Al Warr
Al Warr

 

This is the time of year when suddenly we notice clumps of yellow daffodils nodding in the sunshine. They remind us that soon a blanket of colorful flowers will cover the landscape.

Easter came early this year. But Harding’s Willow Brook Farms was all decked out as usual on the last weekend in March. It was their annual fundraiser for the Pattenburg Volunteer Fire Company. There is a picture on Facebook of Dale Harding presenting the check to Capt. Dan VanFossen.

“We’ll be having another big weekend for Mother’s Day,” said Doug Harding. He is the business manager here.

Harding’s is a full-service garden center, nursery, florist and gift shop. Right now they are heavily involved with spring cleanups, mulching, landscape design and re-design, installations and maintenance.

“We also do lots of outdoor adult playgrounds,” Harding added. These “playgrounds” include design and installation of patios, walkways and walls, fire pits, pond features and other outdoor settings. Many people are looking to revitalize older landscapes, he explained.

Harding’s is filled with annuals, perennials, vegetables and herbs, trees and shrubs. Hanging baskets are all over the place, and balled ornamentals are ready for you to take home.

“We only deal with local growers,” Harding said. So the evergreens and shrubs are accustomed to growing in local climates.

Some 15 people are employed here, including an agronomist. Free consultations and free deliveries of mulch and topsoil are available. They cover all of northern New Jersey and into the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.

Harding’s Willow Brook Farms occupies a former dairy farm — look for the big red barn at 534 Route 614 in Pattenburg. For more information, call 908-735-6900 and follow on Facebook.

Plants are a personal obsession of mine. There is not one square inch of space left for the seedlings now growing inside my house.

I could take a lesson from Karen den Hollander. She and her family started growing things several years ago, and now it has become a business.

The Garden Shed of Pittstown is located close to Quakertown, at 1153 Croton Road. The place was a beehive of activity when the family recently staged their grand opening.
The Garden Shed has annuals and perennials, hanging baskets, ground covers, seeds and bulbs, hats and gloves, garden tools, and more. All the plants are raised here from seed. The brand-new greenhouse expands the space and will make things easier.

There is no shortage of helping hands — there are eight children in this family, and all of them are involved in the operation: Kaitlyn, Eric, Scott, Jeffrey, Thomas, James, Benjamin and Jayden.

In addition, Alan Hendricksen handles the displays, and Diane Venitelli handles marketing and social media.

They are looking to create a place where people can come and relax and enjoy the gardens, the den Hollanders told me. They are working toward creating a park-like setting of inspirational vignettes of different ideas.

What started out as a roadside stand has grown into a full-fledged operation and continues to expand. They are beginning to offer pottery and other items.

Expect to find pansies, phlox and primroses along with geraniums and begonias, to name a few. In addition, there’s dusty miller, dianthus, verbena, lobelia and others. Also, find here birdhouses, sock monkeys and bags of lavender.

For more information, go to TheGardenShedOfPittstown on Facebook or call 908-627-4007. If you are visiting, look for the two large white pillars with baskets — the sign is not ready yet.

“I grew up in the nursery business,” said Charles Jenkinson. With 28 years experience behind him, he now runs Autumn Splendor Landscaping. It offers full landscaping and hardscaping design and installation.

There is an architect on staff for the design work. Once the master plan is completed, crews begin installation. “A master plan can be completed all at once,” he said. “Or it can stretch out over several years to finish — before the whole plan comes together.”

Landscaping can include everything from seasonal cleanups to mulching. Lawns can be seeded or created quickly using sod. Irrigation systems are provided. Equipment can handle everything from small shrubs to large trees.

Hardscaping includes patios, walls and walkways, steps, retaining walls, driveways and more. Special attention is paid to the color of stone or pavers used.

Specialty masonry is provided for backyard living. Outdoor grills and kitchens, along with fire pits and fireplaces, are integrated with existing or planned areas. Water features, koi ponds and poolscapes are specialties.

These days, many people with pools want the surrounding area redesigned and redone, he told me. His firm has a great deal of experience doing this kind of work.

Estimates here are free. Jenkinson is certified, licensed by the state, fully insured and offers warranties on work done.

He recommends calling now for summer work. If permits are involved, it can take a great deal of time to design and get approvals in place so that work can begin.

