The Joys of Reading Yesterday's News
Several days ago I needed to find a Ball Stores advertisement celebrating Japan’s surrender, in the Muncie Evening Press on August 14, 1945. I knew that the advertisement was in that particular paper, and I knew exactly where the newspaper was located. Doesn’t seem like a problem, does it? Unfortunately, it was. There were about thirty newspapers in the box dating from the 1920s to the 1990s. The rest of the afternoon was shot. I can’t pass up old newspapers.
Adopting Trees Helps Muncie’s Urban Forest
If you have read any of my articles, or have heard me speak, you have probably found out that I love trees. For as long as I can remember, and long before I knew many of their names, I have loved trees. They are the giants of the forest and being among them is always a renewing experience for me.
Our Hidden Gem: The Nature Area at Minnetrista
Have you ever desired a place where you could relax and free your mind? A site to see stormwater management in the works? A place to enjoy nature without leaving Muncie? Did you know that we have that very spot, right here at Minnetrista? We like to call it our hidden gem, The Nature Area.
Out Of the Mold
In 1880 a small business was launched in Buffalo, NY. Making tin cans to hold kerosene and paint, the modest business soon redesigned their product and expanded into glass production. It wasn’t long before the company’s fruit jars were outselling their kerosene cans. Looking to capitalize on the area’s natural gas supply, the company opened a glass factory in Muncie. This move proved successful.
Colors of Glass
The next time that you’re in the Center Building at Minnetrista, stop in the Heritage Collection Gallery to see glass, and lots of it. There is the sublime—the beautiful paperweight made by St. Clair Glass Company—to the supremely useful—an insulator made by Hemingray Glass Company. What do these two very different pieces of glass have in common? Sand! Yep, sand. Plus a few other ingredients, such as limestone, and soda ash. So what determines the color of glass? Again, sand.
Wooly Aphids
A little over a month ago, I was looking around making notes about the needs of the gardens at Minnetrista, and I noticed what looked like little bits of cotton spread out on the ground below an oak tree. At first I thought a mower had hit a cigarette butt that someone littered, but after a closer look, that wasn’t what it was. This cottony looking substance was a sign we had a wooly aphid infestation.
The Living Lightly Fair 2016
Have you noticed that if you don't like spending a lot of money to have fun, it's a great time to be in Muncie?
The ever-growing list of free summer events makes this paragraph really long. Foodie Fridays at Canan Commons; First Thursday gallery openings; Arts Walk; Moonlight Movies; the Muncie Three Trails Music Series, After Hours Art Reels, America's Hometown Band concerts; hikes at the Red-Tail Land Conservancy; Charles W. Brown Planetarium programs on the BSU campus; food demos and samplings at the Farmers Market at Minnetrista, and so many more—all providing flavorful, colorful, and cultural experiences for exactly zero dollars.
This Quilt is Crazy
It’s beautiful and in absolutely lovely condition for its age. The quilt features multi-colored silk patches, delicate embroidery and a gray velvet border. Sarah Rogers of Buffalo, New York made this crazy quilt ca. 1890, about three years before she married oldest Ball brother, Lucius. Sarah brought it with her when she and Lucius moved to Muncie and established their home on Minnetrista Boulevard. The quilt was handed down to Sarah’s only child, Helen Ball Robinson, who donated it to the Minnetrista Heritage Collection.
A Stitch in Time
Working with the Minnetrista Heritage Collection I have the daily fun of interacting with “old stuff.” This stuff might be someone’s baby dress from the 1890s, a favorite cereal bowl (admit it, you have one in your own kitchen), or one of the first ball jars made in Muncie. Now, I realize this might not sound all that exciting to everyone. Imagine this, however. Each of these items is a portal to a different time and place. Just like a good book, that cereal bowl may have a unique story to tell. What if that bowl held one of the first pours of a new product in 1916—Kellogg’s All Bran.
Insect Repellent Can Harm Your Lawn
Doing yardwork this time of the year comes with its many challenges.
Working through heat and humidity, and dealing with insects such as mosquitoes and chiggers, are just some of the challenges the Minnetrista grounds crew and gardeners face each day.
