Greensboro Daily Photo

Gibsonville Garden Railroad

On the first Saturday of the month from 9am until noon, from April to December, the Gibsonville Garden Railroad comes alive. This little community that straddles Guilford and Alamance Counties has train aficionados who set up tracks and guide model trains through the park, while small children and adults alike watch with great joy.

According to their community website, the railroad garden on Main Street was founded in 1996 by Bobby Summers, a retired Freight Conductor on the Southern Railroad.* The 2,200 feet of covers a lot of North Carolina including Blowing Rock, Pilot Mountain, and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

On November 16th, from 5:30 to 8:30, Gibsonville will host their annual "Lighting of the Green" and weather permitting, the trains should be moving around the track. The antique store across the street will serve free pintos and cornbread and many groups will be singing. If you want to experience a great community event, take the 15 mile drive east of Greensboro and let the festivities begin.

*reference and more information, here.

Lotus Center on Lawndale Drive

Lotus Center is a facility with healthcare professionals who practice holistic medicine on Lawndale Drive near Target. According to their website,* the center houses a pharmacy of over 500 herbs and 200 prepared pills and tinctures. In the front yard, you will notice a tree that was likely uprooted during Hurricane Michael. 

If you notice, these professionals, who are grounded in natural, earth-friendly practices, have taken the tree and are sawing the wood in three inch planks that are about 2 1/2 feet by 7 feet. The wood looks like oak. It is solid, beautiful, with a nice grain. It will be interesting to try to find out what they are going to do with the wood. Whoever is cutting it is doing a fabulous job. The cuts look perfectly level.

*reference, here.

Triad Pride Performing Arts

Triad Pride Performing Arts had a booth set up on Sunday at the Pride event downtown. Triad Pride got its start in 1998 as a men's chorus and has been growing steadily since then. In 2016, the Triad Pride Men's Chorus added a sister organization, the Triad Pride Women's Chorus with an initial membership of 21 women. Today, the group is more inclusive, allowing membership to anyone who can sing the alto or soprano part and, in 2017, the non-profit changed its name to Triad Pride Performing Arts, acknowledging that other groups may want to affiliate in the future. According to their website, the organization's mission is to "entertain, enlighten, and enrich, while promoting equality and social justice for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity–fostering pride, understanding, and acceptance."*

They accept new singers in January and August; so, if you are interested in singing with them start practicing now. January is only three months away! They operate out of the Greensboro Cultural Center. Try to get by a concert if you can. They are very good!

* reference and more information, here.

Replacements, LTD Pride 2018

Replacements, Ltd. of Greensboro is known for more than its dishes and crystal. Replacements, just off of I-40 & 85 east of Greensboro, is known not only for replacing that broken piece of china and selling great Christmas ornaments, they are also known for having an inclusive work environment. To the owners of Replacements, partners are partners, regardless of how one identifies and whom one loves. They also have a canine-friendly work environment.

Today, Greensboro's Pride Parade was held downtown on South Elm Street. Not only was it an opportunity to take pride to the streets, the streets were lined with businesses and resources that are inclusive, respecting the rights of all individuals and couples. In the above photo, a young man hands out Replacements' complimentary rainbow buttons, with a smile. His proud mother beams with pride watching her son interacting with everyone who walked by.

This Is My Home Now

The above photo features four people who were an integral part of the Greensboro-based film "This Is My Home Now." The film is about the Montagnard, the indigenous peoples of Central Vietnam. The Montagnard community has and continues to suffer political persecution for helping Americans during The Vietnam War. As a result, many members of the community have been resettled to the United States. The largest group of Montagnard outside of Vietnam is in North Carolina, and many have been resettled to Greensboro.

About five years ago, Mariah Dunn Kramer (right), then a graduate student at UNCG studying film, approached Dean MacLeod (2nd from right), then director of education at the Greensboro Historical Museum, about making a film on the Montagnard community of Greensboro. Intentionally, Montagnard students are the dominant voice in the film. Mai Butrang (3rd from right) and Sun Bujri (on the left), both Page High School students at the time, played an integral part in the film. The four panelists were at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill yesterday for  a screening of the film at the World View K-12 Symposium. While everyone in the above photo now works elsewhere and only two remain in Greensboro, sometimes the stars align and great things happen. If you get a chance to see "This Is My Home Now,"  you will get a glimpse in to the challenges of immigration, from the perspective of Montagnard teens who struggle to navigate high school and their own identities, while helping their parents adjust to life in America. 