Autumn Splendor is in Ringoes and provides its services in “about a 30-mile radius.” This includes Hunterdon, Somerset and Mercer counties.

For more information, including many photos, visit AutumnSplendorNJ.com or call 908-361-9725. It’s also on Facebook.

Reach Al Warr at 610-253-0432 or AlWarr16@gmail.com.

More Hunterdon County news: NJ.com/hunterdon • Facebook • Twitter

From those looking to give their homes an entire facelift to others wanting a small improvement to a single room, thousands flocked this weekend to the 38th annual Spring Home Show at Lehigh University‘s Murray H. Goodman Campus in Bethlehem.

Sponsored by the not-for-profit Lehigh Valley Builders Association, the event drew an estimated 10,000 people by Saturday night — which was the total last year for all three days — according to Chuck Hamilton, executive officer for the association. Hamilton projected 14,000 visitors by the end of the event today.

“People normally come here with a specific project in mind, but then they wander around the show, see other things and those projects and ideas grow,” he said. “I love to call it the ‘Home Idea Expo.’”

This year’s event had 275 vendors with 427 booths between Lehigh’s Stabler Arena and Rauch Fieldhouse. About six vendors were outdoors showing off patios, sheds, fire pits and other equipment.

“Outdoor living is very popular right now,” Hamilton said. “Because you can expand your home without really expanding.”

Inside, vendors ranged from those offering information on security systems to window installation, granite countertop remodeling, carpentry, bath fitters, basement waterproofing, in-ground pool installation and heating and air conditioning. Some provided seminars throughout the day.

Hamilton said some things that were catching eyes were a copper roofing display and built-in grills with countertops.

Natalie Faroun, of Hellertown, who came with her three daughters, said a new backyard pool and a closet are on the family’s wish list.

“This is an easy venue,” she said. “It’s convenient to get information about your project.”

Ellyn Elstein, president of Creative Closets in Allentown, said patrons ask her about ways to stay organized when downsizing their homes. She said those in small spaces want less furniture in rooms and lean toward pieces that serve dual purposes, such as the company’s desk/bed.

The piece can literally transform a guest room into a workspace for crafts, scrapbooking, gift-wrapping or to be used as a home office, but still holds a bed underneath when needed.

Other event-goers seemed interested in a booth set up by Granite Transformations, with a location in Bath. The company’s product, made up of 95 percent granite and 5 percent polymer, can be placed on top of existing countertops and showers.

“This is a very visual product, people have to see it to understand it,” said Bob Hochella, a sales consultant who has been displaying the product for nine years at the show. “We get a lot of leads here.”

Allentown resident Marie Volack was in search of window replacement, noting her existing windows don’t stay up. When asked if she was going to use one of the show’s vendors, she replied, “Most likely. I got a lot of information here.”

The show is in its 14th year at the Bethlehem venue and before that the event had been held at the Agriplex at the Allentown Fairgrounds. Moving to Stabler and Rauch tripled the space for the event, Hamilton said.

“It allowed us to expand and service more builders and remodelers,” Hamilton said. “We really have worked hard to keep this show strictly home-related.”

Martinsville Director of Community Development Wayne Knox (second from left) holds an Award of Excellence presented to the city by the Virginia Downtown Development Association for improvements made in uptown Martinsville. Also pictured are (from left) Chris Sterling, president of the association’s board; Susan McCulloch, Martinsville’s community planner; and Julie Basic, a landscape architect involved in the improvements. (Contributed photo)

Monday, April 8, 2013

The Virginia Downtown Development Association has given Martinsville an Award of Excellence for improvements to the uptown business district.

The award recognizes improvements the city made near Depot Street, the walking trail and the TheatreWorks building to better connect the area to the rest of uptown, said city Director of Community Development Wayne Knox.

Those improvements, according to Knox and the city’s application for the award, included a refurbished parking lot near TheatreWorks and a new mural on the building; new staircases to help people get up a slope; and new lights, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, landscaping, benches, picnic tables and trash cans.

The “comfort station” — restroom building — and adjacent water fountains, including one for pets, also were among the improvements. The application noted that the station was designed to resemble a train depot because the trail used to be a railroad line.

After the trail was developed, a gazebo, sign and information kiosk were installed in the area along with shrubbery.

“But there was no connectivity from uptown to the trailhead, and no ‘you have arrived’ feeling once people got there,” the application stated.

