro yard this week. The one in this photo was extremely large and spent several minutes feasting on the flower of a hosta plant. Its bottom half was so large is hard to believe that it was able to fly. The bumblebee is often referred to as the apex pollinator. If you move slowly they let you get close to them and pay very little attention to you.

There were several other species of bees buzzing nearby, enjoying the flowers on the mint plants. The hot days this past week have caused the mint to start to seed; not the best for the taste of the mint leaves, but fabulous for the needs of pollinators. Our yard is pesticide free and we plant lots of edibles which attract pollinators.  Interacting with nature is so much fun in the backyards of Greensboro.  What have you seen in your yard this summer?

Keith Monroe

This smiling man is Keith Monroe, standing among a few of his favorite books. Originally from Berea, Ohio, Keith has lived in Greensboro since his graduate school days. He obtained a Ph.D. in English from UNCG, fell in love with a woman from Greensboro, married, and decided to stay. Keith, who has a great sense of humor, refers to Greensboro as the Sargasso Sea, a place you enter and never leave. He and his family have built a great life here. He loves the small-town feel of Greensboro and his Sunset Hills neighborhood. He even enjoys the Christmas season with all of the decorating and the "Running of the Balls" event through the neighborhood.

Keith is retired from a career in journalism. He wrote editorials for the Winston-Salem Journal and was editor of the editorial page at the Virginian-Pilot. Since retirement, Keith stays busy reading, writing, eating good food, traveling with his wife, and exploring museums.  He is a member of an all-male book club and maintains a blog,  He especially loves reading about current events and politics, and editorializing about them. Keith's editorials can be found on his blog, Podunk Pundit, In true retirement fashion, he is his own boss, sets his own deadlines, and loves going to work. The commute is short; upstairs in his home, precisely where this photo was taken.

 

Smith Street Diner

The Smith Street Diner boasts serving breakfast all day long, eight days a week. The locally-owned diner opened in 2005,  serving fabulous, homemade food. It is getting harder and harder to find a good, fresh breakfast, but not on Smith Street. They are known for their giant biscuits and fresh orange juice. It takes six whole oranges to make one glass of juice; it takes someone with a mighty appetite to finish one of those plate-sized biscuits..

As you can see from the above photo, the counter is a very popular place, especially on weekends. Seating capacity is sixty five, and they don't take reservations. The restaurant actually modeled its business after Robinson's Restaurant, giving the current residents of Greensboro a chance to enjoy the great food, service, and location that Mr. Robinson kept hopping for over two decades. 

International Civil Rights Museum

The International Civil Rights Museum, located at 134 South Elm Street, was founded in 2010.   The first Woolworth opened in 1879, and the Greensboro Woolworth in 1929. The Greensboro sit-ins took place there in 1960, when four NCA&T college students weren't going to take no for an answer with respect to their being able to order from the lunch counter. 

In the above photo, the museum looks quiet and empty. However, during special events, the building is packed. It gets over 70,000 visitors annually. Greensboro played an important role in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's. It is important that this history be remembered. If you have never visited the museum, you owe it to yourself to do so.  Happy Monday!