Public Safety Training Facility

At 1510 North Church Street, near Moses Cone Hospital, the City of Greensboro has a state-of-the-art Public Safety Training Facility. The 54,000 square foot building was completed in 2003, costing $8,000,000. Some days, when driving by, all seems quite. Other days, the facility is bustling with police and firefighters in training. Sometimes, the structure in front has fires that they are for training purposes. It is highly likely that those wooden palates will go up in flames when they are practicing. To be sure, with the recent storms and power outages, our very hardworking public servants put their skills into action, and for that, Greensboro is grateful.

If you have ever driven to Moses Cone Hospital or any of the nearby medical offices, it is highly likely that you have seen this facility.

Tate Street Festival

The Tate Street Festival was held this past weekend on, you guessed it, Tate Street, just east of UNCG and west of Greensboro College. The weather was perfect and the crowds were respectable. There were booths with crafts and artesania, performers, food stands, and King Banana from Smoothie King. He was such a hardworking, happy person giving people samples of smoothies.

The Tate Street Festival began in 1973, with the primary goal of making people happy.* While the 70s saw many hippies up on the hill, this past Saturday, there were as many families with children as there were hippies. From the Ecuadorian family selling clothing and jewelry from South America to the local students selling their wares, to the person making henna tattoos,-this family friendly event was the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon, getting away from the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. As for being "happy",  it is not possible to be in a bad mood when someone in a banana costume is smiling and sharing free samples. 

 

*reference and more to read, here.

Centenary UMC

The pumpkin patches are out at the local churches. The above church is Centenary United Methodist Church on Friendly Avenue, near Elam. This church could well have been one of the first. Jim Schlosser wrote an article for the News & Record in 2005, stating that Centenary had been selling pumpkins for 30 years, since 1975, making it 43 years now. * We don't know about current sales, but in the 2005 article, it was reported that they sell about 4,000 pumpkins. 

If you are looking for a pumpkin and want to start a tradition with some young children, take them to one of the pumpkin patches at a church. Those are some memories that will last a lifetime. On the day this photo was taken, a little one was having a really hard time picking the ideal pumpkin. His conversation with his parents was so cute. Happy Sunday!

 

* News & Record reference, here.

Arboretum Time

The Greensboro Arboretum off of Market Street is just such a beautiful place to visit and to take photos, allow us to share one more picture of this mom pointing out plants to her chid during their time at Art in the Arboretum this past Sunday. How wonderful to have parents who take their children to these open, public spaces and teaches them to appreciate places that are free to all with no strings attached. The City of Greensboro has a great system of public spaces and collaborates with many organizations to keep the spaces vibrant and filled with interesting events.

The photo is a little smoky, due to the many food trucks that were to the side of the photographer. But the hazy look adds to the ambience of the photo. Let us all remember that we have local florist, nurseryman, and horticulturist, John Van Lindley (b. 1838- d. 1918) to thank for much of this open, public space and this love of plants and flowers. He operated the New Garden Nursery, the first of its kind in North Carolina. Were he alive today, he would love seeing the wide variety of plants in the Arboretum.

We hope you have a wonderful Thursday and that, by the time you read this post,  Hurricane Michael has broken up and fizzled into nothing more than some heavy rains.

BIRD Scooters Land in Greensboro

The sharable scooter craze has hit Greensboro. It seems that as quickly as the bikes for rent hit Greensboro, they've been replaced by dockless, electric scooters. The self-moving scooters are small, efficient, and don't require human pedaling. Apparently, they arrived without permission and, aren't allowed to be downtown or on the streets. City officials and scooter upstart companies are all scrambling to figure out what should and shouldn't be allowed to keep people safe on these vehicles. Not only BIRD, but many companies are trying to get into the scooter business.* So far, BIRD is in Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Winston-Salem.

The above BIRD landed behind the Weatherspoon Museum at Tate Street on the campus at UNCG. Just beyond the gate, in the museum's courtyard, another vehicle is on the move. Do you see it? Wonder what mode of transportation will be in style when this young tyke is college age. In the meantime, wonder what is happening to all the bicycles...

* more information from WFMYNews2, here.

Native American Dancing at Davie St. Cultural Arts Center

 

The above photo was taken at First Friday in August. Many events were taking place at the Cultural Arts Center on Davie Street. It was the center's open house and most groups and organizations housed in the building were open and held events that would give people an idea of all that was available at the center.

The Guilford Native American Art Gallery and Gift Shop is located in the Cultural Center. It is the first gallery in the southeast to showcase Native American items. It is also a place that attracts people who want to learn more about the Native American groups, and, Native Americans see it as a gathering place to share their history and traditions. If you are looking for something to do today, check out the Cultural Arts Center. You may not be lucky enough to happen on an indigenous dance, but you will dance with joy seeing this great Greensboro resource. 