There was a steep embankment near the parking lot, which had worn-out paving. Stairs leading to Franklin Street were steep and long. There was no easily visible entrance to the lot for cars and pedestrians, and little lighting, according to the application.

Basically, the lot was convenient for trail users but was not appealing “in its bare bones condition” to people visiting nearby places such as TheatreWorks, the New College Institute (NCI) and the heritage center and museum in the former courthouse, the application stated.

In the application, officials with NCI and TheatreWorks said the upgrades have made the area safer and more appealing to visitors.

The award was presented to city officials during a luncheon in Petersburg on Thursday. It affirms that “a lot of pieces have been put together” by many people and organizations to help improve the business district, Knox said.

The application shows the total cost of the improvements was $559,603.

Of that total, The Harvest Foundation’s contribution of $346,596 was the largest share, followed by an in-kind contribution estimated at $132,714 by city employees who handled tasks such as lighting installation, according to the application.

“You can put it (ideas) on paper, but people have to do the work,” Knox said.

Gateway Streetscape Foundation volunteers did much of the landscaping work, Knox noted.

Other funds were contributed by the Virginia Department of Transportation, Tunnels-to-Towers Foundation, Activate Martinsville Henry County, Phoenix Community Development Corp. and Gateway.

Ongoing work to make uptown look better includes facade improvements to buildings and efforts to refurbish the former Henry Hotel, Knox said.

Also, he said, the city plans to soon start negotiating with contractors to make improvements to the street in front of the former courthouse.

As the town’s building commissioner in the 1990s, Lew Colten had a lot of innovative ideas, from “red-boarding” decrepit homes to “black-bagging” illegal signs.

The notoriety of his programs cost him his job, he says, but he’s now attempting to return to Framingham Town Hall and shake up how the Planning Board does its business.

Colten is one of four candidates running for two seats on the Planning Board in Tuesday’s town election, and he is taking strong aim at the two incumbents.

“You go out of this town and you talk to people – our town has a reputation (of being too tough on developers),” Colten told Daily News editors recently.

Colten has accused Sue Bernstein and Andrea Carr-Evans, the two members up for re-election, of hanging a sign at the entrance of the town “saying ‘Not Open’ for business.”

Colten, who works as an architect, said the town needs to open its arms to businesses in order to grow its property tax base.

He said the current board drags out the permitting process and gives applicants too hard a time.

Colten defended the job he did as building chief that ended with him facing criminal larceny charges.

He said was fired for “political reasons” by former Town Manager Russell Marcoux and accused of mishandling the department’s cash.

“In fact, I went to trial and I was completed exonerated,” Colten said. He was fined $100 for violating a town bylaw.

He said he wants to bring a more business-friendly approach to the Planning Board and not nitpick over details such as landscaping.

Danielle Ameden can be reached at 508-626-4416 or dameden@wickedlocal.com.
 

Southern Ideal Home Show

North Carolina State Fairgrounds
Fri, Apr 5: Noon- 8 p.m.
Sat, Apr 6: 10 a.m.- 8 p.m.
Sun, Apr 7: 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.

http://www.SouthernIdealHomeShow.com
Pricing info: $9 at the door, Children 15 under- free with paying adult

Avg User Rating: 5 out of 5
Total Votes: 1

The 44th Edition Southern Ideal Home Show is “More than just a home show” with hundreds of experts and thousands of ideas. Show guests can discover everything they need for building and remodeling, see the latest kitchen and bath trends, shop for home and garden accessories and talk with local experts. It’s convenient one-stop shopping for all home and garden needs.

Special Discounts:

• Friday, April 5th only – Hero Day – Complimentary admission with valid ID for all active Military, Police, Fire and EMT personnel
• Friday, April 5th only – 55+ Day – $7 (no coupons)
• Friday Saturday after 5pm – $5 after 5 (no additional coupons). Sponsored by ServiceAlley.com

Parking is FREE and unlimited.

Special Guests: 

• Chris and Peyton Lambton, contestants of ABC’s “Bachelor Nation” and hosts of HGTV’s “Going Yard” will be at the show Friday Saturday to discuss outdoor living and landscaping and also answer show guest’s questions.
• Local chefs take to the Cooking Stage along with the Kitchen Casanova. Sample and learn to make their favorite recipes.
• 10 Minute Tips at the Garden Stage. Local gardening experts share tips and information on current gardening trends

What does the show cover?

