by Gary Schenkel | Jan 21, 2011 | Nature
Soon after my previous post about Cedar Bog Nature Preserve’s early harbinger of spring — the snow-defying skunk cabbage — I learned of a new blog that invites Champaign County, Ohio, residents to share signs of spring that they observe. Called Hot or Cold — a change in the Weather, the blog is a collaboration of Champaign Land Preservation, the Champaign County OSU Extension Office and Urbana University.
It’s part of a bigger project, which includes community programs and workshops on nature and observations of climate change on a personal, nonpolitical level:
- “Writing about Nature,” a free workshop on Saturday, Feb. 19 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Champaign County Library.
- A couple of nature walks to be scheduled sometime in March, one of them at Davey Woods Nature Preserve and the other at a yet to be determined location.
- A series of events at Urbana University and elsewhere in the community on Tuesday, April 12, featuring ecologist Amy Siedl, author of Early Spring, who will talk about weather changes she has observed in nature and while tending her garden in Vermont, and USDA agronomist Jerry Hatfield, who will talk about weather changes that have been observed in relation to corn.
Molly takes a break from tracking down spring.
Follow the Hot or Cold blog for more information on these and other programs like one to be held this Saturday at Cedar Bog. The blog organizers* hope that as you follow the blog you’ll contribute your weather memories, weather sayings and poems, and your sightings of the signs of spring, like the first robin or budding trees.
With that in mind, I and my trusty running companion, Molly, went out for a 45-minute slog through the snow Thursday evening, she eagerly pulling me along like Sergeant Preston. But after all that time, we were hard pressed to find signs of pavement, let alone any hint of spring. But, as it always does, running lifted me from the winter blues, cutting through the snow like skunk cabbage.
*Janet Ward of Champaign Land Preservation; Christina Bruun-Horrigan, director of university relations at Urbana University; UU Library Director Julie McDaniel; Clark State Community College board of trustees member Heather Tiefenthaler; and director of the county’s OSU Extension Office, Harold Watters are leading the project.
Funding and resources for Hot or Cold are provided by Pioneer Electric, Champaign Bank, Urbana University, Champaign County OSU Extension Office and Champaign Land Preservation
by Gary Schenkel | Jan 10, 2011 | Tourism
A few of my friends on Facebook have been counting the days till spring. And meteorologists have been counting up the inches of snow we can expect on Tuesday.
In the meantime, while wrapping up a writing assignment for the Champaign County, Ohio, Visitors Bureau, I stumbled over a little trivia about the lowly and low-lying skunk cabbage.
The defiant skunk cabbage says, "Enough with the snow!"
Sure, it’s burdened by the onus of its odor. But the skunk cabbage has an uplifting characteristic—at least to anyone weary of snow.
You see, every year it’s the first plant to burst into bloom at the Cedar Bog Nature Preserve, south of Urbana. It usually does so in late February—even when there’s snow on the ground.
Unlike other plants, the skunk cabbage has the God-given gift of burning not just carbohydrates for energy, but also fat. Ah, to be a skunk cabbage.
In doing so, this early harbinger of spring creates enough heat to melt the snow around it, and give us all a gleam of hope.
Cedar Bog became Ohio’s first nature preserve in 1942 and is a National Natural Landmark. Just four miles south of Urbana on Woodburn Road, it’s a precious gem right in Champaign County’s back yard and home to several species of rare and endangered plants and animals. It’s a must-see attraction.
For a front row seat for the blooming of the skunk cabbage, be sure to attend Cedar Bog’s annual Skunk Cabbage Walk. The date is to be determined, by the skunk cabbage, of course, so look for announcements on the bog’s website.
by Gary Schenkel | Dec 31, 2010 | General
Update: Since I posted this, the new GoChampaign has gone live on the Champaign County web portal. However, it may be a few days before it can be accessed on all computers.
Champaign Uncorked! wishes you a healthy, prosperous and fulfilling new year.
I’m thankful for the excellent writing and editing clients who gave me the opportunity to serve them in 2010 through Schenkel Communications, and I’m looking forward to helping them again in 2011 … and finding new opportunities.
Among the new opportunities of which I’m already aware: I will be providing record management services for the Community Improvement Corporation of Champaign County (CIC), and I’ll be serving as webmaster of the newly redesigned GoChampaign.com website, a project of the CIC, which will be debuting this New Year’s weekend.
Here's a sneak peak of the redesigned GoChampaign home page.
GoChampaign, originally launched in 2005 by the CIC, will continue to serve as an online discussion forum and outlet for Champaign County events, news and information.
Retooled to match the look of Champaign County’s web portal, the new GoChampaign should be accessible on all computers by Monday, January 3. You’ll be able to get to it by clicking on the “Live” tab at the top of the portal’s home page or by going directly to www.gochampaign.com. The portal also features the websites of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, the Champaign County Department of Economic Development and the City of Urbana.
I encourage you to register on the new GoChampaign. Registered users on the original GoChampaign site also will be asked to sign up, a process that takes less than a minute. After you receive an e-mail confirmation, you can participate in online discussions and submit news and events.
And even without registering, organizations can complete a simple electronic form—by clicking on “submit a listing”—to provide contact information and a description of what they do. I’ll take this information and post it on the site. As more and more organizations take advantage of this, we’ll build a valuable online directory.