North Carolina Folk Festival 2018

This photo was taken at a dance event in downtown Greensboro, earlier in the summer. However, it reminds us that today is the eve of the opening of the 1st annual North Carolina Folk Festival. Greensboro hosted the National Folk Festival for the last three years. The national event served as a way to scaffold our community's learning how to handle the complexity of hosting a multiple-stage folk festival with international talent. 

This year, the itinerant, national folk festival will be held in Salisbury, MD with the expectation that Salisbury will have the capacity to sustain such a festival. In the meantime. all eyes are on Greensboro to  host a fabulous event (information and schedule, here).  For three days, six stages and one dance pavilion will be filled with folk artists of different genres, ethnicities, and musical traditions. If you are local, you owe it to yourself to head downtown and see just how fabulous this event will be. Let the show begin and let Greensboro show you how well suited we are to host such a great festival.

... Listen closely, we think we hear a mariachi band!

Moses Cone Hospital

Cone Health is second only to Guilford County Schools as one of the the county's top employers. The above photo features the newly-constructed North Tower of Cone Hospital between Elm and Church Streets. The photo also features the covered glass walkway to the second floor, the rock bed that helps with drainage, and a patio. In 2015, this North Tower earned LEED Silver Certification for its steps taken to minimize environmental impact. From plants growing on roof top terraces to the energy-saving, air-exchange system to the 53 rooftop solar panels and more, sustainability is evident in so many of the design features.*

For some, walking along the above path is full of hope and joy; a new baby, a recovery, a second chance. For others, it is a walk full of worry and not always the news one wants to hear. Regardless, seeing all of that effort related to environmental impact and sustainability sends a clear message that Cone Health cares not only about what happens in a hospital room, but what happens in the environment.

*reference and read more, here.

Progress on the Tanger Performing Arts Center

There is a lot going on in today's post, and a lot going on in downtown Greensboro. The photo features the northeast corner of North Elm Street and East Lindsay; evidence that construction is well underway on the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts. A billboard in the front right shows what the center will look like upon completion. It shows that the limestone and glass facade with the outdoor terrace and patio. It will flow nicely into nearby LeBauer Park.

As beautiful as the facility will be, performing arts enthusiasts are equally excited about the complex electro-acoustic sound system (more, here). The projected completion date is March 2020. If you are in town this weekend, drive downtown and have a look for yourself.

Labor Day Weekend

Today is the start of Labor Day weekend, long heralded as the last hurrah of summer. In the above photo, children frolic in the wading pool at the edge of LeBauer Park. This water feature is perfect for those hot days. Children splash and giggle as parents watch diligently from the sides. So many in Greensboro will use this three day weekend to head to the beach one last time. Greensboro is less than four hours from the beach, not an unreasonable trip, as long as traffic is moving.

Today is not First Friday, however, for those who are going to enjoy a relaxing weekend in Greensboro there will still be plenty to do downtown and around the city. Tonight's Spartan Cinema in LeBauer Park is Moana. It is free and open to the public. It is the last one of the season and starts at dusk, or about 7:48. Tomorrow from 1-6pm, LeBauer Park will host an Afro-Caribbean Festival and from 6-7:30 pm on Sunday is the Sunday Jazz Picnic in the Park.

 

Farmers Market: Tomato Season, For Sure

The farmers markets around Greensboro as just so much fun, we had to post another photo today. Tomatoes are in season and tables and tables of tomatoes can be found. From heirloom to more contemporary varieties, they cost about $2 a pound. There is no excuse to buy hothouse tomatoes when these homegrown varieties are brought to you straight from the field. Watermelons and peaches are still available, too. All weekend long, at the farmers market on Sandy Ridge, people are coming and going stocking up on fresh produce.

Remember, take time to talk to the farmers and vendors. You may even find out that you have mutual friends. North Carolina ranks 7th nationally in tomato production, with around 3,000 acres dedicated to tomatoes in our state. Hendersonville, NC actually holds an annual tomato festival. It is a lot different, however, than the one in Buñol, Spain. For a little humor today, if you don't know about "La Tomatina" click here and learn about this unique holiday. It is not too late to get tickets!

Chef Chris Scalici at the Greensboro Farmers Market

Earlier this summer, Chef Chris Scalici was doing some demonstration cooking at the Greensboro Farmers Market on Yanceyville Street. Chris is a personal chef, affiliated with Artistic Cuisine Culinary Creations, Custom Catering Service. Chris does great demonstrations and cooks up great food when he is at the farmers market. The events are a win/win. Chris gets more visibility for his catering service and shoppers get to learn about eating local and the concept of market to table food.