• Shop the Show: Register to win $1,000 to shop the show and get a head start on your home improvements, sponsored by WTVD ABC 11. Register to win at www.SouthernIdealHomeShow.com
• Ask ‘Our’ Experts: Meet experts ready to answer all of your questions from saving energy to garage and closet organization to remodeling and interior décor.
• Local Businesses: Talk with local professionals about your home improvement needs. Find comfort in working with trusted companies in your neighborhood.
• Shop for a Cause at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore Yard Sale. Find furniture, hardware, cabinetry and all types of products for the home. Located in the Jim Graham Building.
• CARE Pavilion (Council for Ageless Residential Environments): Talk with professionals ready to help you plan for a barrier free lifestyle. Consultants from realty
• companies, financial advisors, and remodeling companies will be on hand to help you design your home to age in place.
• The Alliance of Interior Designers has gathered one-of-a-kind home furnishings, accessories and fabrics at bargain prices. They will also be hosting a Tablescapes competition…stop by and cast your vote for the best decorated table.
• Early Bird Gets the Bag: Be one of the first 100 guests to the show and receive a free eco-friendly reusable shopping bag.
• Living Green experts will showcase the latest technology and money saving ideas for building and remodeling products relating to the home and environment.

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FLINT, MI – Two rows of bright, yellow daffodils and petite, pink pansies greeted visitors walking into Perani Arena in Flint Saturday, April 6.

Tucked under hearty juniper shrubs and nestled into a bed of mulch, the scent of flowers thickened the air with signs of the season’s change at the Spring Home and Garden Show.

The event featured about 50 vendors specializing in landscaping, gardening, home improvement and remodeling. An area inside the arena housed about 100 exhibits.

Displays included a landscape demonstration, interactive “ask the expert” segments detailing new flowers for 2013 and organic farming, and a live auction with items like a 10-yard plot of mulch and a weatherproof, nature-themed painting. 

The 70- and 80-degree temperatures from spring of last year were long gone, but the cool breezes Saturday was perfect weather for the event, according to Jeremy Torrey, general manager of Perani Arena.

“When it gets really nice, a lot of people get cabin fever over the winter and they do other things rather than coming back inside to the show,” Torrey said.

Torrey said the show has been running for more than 70 years and has been held at Perani Arena for the last two years. Although several thousand people usually attend, Torrey said it has decreased in size, citing a dismal housing industry and an overall weakened economy over the last seven years.

“We’re starting to rebuild it,” Torrey said. “This is probably the biggest show in the last four years or so.”

John and Teresa Hamilton of Grand Blanc were browsing the show for ideas as they plan to add flower boxes and retaining walls in the front yard of their home.

“It’s kind of an open slate right now,” John Hamilton said.

Randy Mallory, a retired landscaper of Mt. Morris, said he attended the show because he was interested in figuring out planting and landscaping this year for his yard. Mallory said the economy has not had a major effect on his landscaping budget this year.

“We’re still going to spend right around $1,000 in flowers in our yard again,” he said. “But we’re buying more perennials instead of all annuals.”

Greg Jones and Stephanie Kohler of Fenton were there to get ideas and find designs for an outdoor patio or deck for their newly purchased home.

“We just bought a house so we’re getting ideas on what we want to do,” Kohler said.

The weekend event costs $3 to attend for adults and is free for children 18 and under. Proceeds from the live auction, which includes flowers, plants, trees and landscape supplies on display in the show, go to Habitat for Humanity and the Genesee Area Landscape Nursery Association.

Show times are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, with the live auction presented by Genesee Area Landscape and Nursery Association taking place at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Hurricane Isabel’s wrath didn’t deter Kristin Pauley from purchasing the home of her dreams. Set upon a small hill, her abode is nestled into the woods of Hillsmere. It’s within walking distance of Key School where her daughter, Minna, 17, is a senior.

“I purchased the home in the summer of 2004,” recalled Kristin. The home, then, was a basic saltbox style with worn white vertical siding and trim. She submitted an offer on the house two days before the devastating hurricane tore into the Chesapeake region. When Kristin returned after the hurricane passed to look at the house again, it had a new feature: Angry Isabel had toppled a tree onto the kitchen.