Awesome Places to Instagram at Minnetrista Through Our Eyes and Yours
The best spot to Instagram on Minnetrista's campus is at the Catalyst sculpture. Catalyst is a focal point of Minnetrista, serving as a reminder to the community, of the devotion that the Ball family had for Muncie and the surrounding areas. We hope that Catalyst is an inspiration to this community, and to continually push all of us to achieve great things.
Ed Ball in the Army
We have thousands of letters in the Minnetrista Heritage Collection. Some are momentous, with news of births, marriages, deaths, or important business deals. Others are the stuff of everyday life—requests for money from students away at school, reports on the day’s mundane activities, or a little bit of gossip. One of my favorites hovers somewhere in between. It’s a letter from Edmund F. Ball to his uncles Frank and George, written in September 1942, while he served overseas in the U.S. Army.
Mrs. Keiser Goes to London Town
Mrs. Keiser Goes to London Town On March 15, 1909, a spectacle for the eyes graced Oxford Street in London. A grand building decked in laurel and flags stood ready to receive its first visitors. At 9:00 a.m., a bugle sounded and the doors of Selfridges department store were thrown open. Thousands of shoppers, ready to inspect the new store and its merchandise poured in. The store offered hundreds of departments, along with restaurants, a rooftop garden, reading rooms, and an on-floor staff who could answer any question, and find any item you desired. As its owner, Gordon Selfridge, often proclaimed, a store was to be a “social center, not merely a place for shopping.” And boy was it!
Canada Thistle, A Weed We Could Do Without
Recently, I had a great suggestion from a reader who has been observing the growing and flowering Canada Thistle that is going to seed all over Muncie. She thought it would be a good idea to go over this troublesome weed, and perhaps get folks aware of why and how they should manage it. Great idea!
7 Faerie Events to Look Forward to During Faeries, Sprites, & Lights at Minnetrista
It’s that time of year again. Summer is here, the weather is warming up, and whimsical, faerie fun is beginning to sprout all over East Central Indiana. Here at Minnetrista, that can only mean one thing: faeries! Yes, in just a few short weeks, about one thousand faeries will fly into the sparkling wonderland known as Oakhurst Gardens for Faeries, Sprites, & Lights at Minnetrista.
Elisabeth’s Faeries
At the end of July, faeries will invade the gardens at Oakhurst, bringing their magic with them to delight our visitors. The event Faeries, Sprites, & Lights was conceived more than twenty years ago as a tribute to Elisabeth “Betty” Ball’s childhood belief in faeries. Betty, the only child of George A. and Frances Woodworth Ball, grew up playing in the woods and gardens surrounding her Oakhurst home. Her active imagination allowed her to see the faeries dancing under the trees, skipping through the grasses, and sitting on the flowers.
Muncie Pottery - Bringing Beauty to the Masses
With popular magazines like Elle Decor stocked near the checkout line and design blogs available at the tap of a screen, recommendations for home decoration are never in short supply. This year, House Beautiful predicts that pendant lights, pedestals, and traditional tableware will be all the rage. A century ago, art pottery found itself near the top of the list. More elaborate than utilitarian pottery, art potters focused on aesthetic qualities, putting beauty first and function second.
Strange Things Are Happening In My Yard
Some weird stuff has been happening on my home lawn this spring. Examples include:
Small brown patches across my lawn.
Tar like spots on the outside of our picture window.
Something digging soil out of our flower containers and tossing it on our patio.
8 Perfect Picnic Spots at Minnetrista
The month of June at Minnetrista means blooming gardens, a bustling Farmer’s Market and one quintessential summer activity: picnicking! We have rounded up the top 8 most scenic spaces on campus for your picnicking pleasure.
Holiday Inn
After being disappointed with the quality of motels available during a family road trip, Kemmons Wilson decided to build his own hotel. The first Holiday Inn opened in Memphis, Tennessee in August 1952. A little more than seven years later, the 119th hotel in the chain opened in Muncie at South Madison Street and U.S. 35. Although some of the hotels were company owned, the hotel in Muncie was franchised by Harper Hotels, Inc. Company president was Henry “Hank” Harper, Jr.