While the farmers market is open today beginning at 7am, from 9:00 - noon, the BLT Challenge and Tomato Celebration Day will be held. If you are looking for something to do this morning and like the idea of shopping local, grab some produce bags for shopping and head out to the farmers market. While Chef Chris might not be there, you will not regret spending time with all of the great people, vendors and shoppers alike. If you have been in Greensboro for a will, you will just probably see people you know. Happy Saturday, hope to see you there!

Gate City Pharmacy

The photo is a little blurry, but it captures the spirit of a visit to Greensboro's locally-owned, hometown pharmacy. They facility may be smaller than the large, chain pharmacies; however, all aisles lead to the best service and advice around. This is Gate City Pharmacy, located in Friendly Shopping Center. Here, you can get not only pills, but also compounded medications, advice about natural supplements and products, and plenty of educational support. Gate City opened in Friendly Center in 1967, and for 51 years, they've been building a loyal customer base. The staff will call and remind you it is time to refill your prescription, call to wish you a happy birthday, and work hard to ensure that you get the best price possible.

Even if you don't need medicine, you just might need something they have on the counter, from light compression socks for traveling, or a pack of good-old-fashioned candy. In this digital era when it can be hard to get personalized service, it is nice to support a local business that takes customer service seriously. 

Dogs of Greensboro

Humans of Greensboro love their dogs. The above photo features a great dane who was the hit of the Corner Market (corner of Elam & Waker) in Lindley Park last Saturday morning. The owners, and canine as well, were very accommodating as people right and left approached to pet the dog. Pet, pet, question, question. and so went show and tell with this lovely dog. 

Great Danes are a German bread of dog. They are also known as the German mastiff. They are calm and friendly. If you like dogs, but don't have one, visit any public space in Greensboro on the weekends and you will easily get an opportunity to pet a canine. Pet adoptions are also an opportunity to get to know some dogs that need love even more than the ones with owners. Remember to ask permission first. Not all dogs are as stranger friendly as the above gentle giant.

Apples at Gateway Gardens

These apples at Gateway Gardens are a big hit with children and adults alike. Children love to run around them and hide inside them. Openings on the sides allow for children to play inside, while those slits keep water from accumulating and make it possible for parents to see inside. Children feel like they are hidden to the world, yet they are in plain sight.

Greensboro's free city parks and gardens contribute so much to the opportunities for children to explore outdoors and interact with nature. As Greensboro Beautiful points out on their website, this LEED-certified silver project is an eleven acres interactive garden and horticultural oasis. It is their biggest project in their 50-year history. And, as Greensboro saw on Sunday afternoon, it is the perfect venue for a concert. While planning for the garden began in 1999, Gateway Gardens opened to the public in 2011. For the past seven years, the plantings have become established, the visitor center has opened, and the grounds just keep getting better and better. Here is their website, if you want to keep up with events and to learn more about the venue.

Gate City Divas

The Gate City Divas were one of two groups that performed at last night's MUSEP Concert, held at Gateway Gardens in East Greensboro. This talented group had as many as 18 people on stage, playing instruments, singing lead and back up. The resulting sound is bluesy and full; the lead singers' voices are raspy and pitch-perfect. The group members come from all walks of life; the core group of eight female vocalists play multiple instruments. Many perform with the local group, Ladies Auxiliary and most are singer/songwriters. The bass player even plays with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. The audience was highly complimentary of the keyboard player (Kristy Jackson). Several people commented on how cohesive the Divas' sound was given the diversity of their backgrounds, not only in music, but also in life experience.

If you haven't been out to a MUSEP concert this year, check your Sunday afternoon calendar. They continue into August. Not only do you get to hear great music, you get to experience an array of Greensboro's great city parks... for free! Each concert costs the city $3,000; so if you have a few extra dollars or want to bring a tax-deductible check, they do pass around a donation bucket.

Read more about the individual divas on their website, here.

First Responders

First responders are often under-appreciated, that is until the community needs them for an emergency. The above photo features the Greensboro Fire Station #21,  located on Horse Pen Creek Road, between the Montessori School and Kernodle Middle. This station has been open since 2006 and has overseen many changes to the area, including the current widening of Horse Pen Creek. 

The photo was taken on July 4th, when firefighters were busy testing their equipment, including the ladder, used to reach the higher floors of buildings. Hopefully, they were not called out later that evening when people were letting off fireworks in nearby neighborhoods. If you are a first responder, thank you for all you do to keep the people of Greensboro safe.