The Pauleys moved in anyway.

“Our house was built in 1983 on the site of what had been the community’s tennis courts,” said Kristin. “It was dark, boxy and simple, sitting on this beautiful hill.” For a few years afterwards, Kristin contacted several architects about doing renovations on the corner lot residence, which also had an unfinished full basement, but work did not begin until seven years after the home was purchased.

As her wish list for the house evolved, she realized visitors customarily entered the one-story house via a sliding door on the deck leading to the old kitchen. “I decided the house needed a real entrance,” she said, explaining, as part of the renovation, the house was “bumped out” to add 300 square feet of space — and a formal entry.

Call it kismet. She met her future renovation collaborator, architect Jacob Weaver, founder of Jacob Weaver Architecture of Harwood, in a Prana Studio yoga class in Parole.

After visiting the house and vetting Kristin’s ideas, “Jacob came back with a wonderful design,” she enthused. His plans opened up the main floor, created a new kitchen and put skylights over the new formal dining area in the space’s vaulted, bare wood plank ceiling. Using Weaver’s drawings and blueprints, but deferring to Kristin on aesthetic issues, Karl Hauss of Hauss Krueger Builders, a Hillsmere neighbor, was the general contractor. “Karl was great,” said Kristin. Hauss went to work on the house in August 2011 and finished in February 2012.

With its new red and tan exterior color scheme and a complete re-do, “We transformed a conventional rancher into a more interesting, spacious ‘craftsman style’ home that now sits brightly at the top of one of Hillsmere’s few hills,” Kristin said.

As the building project progressed, Kristin received advice from Karen Fazekis at Benjamin Moore Paints for the soft, understated colors on the interior walls. The entry hall is “Fieldstone” and the main room is “Inner Balance.”

Outside, the hardscape and stonework around the house was designed and installed by Articulate Land Garden of Glen Burnie. “One of the wonderful things for me about doing this project was getting to meet and know so many local providers of services,” said Kristin. “I loved working with them and making decisions together. Each step of the way they were willing to discuss the project and make suggestions.”

Kristin works for the Prince Charitable Trust in Washington, D.C. The trust, a family foundation, makes grants to non-profit organizations, particularly, she said, youth organizations, those protecting the Virginia Piedmont and local food and farmers’ market movements.

She decided to implement some “green” initiatives utilized at the offices of her former employer, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. At Southern Sales Service, a new and used building materials auction house in Baltimore that operates in a 4-acre warehouse, she bought almost all the wood trimmed windows and doors for the renovated house, ceiling tiles for the basement room, a bathroom vanity and the kitchen cabinetry. All of the material had been previously owned.

Decorating the interior, Kristin and Minna shopped for a couch and some chairs at West Elm, a contemporary furniture store in Timonium. Other items they discovered at Echoes Accents, a consignment shop off Chinquapin Road; Pottery Barn, Crate Barrel, and Arhaus. The hardware for the kitchen cabinets was purchased during an online search.

Furry — and excited — Welcome Waggin’

Outside, the house is ringed with low stone walls, flagstone walkways, carefully tended landscaping and, in front, a set of wide terraced stone and wood beam steps.

The main entry to the home is now well defined. Visitors ascend a few steps on either side of the handsome wood and glass doorway. Framed by white trim, the door is shaded by an overhang that extends from the dining room area. On the left side, a rain chain empties into a large terra cotta-colored rain barrel.

Around the right side of the entrance is a deck and another entry. The wooden deck, part of it sheltered by an overhang, is large enough for entertaining. A modern sculpture, “Circles of Life,” composed of twisted iron rods and concrete chunks, created by artist Tom Noll, occupies a corner of the deck.

Inside, the ground floor is airy, open and sunlit. More sunlight sparkles on the polished, wood plank floors. The self-appointed Welcome Waggin’ hostess, Zoe, a Lhasa Apso, rushes to greet us. The two cats, Minnie and LuLu, prefer to curl up on the couch and nap.

Directly to the left is the dining area. A simple wood table that seats six is centered beneath the skylights on a cream woven rug. Next to the door, decorated with trays of succulent houseplants, is a well-loved upright piano and piano bench. Adjacent to the dining room is the kitchen. Two tall chairs, their seats and backs upholstered in chocolate leather, are pulled up to the island, which is topped with creamy polished stone. The countertops feature the same stone surface, set against a backsplash of cream tile interspersed with two coordinating bands of mosaic tiles. The attractive recycled cabinetry has a cherry wood finish.

