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Editorial
See you in dowtown Yellow Springs
Villagers who headed downtown the past few weekends
would likely agree: the place buzzed with energy, creativity and just
plain high spirits. It was a pleasure to be there.
Has anyone else noticed that downtown seems especially lively this summer?
On Friday nights, folks spilled out of the Emporium wine tasting, chatting
with each other and listening to excellent music, the restaurants bustled
and kids hung out. On Saturdays and Sundays the sidewalks overflowed with
villagers, shoppers and visitors to town. A few weeks ago, on the Fourth
of July, folks lined the streets for the annual charming mixture of small
town sweetness (kids, tractors) and village causes, including those intent
on saving both the world and the college.
Many folks deserve thanks for all this liveliness. Recently, those at
YS Kids Playhouse have outdone themselves with creative ideas for their
three week Summer Festival (this weekend’s the last one). Not content
simply to produce original, high-quality children’s theater, YSKP
organizers came up with an ambitious lineup of downtown performers, including
magicians, storytellers, belly dancers, puppeteers and sidewalk chalk
artists. These events created a festive, European atmosphere that will
surely draw visitors back again. While the YSKP obviously benefits from
promoting the village as a destination event, their efforts generously
help all of the shops downtown as well.
The Arts Council members have been busy, too — they were the ones
drawing on sidewalks, starting out with blank concrete and ending up with
sunflowers, princesses and exotic landscapes. And the local ceramic artists
who created the bench on the corner of Corry Street and Xenia Avenue deserve
heaps of praise for creating something that both provides a place to sit
and a place to feel proud of our town, with the bench’s just-right
combination of whimsy, earnestness and sheer beauty.
More than anyone, thanks for the downtown explosion of energy goes to
the board and members of Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce and downtown
merchants, whose renewed efforts at marketing in recent years have clearly
paid off. These folks worked hard to promote Yellow Springs, and they’ve
let people know that the village is a fine place to be, even if just for
a few hours.
Our town faces significant challenges. It’s important to remember,
in the face of these challenges, that Yellow Springs, with its history
of courage, an activist spirit and creative thinking, has in the past
always triumphed. If we look around downtown on a beautiful summer’s
day, we might remember that those traditions are with us still.
–Diane Chiddister
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