Have a great weekend, everyone and remember, tonight is First Friday downtown and tomorrow will be the rescheduled fireworks. To be sure, Greensboro's fire fighters don't need to be reminded, as they will already be on high alert!

60th Year of Greensboro's City Swim Meet

Today is the kick off day for City Meet, the 60th year of the grande finale event of Greensboro's Community Swim Association. The event is held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center (GAC) and is free and open to the public. With over 2,000 swimmers, competing over three days, from all the swim clubs in Greensboro, the event will be fun, lively, and crowded. All children are able to compete during this event. While Day 1 of the three day event is for the less competitive swimmers, it gives all swimmers a chance to participate in this community-building event. Day 2 & 3 are for the swimmers trying to break records, become golden swimmers (first in all of their individual events), and for swim clubs trying to capture the win.

Above all, summer swim with CSA of Greensboro is a time to build community and make great summer memories. There will be a parade with teams decked out in their respective colors, with swimmers and coaches taking their team's theme to new extremes. The Friendly Frogs will be in pink and green with their favorite amphibian featured prominently. The Hamilton Lakes Hornets will be buzzing up a storm. Lake Jeanette Lightning will be bolting through the pool. (You get the picture). Stop by if you can and experience some good ole Greensboro tradition. Here's to another 60 years of City Meet!

Happy Juneteenth 2018!

June 19th is a very important day in the United States. June 19th, 1865, was the day news of the Emancipation Proclamation was at last delivered in Galveston, Texas by Union Army Major General Granger. While slavery had been abolished in the United States in 1863, in the pre-telephone/internet era of the 1800s, it took over two years for word to make it all the way to Texas. Juneteenth is observed in some way in 45 of the 50 US States. The holiday reminds America, when we celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, not all people living in this country in the mid-19th century were free. 

In the above photo, the two African American women, walking along South Elm Street in their lovely dresses, are free to come and go as they please, and on their own terms. A few blocks north of where these women are walking, the International Civil Rights Center and Museum will host a Juneteenth event, called the Color of Commerce: A Celebration of Black Owned Businesses in the Triad. The event is free and open to the public, but you are encouraged to get tickets, here, in case there is a crowd that exceeds seating capacity. The event will help aspiring, new, and established business owners take their business to the next level. It will be held on June 25th from 6-8pm. Happy Juneteenth!

 

Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit

Today's Sacred Sunday shot is of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit on Yanceville Street, just south of Lee's Chapel Road. The church is small and humble, but they are doing great things. Just beyond the church is a community garden with raised beds that are thriving. Next Saturday (June 23rd) from 12-3pm, they will offer free health screenings. You can get blood pressure and blood sugar screening and some other services. 

Today, faith groups are playing a major role is seeing that congregants, and other community members in need, take important steps towards staying healthy. Screenings and good produce are two such examples. You are also encouraged to nurture your spiritual self while at it. Happy Sunday! Happy healthy!

Bur-Mil Marlins Host Friendly Frogs

One of Greensboro's great summer traditions is the dual swim meets. Twenty three teams with over 2,000 swimmers participate in the Community Swim Associations summer meets. For five weeks of summer, children ages 5 to 18 will spend hours practicing and competing. Parents will help with snacks, judging, scoring, looking after kids and anything else needed to make the experience memorable for all involved.

Last night, the Bur-Mil Marlins hosted the Friendly Frogs at their pool at Owl's Roost. Swimmers were working hard as were parents. A Swim-for-Cancer bake sale was underway. Siblings sat around the pool playing games, talking, and getting a little cell phone time. The Marlins are one of the newest teams in the community swim program. They placed 6th overall last year and the Friendly Frogs were 4th. Both teams were giving it their all last night. The best aspect of CSA is that all team members have the opportunity to participate, not just the elite swimmers. Go Marlins! Go Frogs!

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI)

Today is the last day of May and, throughout the state, public school students on traditional calendars have started their end of course exams. The above photo was taken at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) on May 16th when the teachers marched in Raleigh. Even thought this is GREENSBORO Daily Photo, we are reminded that the public schools are all governed by the NCDPI. The above photo was taken on the back lawn behind the building, showing the artwork on the building.

If  you see a public school child around town this week, wish them all the best on these exams. If you have one in your house, help them eat well and get a good night's sleep. If students are well rested and fed, they will likely be more alert and able to focus. Remind them of what is engraved on the NCDPI building, "You are a child you are suitable to be awed" and add, "you are a child, we are in awe of you." Happy Thursday and happy end to the school year!