A low wall surrounding the stairwell to the lower level helps to delineate the kitchen and dining areas from the living room, but doesn’t detract from the open air feel of the space.

Set next to the stairwell is a wooden chest. Hundreds of tiny brass nail heads form a design across its lid and sides. Made by Kuwaiti sailors, it is Kristin’s souvenir from Kuwait. “I’ve lived in Iran and Lebanon, and traveled in Kuwait, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa,” said Kristin, pointing out other mementoes of her journeys.

The guest room is reserved for her son, Phil Eldridge, and his wife when they visit. Their three children get to bunk on the couches and a daybed in the lower level. Between visits, the space doubles as Kristin’s home office.

Pushing open a door marked with a large blue “M,” Minna’s neat-as-a-pin room has blush pink walls with white trim. A modern floral print spread covers her wooden mission style bed.

In Kristin’s room, a country floral print covers her wrought iron frame bed. On one wall a Japanese kimono is displayed. She purchased it in a SoHo shop and wore it as her wedding gown. Minnie the Cat gazes out a window from a cat tree house, set at the juncture of two corner windows in the room.

A look downstairs

In the basement, the same open feeling of the upstairs prevails. The space, on one side of the stairwell, is a rec room where Minna likes to entertain or study with classmates. A casual couch with a matching ottoman, a chaise lounge and a leather upholstered recliner are pulled around the entertainment center. The furniture rests on flooring of bamboo wood tiles.

On the other side, the wall is lined, on two sides, with waist-high wooden cabinets that are used for storing books, school work and projects-in-progress. In front of the cabinets is a comfortable day bed that multi-tasks as a guest bed and a couch.

Off to one side is a large laundry room and kitty “hide-away” space. Another, narrower room, filled with metal shelving, serves as a tidy storage area.

In the downstairs bathroom is the vanity Kristin purchased at the auction house in Baltimore. It is topped with another one of her purchases that day: an unusual, rectangular, white Deca sink. It doesn’t have the usual drain hole, instead the water flows through a horizontal slit at the rear of the slightly sloped basin. With a giggle, she demonstrated how it worked.

“It was really creative and fun to re-do this house,” Kristin said. “It’s one of the most interesting things I’ve ever done.”

• 
  Richard Hanson

BEMIDJI – The university president here is proposing a study into whether Northwest Tech should become a fourth college under Bemidji State University.

In a memorandum earlier this week to BSU faculty leaders, President Richard Hanson said a study group should examine the idea, in part because the “financial health of NTC is soft and the institution is underperforming.” Hanson met with NTC faculty in mid-March.

The memo, which spells out five “assumptions and facts” and a four-point action plan, was delivered by Hanson during a Wednesday “meet and confer” meeting with the BSU faculty association’s executive committee.

Hanson’s action plan calls for a series of open forums on both campuses and the establishment of a study group to analyze the issue.

“Several years ago a decision was made to align BSU and NTC, although the precise definition of alignment was never developed,” Hanson wrote. “Since that decision and over time, all of the ‘backroom administrative functions’ for the two institutions are shared (president, financial aid, student life and enrollment, institutional research, IT, budget and finance, human resources) except for Academic Affairs.”

He further stated the budgets for the institutions come from the Minnesota State College and University system as one institution.

“I think what (President Richard Hanson) has put forth is an invitation for a conversation … to initiate a charge to create a study group, with faculty, staff and students, to look at what might be the next step in alignment for BSU and NTC,” Scott Faust, director of community and marketing, said Friday afternoon.

“I think, certainly, President Hanson wants to explore what advantages there might be in some level of integration in academics, but what exactly that would be or what it would look like, or how it would be implemented, is unknown at this time.”

Hanson, out of the office until Tuesday, did not return a cell phone message seeking comment Friday afternoon. Martin Tadlock, provost and vice president for academic affairs, likewise was unavailable until Tuesday.

Faust said Hanson plans to meet with MnSCU Chancellor Steven Rosenstone in about two weeks to discuss the matter.

“We’re part of MnSCU and MnSCU will be kept informed throughout the process,” Faust said.

