March 2011

Announcements

Z’Bowl 2012 Public Meeting

Village Resident’s Association Meeting

Town Council Candidates Forum / Debate

Pull for the Parks!

YOUTH ART MONTH IN ZIONSVILLE

Youth Art Month (YAM) is an annual observation each March to emphasize the value of art education for all children and to encourage support for quality school art programs. Established in 1961, Youth Art Month provides a forum for acknowledging skills that are fostered through experience in the visual arts that are not possible in other subjects offered in the curriculum.

THE PURPOSE OF YOUTH ART MONTH:

• To direct attention to the value of art education which develops divergent critical thinking; multicultural awareness; as well as technical, communication, and expressive skills.
• To increase community, business governmental support for art education.
• To recognize art is a necessity for the full development of a better quality life for all people.
• To expand art programs in schools and stimulate new ones.
• To increase community understanding and interest in art art education through involvement in art exhibits, workshops, and other creative ventures.
• To provide additional opportunities for individuals of all ages to participate in creative learning.
• To encourage commitment to the arts by student, community organizations and individuals everywhere.
• To recognize art education as a viable component in the total education curricula that develops citizens of a global society.
• To reflect demonstrate the goals of the National Art Education Association that work toward the improvement of art education on all levels.
• To build the recognition and self esteem of student artists as true artists in their own right.

ACTIVITIES AND DISPLAYED ART IN ZIONSVILLE:

Artwork created by students of the Zionsville Fine Arts Department (Grades 1-12) will be on display at Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Library, Zionsville Community School’s Educational Services Center, Zionsville Town Hall, and the following Zionsville Merchant Association establishments:

Free Art classes taught by Zionsville Community School Art Teachers are scheduled at Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Library on Saturday, March, 19, 2011. Classes include: Artists at Work and Play! (K-2), Become a Sculptor (Grades 3-5), and Bookbinding (6th graders and up). Please contact the Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Library for more information.

The Zionsville Fine Arts Department is selling T-shirts with the logo represented above. All proceeds will be used to support Art programs in the community of Zionsville. Please contact a ZCS Art Teacher for more information.

ZCS Fine Arts Department would like to thank the community of Zionsville for its support of Art Education.

Letter From The President

Village Voice Arts

Village Life: It’s not good to get thick with people

Mary

Not to be outdone Becca’s spelling is creative and her rhymes are superb.

Poem for You

Cocktail Coaching – Slainté (cheers to your health in Gaelic)

St. Paddy’s Day is one of my favorite holidays: no presents to buy, no cards to send, no hot stove to labor over. We toddle down to The Friendly as early as work allows to enjoy a corned beef sandwich and Guinness Stout. Well, at least one of us does. My husband Dan is not much of a beer drinker. (He thinks Rolling Rock is good!) We regulars eschew the humongous tent Scott and his crew erect to serve the masses and head straight to the comfortable confines of the restaurant inside where a full bar and food menu awaits us. I refuse to drink green beer and, although my palate now appreciates Guinness all by itself, I feel duty bound to attempt something more daring in celebration of this ubiquitous drinking holiday frenzy. My desire is not on The Friendly’s menu but the ingredients are there.

I ask Liz, waitress extraordinaire, to bring me a bottle of Guinness Stout, a bottle of Harp Lager, two pint glasses (in case Dan decides to join me although I know I’ll drink most of his, too), and a soup spoon. When the goods arrive, I set to my task filling half the glass with the Lager first. I pour in the Harp quickly so the head formed is large enough to hold the much heavier Guinness (it is called Stout after all.) With the spoon tilted backwards over the Harp, I pour the Guinness slowly until the glass is full. The two liquids remain separate, very definable. I sit back a moment to appreciate the beauty of my creation. “A black and tan?” you suggest knowingly. Au contraire. This liquid perfection is all Irish and dubbed a Half and Half; a more appropriate salute to the people to whom we owe this delicious holiday.

The more well-known Black and Tan is made of Bass ale, a British brew, and Guinness; although the drink is poured the same way and has the same two-tone look. The name comes from the black and tan uniforms the Brits donned when they were sent to Dublin in the 1920s to keep the Irish in line. One website suggests the drink was named Black and Tan because the soldiers were more like hunting hounds than military men. Another website suggests an Irish bartender invented the Black and Tan to prove that the Irish always come out on top. Ben and Jerry’s tried to duplicate the flavor of the Black and Tan with an ice cream flavor of the same name in 2006. There were mixed reviews and they withdrew it soon after as someone moaned that such a name was insensitive to the Irish. With political correctness imbued in their mission statement, Ben Jerry’s immediately complied. Which made me want to start a rebellion of my own and indulge in a Black and Tan.

