Melton Mowbray – our new home

After a frenetic week of packing our crate, preparing the contents of our house for auction and then finally packing the rest of our belongings in to suitcases, as we made our way to the airport in Springfield it all seemed just a little surreal.

The journey itself was pretty smooth going; a short layover in Dallas before the 8 hour flight to London Heathrow. The news in the days leading up to our arrival had been all about the riots in London and elsewhere in the UK but we didn’t encounter anything when we first arrived and haven’t directly encountered anything since, although the newspapers and TV featured little else fpr our first week or so here.

So here we are. Our new home is a market town in the middle of the country called Melton Mowbray. Melton Mowbray is known for foxhunting, pork pies and stilton cheese. It also happens to have a market that dates back over 1,000 years. More about all of that later.

Melton itself is pretty small, with around 25,000 people living in the town itself, and 45,000 in the borough (the immediate surrounding area). But – we’re in easy reach of Leicester, Peterborough and Nottingham. London is just 100 miles away.

We wanted to take this opportunity to break away from being car-slaves, and so are intent on using public transport (and our legs of course!). We’ve started being completely car-free – and will see how we fare with that as the winter sets in…..no promises!

The public transport infrastructure here is great. Melton has a railway station and numerous bus routes connecting to it. More blogs about that later, but a good example is the trip to London. It takes a little under 2 hours by train, and costs just £44 ($75) if booked a day in advance.

This weekend marks the end of the girls’ summer. Jilian started school on Thursday, and Marilian starts at her school this Monday. So now it really does feel like we’re here and settled.

Springfield Saint Patrick’s Day Parade and Celebration

It’s that time of year again!

This year’s Parade and Celebration will take place on March 19th.

Want to take part in the parade? Go to the St Pat’s website and register….it’s free!

Want to enter the Irish Idol Contest – click here!

We’re always looking for new sponsors….this year you will get space in the booklet PLUS a presence on the website / facebook…AND we’ll twitter about you!!!! If you want to know more, just add a comment here or send an email to info@springfieldstpatsparade.org

What’s the weather going to be like on March 19? Take our poll!

“Where the Wild Things are” from Springfield R-12 Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program

Our feature this month is “Where the Wild Things are” from Springfield R-12 Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program.

The Springfield R-12 Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program serves 430 children in the Springfield area.  Over 70 integrated peers receive a pre-school education while serving as models for language, social skills, and behavior.  The program offers a comprehensive range of programs provided by highly qualified teachers including: specialized instruction in the classroom, speech therapy, language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, intenerate services, parent collaboration and behavioral consultation.

The mission of Early Childhood Special Education is to effectively meet the individual needs of young children with disabilities by:

« Collaborating through community partnerships

« Providing quality services

« Incorporating developmentally appropriate activities into instruction

« Using research-supported practices

« Recognizing cultural diversity

« Being family-focused

“Where the Wild Things are” opens on May 7 (during the First Friday Art Walk) and will continue for the rest of the month.  We’re still putting the final touches to the display, and will post images soon. We’ll also add details about the hands-on session planned for Center City Saturday on May 15th – so check back soon!

Center City Saturday in Downtown Springfield

Join members of First Friday Art Walk for a fun, free, family-friendly holiday-themed event, 1-5 p.m. Nov. 21 in the Downtown Arts District. If you’ve never experienced Art Walk, this is your chance to find out what all the excitement’s about!Center City Saturday features live art demonstrations, giveaways, holiday open houses, kids’ crafts, holiday refreshments, raffles and more. Start out with lunch at one of our incredible downtown restaurants, spend the day visiting Art Walk galleries, then head to Jordan Valley Park for the Festival of Lights Kickoff and Lighting of the Mayor’s Christmas Tree, followed by Fireworks at Hammons Field.
Here are the highlights:
· Bodhi Salon and Spa, 431 S. Jefferson, Ste. 106, presents its Holiday Open House! Enjoy holiday cookies and 20 percent off all gift certificates. For each gift certificate purchased, the client will be entered in a raffle for a Bodhi gift basket valued at over $300. Kids can enjoy face & body painting, hair styles and polish, while mom or dad indulges in a complimentary chair massage. Plus, don’t miss Motley Achromatic, a show of photography by Ike Wever, Bodhi’s featured artist for November.
· Fitzwilly’s Gifts & Antiques, 308 South Ave., features the Art of Hailey Patten through November and will have free holiday coloring pages for kids to take home.
· Fresh Gallery, located at the southwest corner of Campbell and Walnut, will hold its holiday open house during Center City Saturday. Enjoy live painting demonstrations and view the art of Featured Artists Angel Nahon and Ann Marie Rausch, plus works by 20 other regional artists.
· Global Fayre, 324 S Campbell, features handcrafted, fairly traded art objects, clothing and more from around the world. Each child who stops by between 1 and 5 p.m. Nov. 21 will receive a free, handcrafted bobblehead animal from Mexico. Offer good while supplies last!
· Good Girl Art Gallery, 325 E. Walnut St., Ste. 101, invites visitors to enjoy holiday refreshments, personalized Christmas ornaments and the work of Artist Kristin Sholtis in her show, Rustworthy, Tales in Assemblage …
· Park Central Branch Library will host a free Holiday Movie Marathon on the big screen.
· Randy Bacon Photography and Figment Art Gallery in the Monarch Art Factory, 600 W. College St., presents two special events: Enjoy free refreshments and see the CASA Kid’s Display, featuring original artwork by local children, which was used to create this year’s CASA greeting cards, and Woodblock Paintings by Charles Lederer in celebration of 100 Years of Casper’s Chili, founded by Charles’ father Casper.
· Springfield Hot Glass Studio, 314 S. Campbell Ave., a working hot glass studio/gallery with facilities for furnace, torch and kiln work, presents live glassblowing demonstrations by glass master Terry Bloodworth and crew.
· Springfield Pottery, 416 S. Campbell Ave., presents a special Holiday Ornament miniMake. Come play in the clay between 1 and 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. For a small fee of $10, you will be guided through the miniMake project, and Springfield Pottery will have it fired and ready to pick up in 14 days. Please allow 20 to 30 minutes to complete your miniMake project!

World Vision Experience: AIDS

We’re excited to play a (small) part in the second visit of “World Vision Experience: AIDS” to Springfield.

The exhibition opened today at Remingtons, on Republic Road, Springfield, and will continue until next Sunday.

The aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness of the plight of children in Africa, and to encourage people to sponsor children in Africa. Global Fayre is delighted to contribute to the sponsorship pack; sponsors are entitled to a 25% in-store discount and will also know that every time they make a purchase at the store in 2010, 5% of their spend will go directly to World Vision.

Find out more about World Vision Experience: AIDS here.

Find out more about Global Fayre here.