Greensboro Astronomy Club

One of the best ways to hook students on science is to expose them to it early. In the above photo, members of the Greensboro Astronomy Club are showing the curious, young and old alike, about a world that is not always visible with the naked eye. They were set up in Price Park at Kathleen Clay Edwards Branch Public Library during Greensboro's recent Earth Day event.

The Greensboro Astronomy Club meets at the Greensboro Science Center. Monthly, a group of kindred spirits gathers to observe and discuss astronomical events. Members are very generous in sharing equipment and expertise. Their next meeting will be Friday, May 18th at 7:30pm at the Greensboro Science Center on Lawndale. If life from the earth to infinity and beyond, this may well be the perfect group for you.

Mt. Zion Church

Mt. Zion Church on Alamance Church Road is known for its community involvement. In additional to typical church outreach, they sponsor events that engage the whole community. As an example, they have held faith-based healthcare summits. Most recently, last Tuesday, they opened their doors to the Guilford County Schools. Superintendent Contreras assembled  school personnel to execute an outreach plan to go into neighborhoods affected by last Sunday's tornado. Teachers, staff, and administrators got on  activity busses to go into neighborhoods to see what needed as they recovered from the tornado. They also explained about school re-openings and the return of transportation services.

Communities heal fastest when there is group and individual involvement. Mt. Zion does their fair share, and then some. Since 1900, this church has worked very hard to develop long-lasting relationship with the community. In 1936, the church was destroyed by a tornado. While they were spared during this week's tornado, it is fitting that Mt. Zion was there to help the community during this very trying time.

 

The Corner Market in Lindley Park

The Corner Market, located at the corner of Walker Avenue and Elam in Lindley Park celebrated its 4th anniversary last Saturday. The market started with the vision of Stephen Johnson, an urban farmer who has a garden on Elam, less than a block from the market. He and another farmer, Mike Faucette and meat vendor Bobby Coltrane approached the owner of Sticks and Stones, Neil Reitzel, about using the space. Reitzel was already purchasing ingredients from these guys. The market has grown to where it is at capacity almost every Saturday. Kathy Newsom does an amazing job of coordinating vendors.*

The goal of the corner market is to feed people while building community, keeping people as close to their food source as possible. On most Saturdays, the following items are available: Meat, eggs, cheese, seafood and poultry; fresh produce; prepared foods; baked goods; and, items made by local artisans. While everyone hopes to sell their goods, and many have visions of expanding their product line, all of the vendors enjoy spending time with friends and neighbors and catching up on neighborhood news. 

Increasingly, Greensboro's options for shopping farmers markets is expanding and, especially on Saturday mornings, it is a great tradition to have with family or friends, or even alone. When you shop at a farmers market, you are never actually alone. Surely you need something fresh and local to eat today or to stock in your pantry. Happy Saturday!

*Reference and more information about the Corner Market, here.

Guilford Park Presbyterian

Yesterday was a big day for Greensboro churches with regard to outreach and visibility in the community. The First Baptist Church and the First Lutheran Church both held yard sales which had people filtering in and out of their buildings all day long.  

The above photo features Guilford Park Presbyterian Church at the Earth Day celebration at Kathleen Clay Edwards Library off of Hobbs and Guilford College Road, behind Jefferson Elementary School. Guilford Park Presbyterian had a recycling game at the event and participants could win prizes. People had an opportunity to learn about recycling and get to know church members without feeling the pressure of becoming involved with the church, unless, of course, that's what they wanted to do.

Guilford Park Presbyterian is located on Fernwood Drive in Kirkwood, near the Target on Lawndale. However, yesterday, they were also located in the 98-acre Price Park that was teeming with children and adults alike, who were learning how to care for and celebrate the planet earth. Regardless of one's religious beliefs, stewardship of the earth is something that can unite humans worldwide.

Elm Street at Dusk with the Greensboro City Police

In street photography, sometimes you have to snap a photo under very difficult conditions. Today's very poor quality photo captures a very positive event. A Greensboro City Policeman challenged a middle schooler to doing push ups. Both were talking and enjoying the challenge as other officers looked on.

On the downtown beat in Greensboro, the police do what they can to interact positively with people in the community. They strive to build positive relationships and enjoy interacting in positive ways. While their job is to patrol downtown to protect people and property, enforce laws, and act on wrong-doings, they like for people to see their human, humane and benevolent side. So, walking along Elm Street, on a Friday night, when someone says, "Now there is an Instagram moment," it is hard to resist snapping a photo, even if the light is low and the shutter speed is not fast enough to keep the photo from blurring. At least the image is sharp enough to have captured a positive moment in time, one that this young gentleman will probably remember for a very long time.