My aim and that of the CIC is to make GoChampaign a go-to source for information about all things Champaign County – and complement the Chamber, Economic Development and City of Urbana websites.
I look forward to being a part of this and helping the CIC make GoChampaign one more thing to celebrate in Champaign County.
by Gary Schenkel | Dec 10, 2010 | Events
For many decades parades have passed by one of historic downtown Urbana, Ohio’s most beloved landmarks: Carmazzi’s Delicatessen and Candy Store. The family-owned business—now in its fifth generation—started out in 1893 as Bianchi’s Fruit Store. It became Carmazzi’s in 1931, firmly ensconced in history—in a Federalist-style building that served as a military headquarters during the War of 1812, in the southwest corner of Monument Square.
After the Mercy McAuley Center Christmas Parade, Grand Marshal John Carmazzi stands next to a replica of his store, made for the parade by Melinda Thackery of Sysbro Design of Urbana (and I took the photos of the store, which has stood for 117 years on the southwest corner of Urbana).
On Tuesday, though, the Carmazzi’s building was in a parade. Actually, it was a 3-D model of the building, accompanied by store owner John Carmazzi, grand marshal of the 15th annual Mercy McAuley Center Christmas Parade.
Held at 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of December, the parade, which marches to the sounds of Christmas through the corridors of the Urbana nursing home, is the brainchild of Tonya West, McAuley’s director of social service and admissions. The parade actually was birthed from her heart, the result of a conversation she had with some of the nursing home’s residents. They lamented they could no longer get outdoors to celebrate the Christmas season. And for them, part of the tradition included Christmas parades.
Community Mercy Hospice at Mercy McAuley Center Christmas Parade in Urbana, Ohio
The first year, with the help of Bob Jenkins in plant operations and Sondra Williams in environmental services, who continue to be involved, the parade included 20 units. This year’s edition featured 61 units and involved more than 400 people—including Urbana High School marching band members, athletes and cheerleaders, church groups, carolers, staff members and volunteers from McAuley and other Community Mercy Health Partners facilities, a unicyclist, soloists, veterans, dancers, elementary school musicians, Scouts, clowns, businesses and Urbana Mayor Ruth Zerkle. Plus, several dogs, Buckeyeman and a Jim Tressel look-alike.
In much the same way as Carmazzi’s packs a vast array of general merchandise, candy, newspapers (including The New York Times) and a deli in a tiny two-aisle store, McAuley Center manages to fill and deck its halls with an ever-growing, moving celebration of Christmas, teeming with men, women and children who look forward to sharing their talents and brightening the season for McAuley’s residents. Recruiting participants is no problem, as individuals and organizations now call Tonya.
As you prepare to fill Christmas stockings with candy and other goodies, stop by Carmazzi’s —which also offers special order Christmas fruit baskets. And take some time to visit people in our local nursing homes.
Here’s a little background on Carmazzi’s from The Ohio State University Center for Folklore Studies.
by Gary Schenkel | Nov 24, 2010 | Agriculture
When you sit down with family and friends Thursday, be sure to include farmers in your Thanksgiving prayer. For that matter, keep them in mind whenever you eat.
Karen and Bart Ward by their Acre of Corn.
And this year, keep in mind a group of about 35 farmers who have joined the Urbana, Ohio, Rotary Club in a project that’s using some of the fruits of their labor not only to nourish but also to save lives.
Through the club’s Acre of Corn project, each of the farmers is giving the gross income from one acre of their corn harvest to Rotary International’s End Polio Now campaign.
Their donations will go toward Rotary’s $200 million pledge to match a $355 million gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The money is funding a massive drive to produce, distribute and administer oral polio vaccine to children in the last four countries where polio continues to paralyze and threaten the lives of children — Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.
Don Bauer of the Urbana Rotary Club developed the fund-raising concept. He’s happy to report that the international campaign has been highly successful since Rotary International became involved in 1985. Worldwide, incidence of polio has fallen 99 percent, from 350,000 cases a year in 125 countries to 1,600 cases a year in the four remaining polio-endemic countries.
And in just the last year the number of cases in India dropped from 498 to 39, as of October 26. In Nigeria, cases have declined from 382 to 8 in the last 12 months.
However, Don says, “As good as this news is, we can’t stop now. World health officials say that polio has to be eradicated completely or it will come back and could paralyze 10 million children over the next 40 years.”
Personal Interest
One of the 35 participating farmers, Bud Runyan of Urbana, has a personal interest in the campaign. The summer after graduating from Urbana Local High School, in 1953, he contracted polio.
Bud Runyan, left, honored as the 2010 Rotary Farmer of the Year Award by Rotarian Chuck Havens.
Today he’s thankful to live with no effects of the disease. After being diagnosed, he underwent three months of weekly electroshock treatments in Columbus, which left him nearly symptom free.
He credits his bout with polio for his 30-year career as a vocational agriculture teacher at West Liberty, West Liberty-Salem and Urbana high schools. He was on the fence about going to college, but since he couldn’t work while he was getting his treatments in Columbus, he decided he might as well take classes at The Ohio State University. He kept studying after the treatments were over and graduated in 1958.
“I’m thankful that I was lucky enough to come out of it without problems and that I can do something to prevent others from getting polio,” says Runyan, who was honored as the Urbana Rotary Club’s Farmer of the Year earlier this year.
For more information on the Acre of Corn program, contact Don Bauer at 937-215-3100 or bullstove@ctcn.net.
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