For those of you with deeper pockets and an adventurous spirit, a Black Velvet Cocktail may present an alternative to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I tried this on a lark and found it to be surprisingly good. It’s half Guinness and half dry champagne. I know you think it sounds crazy. The crisp lighter flavor of the champagne really complements the heavier full-bodied flavor of the Guinness. (Okay, I read that on a website, but it’s true!)

I beseech you. Do not follow the guidance of an ill-informed (though very well formed) blonde on a YouTube video on how to make a Black Velvet. In her little black dress replete with pushup bra, this 20-something cutie opens a can of Guinness and sloshes “about an ounce” into a dull-looking wine glass. She then tops the frothy liquid with Korbel knowingly advising the camera, “but any champagne will work.” Please don’t.

First, let’s talk ingredients. Use a good dry brut champagne. Pour the champagne first into a flute, not a wine glass, allowing the bubbles to make their way to the top. The drink needs to breathe, not explode. Pour the Guinness in slowly over the back of the spoon as with the previous drinks so the two liquids remain separate. You will have a much prettier drink than the Half and Half and just as tasty. For those men whose wives say they don’t like beer (or those wives whose husbands say they don’t like beer) try a Black Velvet Cocktail. Use the right ingredients and the right glassware. The taste of elegance will be your vindication.

The Colonial Village – Lightening Rods

First, here are answers to the questions I received after last month’s article:

1) I don’t know why someone would select only an arrow for a weathervane, instead of adding something fun, like a rooster, etc. – but two of the “arrow” vanes in town are quite fancy in their own right, and in fact are classified as “banners.”. Let me know if you can’t find them.

2) The copper ball often featured on weathervane spires is a carry-over from the glass ornaments on lightning rods.

3) For lots of examples of weathervane designs- including birds, animals, banners, and a photo of the peace dove at Mount Vernon- check out www.ferroweathervanes.com.

On to lightning rods: Although the use of lightning protectors dates back thousands of years to Asia, our own Benjamin Franklin is credited with inventing the lightning rod in the concept that we know. That way is, to mount a metallic rod on top of a building and connect it to another rod in the ground using a wire. Hopefully a lightning bolt in close proximity will “preferentially” choose the rod, and the electric charge will be conducted safely into the ground (rather than setting a building on fire, electrocuting someone, etc.)

Ben noted similarities between lightning and electricity at least as early as 1747, and his experiments are legendary – especially the 1752 kite/key experiment to prove that lightning was indeed electricity. His idea for using an elevated, grounded metal conductor (the “lightning rod”) probably originated in 1749 or 1750. Other colleagues and scientists of the time caught on, and soon a debate ensued (which is still not completely resolved) regarding the design. Franklin favored using rods that had sharp points; some others favored blunt points. When King George III had a blunt-tipped rod installed at his palace in England, the choice of rods became a political statement, as if colonists choosing sharp-pointed rods were rejecting theories supported by the king.

In the 19th century, lightning rods became widely used across the country. Vendors employed traveling salesmen who had elaborate pitches and demonstrations – and usually no trouble making the sales to home owners. Rods became something of a decoration, often featuring glass balls (which are now quite collectible). The ornaments, usually 3-8” in diameter, had a function as well: If a rod would get hit by lightning, the ball would shatter, verifying the strike.

The salesmen had more difficulty when selling to church officials. While lightning will strike a variety of materials (trees, people, etc.), it is likely to select the highest point in an area – so steeples were particularly vulnerable. Not wanting to ruin the aesthetics of the church façade, however, clergymen would often resist the sales pitches. This left congregations with another option – praying that their churches would not get struck by lightning.

As you might expect, all sorts of elaborate protection systems are now available. But if you take the time to do some searching around the Village, you will find that several homes have old fashioned lightning rods attached to their roofs; some of which are embellished with a glass ball. For starters, take a stroll along Hawthorne Street, where two very tall adjacent homes display SEVEN rods; then try Sixth Street; and for a very unique, fancy rod, try North Third Street. Then keep going, because there are lots more!

Those are enough hints; have fun exploring!