(For the record, the policeman won).

Grumman LLVs and the U.S. Postal Service

The above photo features one of the Grumman Long Life Vehicles (LLV) in the U.S. postal fleet, serving the Greensboro area. The U.S. Postal Service has over 100,000 of these vehicles, that were in production between 1987-1994. They are custom built for mail delivery, with the driver's seat on the right, the sides are flat so that they can get close to the curb. The front wheel axle is smaller that the rear to help with maneuverability. The LLVs were made to be in use for 20 years, but in 2009, the post office extended their usage to 30 years. While they are wearing out, replacing the entire fleet would cost over 4 billion dollars. A new prototype is in the works and some of the LLVs have been replaced by mini-vans.  

Greensboro carriers often meet up at places like Sheetz for their lunch breaks, and it is not uncommon for as many as four trucks to be parked together while the carriers grab a quick lunch. Sometimes diligent citizens call and report these meet ups, only to be reassured that carriers have permission to assemble during lunch breaks.  These LLVs weren't exactly built with comfort in mind and, driving them can be a pretty solitary job. A little fellowship over a hot dog or two may actually help provide much needed rest and relaxation. If today's weather turns bad as predicted, remember, regardless of weather, the mail carriers will deliver!

* reference and more about the quirky LLV, here.

Closet at Backpack Beginnings

Backpack Beginnings serves so many students in the Guilford County Schools. In addition to programs for providing food, school supplies, and hygiene products, Backpack Beginnings also maintains a clothing pantry. The clothing pantry, photographed above, provides clothing for all age groups from infants to high school. In anticipation of spring, as you are going through closets, if you have any gently used clothing that your children have outgrown, especially tennis shoes and light jackets, consider donating them to the Clothing Pantry for this very worthy cause.

If you have questions, you can email clothingpantry@backpackbeginnings.org. It is also quite possible that the social worker at the public school near you can help with donations. Often, school social workers are the contact person to help school children in need. The above photo was taken on a quiet Saturday. Weekdays are a different story when volunteers are sorting and hanging donations at their warehouse off Wendover Avenue.

 

Press Play Recording Studio

Press Play is a studio that helps clients podcast, engineer, and broadcast.  They help clients by offering studio time, consulting, and stretegies to distribute media globally. Located is the Cultural Arts on Davie Street, Press Play is a reasonably priced place to go for mentoring and recording.*

At the above studio, you can book podcast studio rental time online, a 15 minute studio tour or a 30 minute meeting. The studio is located right across the hallway form Cafe Europa where you could head for a meal time after your studio session. It is amazing how easy it is to establish a media presence these days. Greensboro is lucky to have this resource. That photo and seating area sets the tone for the positive energy of the employees that will become readily apparent when you step through the door.

 

* reference and more information, here.

Interactive Resource Center

The Interactive Resource Center- Greensboro Day Center (IRC)  is Greensboro's go-to place for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Here, people with an insecure home situation can take a shower, do laundry,use a computer,  even have a surface mail address. The IRC also helps with medical and mental health care, with employment and more. Many of the staff members have had personal or family experiences with homelessness and understand the importance of being treated with dignity, having someone to talk to, and being offered a cup of coffee. For the time guests are at the IRC, they have a brief respite from their big life struggles.

The IRC is located on East Washington Street, a block east of the J. Gaylon Douglass Depot. According to the IRC's website, 900 people in Greensboro are homeless, 200 people a day come to the IRC for help, and they have helped over 11,000 people since opening in 2009. The above photo shows a sitting area to the left of the entrance, just above one of Greensboro's murals. Taken across the street from the entrance, the photo shows a person resting before heading back out on the street. If you are looking for a place to donate time and resorces, IRC provides an invaluable community service for Greensboro. You can be guaranteed that every bottle of shampoo you give, every dollar you donate or every hour of time you contribute will help make a difference in somebody's quality of life. 

O'Henry Magazine Features Greensboro Daily Photo

Greensboro Daily Photo is honored to be featured in the current edition of O'Henry Magazine (February, 2018, p. 31). After nine years of being a largely-anonymous, amateur, street photographer, I was contacted for an interview by Maria Johnson. Maria is a freelance journalist who writes regularly for O'Henry Magazine. In the above photo, I (on the left wearing pink) am shown on location photographing Toni Shaw for GDP's January 30th post. 

The article is wonderful on so many levels. First, Maria Johnson needs to be commended for her superb journalism. In a couple of hours, she asked great questions and made astute observations, capturing so many aspects of our community blog- indeed a "labor of love." Maria's casual, chatty, personable demeanor, instantly puts her interviewees at ease. Second, Maria had the great idea to follow me on a photo shoot, thereby giving recognition to a local professional photographer, Toni Shaw, who is deserving of an article in her own right.  Finally, O'Henry Magazine is to be applauded for publishing such a high quality magazine about our great city. 

No interview for O'Henry Magazine would be complete without an O'Henry ending. William Sydney Porter (aka O'Henry), born in Greensboro in 1862, was known for endings with a twist. At the end of the  interview about Greensboro Daily Photo, Maria was surprised with a request to be featured on GDP. Stop back tomorrow to learn a little more about her. In the meantime, if you are local, we hope you have a chance to read the article.

The Annual Guilford County Schools Choice Showcase

Guilford County Schools held their Schools Showcase this past Saturday. The showcase, held at the Coliseum in the event space, gives families an opportunity to explore school options. Children always have the right to attend their attendance zone school; however, Greensboro has 45 choice schools with 54 programs. While all schools teach the core basics (language arts, math, science, and social studies), the choice schools are themed, and focus on everything from S.T.E.M. to performing and visual arts to foreign language. 

The above photo shows the booth for the Spanish Immersion Program, which is houses at David D. Jones Elementary School, in the Warnersville neighborhood just south of town. Students in the Spanish Immersion Program learn their core content areas in Spanish. Imagine arriving to Kindergarten on Day 1 and not hearing your teacher speak a word of English. Imagine five year olds, after 180 days of school not even realizing that their teacher speaks English. Yet, through their fabulous teaching techniques, students learn to read and perform math problems in Spanish, often before they can do so in English.

The families of Greensboro, High Point, and the rest of Guilford County are lucky to have access to so many fabulous special programs. While there is a lottery system, the programs are free for the families using them.

Food Pantry at Backpack Beginnings

The "Impact Wall" of Backpack Beginnings was recently featured on Greensboro Daily Photo (here). Today's feature in the sorting table for the food pantry portion of the facility. Office Manager Michele Alvarino is explaining how a person stands in the foreground, selects donated food from a central palate, determines the expiration date on each can of food and slides them down on a given color strip. The color indicates type of food (vegetable, starch, protein, etc.) and remaining shelf life. The person in the background position, where Michele is standing, then puts the item on the appropriate shelf. Yet another person will pack a box of about 35 pounds of food, from a variety of categories, to send to schools with food pantries. About 200 volunteers regularly drive food to and from schools.

In 2014, the Food Research and Action Center, ranked Greensboro and High Point as Number 1 for people who had difficulties in securing food.* Hopefully, with programs like Backpack Beginnings, the situation is improving. 

As many people have a day off today, celebrating the Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, let us all remember that the day is intended to be one of community service. If you are looking for a way to help, consider holding a food drive, through any of your networks of friends and associates, and donate what you get to Backpack Beginnings. Access their website, here, or call 336-709- 9649 to arrange to drop off food. Finally, remember the words of Booker T. Washington, "The happiest people are those who do the most for others."  While Booker T. Washington died 14 years before Dr. King was born, they shared the common goal of uplifting and empowering African Americans and they would have loved each other. May we do our part to continue the work of these great humanitarians.

* reference.

Backpack Beginnings

Backpack Beginnings is a non-profit organization serving families with children in the Guilford County Schools. It was started in 2010 by Parker White, with the program serving one school and 50 children. Today, Backpack Beginnings serves 5,000 children and is growing, given the growing food insecurity in Guilford County. In the above photo, Michele Alvarino, office manager of the 9,000 square foot facility on Radiance Drive, is explaining the program, standing at the impact wall at the entrance.

Today, Backpack Beginnings has four programs. 1) The Food Bag Program serves 1,400 students in 32 elementary schools. Each child receives a bag of food to take home for the weekend. The bags contain two each of a protein, cereal, juice, milk, and fruit; 2) The Food Pantry Program serves 26 middle and high schools, distributing 9-10 thousand pounds of food a month; 3) The Comfort Backpack Program provides abused, neglected, homeless, refugee, and foster children a one-time backpack filled with personal hygiene, school supplies, and other miscellaneous items; finally, 4) The Clothing Pantry Program provides clothing for children from newborns to high school students. 

The all volunteer organization has eleven regular volunteers who work in the warehouse; 200 delivery volunteers who take the food to the schools; and scores of community volunteers. There is always a need for more food and volunteers. To learn more about Backpack Beginnings or how to help, visit their website, here.