Christopher Brown, president of BSU’s faculty association, emailed Hanson’s memo and revised minutes of the meeting to association members Thursday morning.

The Pioneer obtained a copy of the email Friday morning.

“It seems NTC is in significant financial straits,” Brown wrote in the body of the email message. “So much so that the administration had to ‘loan’ NTC $600,000 to remain afloat this year.”

Bill Maki, vice president for finance and administration, said that is not accurate. He said the institutions are now planning a budget for fiscal year 2013-2014 and staff is anticipating that BSU will need to loan NTC some money.

But while that loan could be as high as $600,000, Maki said the Legislature is still in session, appropriations have yet to be finalized and enrollments are not yet known.

“There’s a lot of variables in play,” Maki said.

Any shortfall for next year would primarily be due to fluctuating enrollments, Maki said. Enrollment this year is 785 and last year it was 848. The year before that, it was 918.

But decreasing enrollment is not necessarily a trend, Maki said. In 2005, enrollment was 730 before increasing.

“It’s declined over the past couple of years, which means less tuition dollars,” Maki said. “We need to be responsible and look forward.”

In his email, Brown asked faculty association members to review the documents, consult with one another and talk to association senators –“so that we may deliver a measured response to (Hanson’s) ideas” – in advance of the senate’s Monday meeting.

“This is serious folks and could have staffing implications now and in the future here and throughout the system,” Brown wrote in the email body.

Brown could not immediately be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

The study group, per Hanson’s proposal, would begin its work this spring, present a midyear report in 2013-2014, and make a non-binding recommendation to Hanson by next Feb. 1.

Faust said the goal of the process is to not just find efficiencies, but to strengthen both institutions while also maintaining individual identities.

“I think it’s very exciting,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of creative ideas that will be coming from this.”

A ‘transparent’ process

One of the issues to be explored by the study group is whether, if NTC does become a fourth BSU college, there is a need for two academic affairs offices, according to revised minutes of Wednesday’s meeting.

According to the minutes:

Brown said the university faculty does not want BSU harmed by the proposal.

“Obviously we need to take your proposal back to our constituency and see what they say, but what if the decision is to disengage from NTC?” he said.

“I see this as an opportunity to create something new,” Hanson is recorded as saying. “A new approach is needed. I really want to see some creative recommendations, the way we look at degrees for example.”

When asked how members of the study group would be selected, Hanson said he did not know but was seeking “an assent to a process” at this point.

Thomas Frauchald, treasurer of the faculty association, said he did not believe it could assure an assent to the conclusions to be derived from the study group.

“One thing I would ask is that it be (a) process that is transparent and not backroom-like,” the minutes read. “I think there needs to be a faculty role in this, there is curriculum involvement here, and because of the curricular ramifications this is a big deal.”

Michael Murray, vice president of the faculty association, asked what other proposals were considered other than bringing NTC under BSU as a fourth college. He also asked for cost savings that might be derived from such a move.

Hanson said he did not know the answer to the costs question but said he wanted to continue forward with the proposal to form the study group so he can see what it produces.

“I don’t see people willingly sacrificing themselves for this proposal,” Brown said. “They won’t self-sacrifice themselves for a merger. This will open up some old wounds from the recalibration.”

In February 2011, Hanson unveiled his recalibration plan for BSU and NTC, aiming to save $5 million over 2011-2012 and 2012-2013. Those cuts included the elimination of the massage therapy and environmental landscaping programs at NTC and the art history and theater programs at BSU.

Tadlock, the provost, said he has seen examples where such a merger of institutions has proven beneficial and suggested there may be best practices to draw upon.

“We have to do something,” Hanson said. “We cannot do nothing.”

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HANOVER – 

It has been a long, cold winter, and spring seems reluctant to appear. You could be forgiven for feeling that it’s never going to get warm enough for getting into the garden! But have faith, the spring will arrive and the gardeners among you can get your hands into sun-warmed soil and begin to work with Nature to create beauty and delight.
In the meantime, you might want to drop by the library and see what we have on the shelves to inspire you to get growing. The library has more than 400 books that relate to gardening of all kinds, from indoor plants to container gardening to pruning advice, favourite perennials and annuals, and landscaping and outdoor living ideas. Whether you are a seasoned gardener or just learning, we have loads of books that can spark your creativity while giving you reliable information to make your efforts bear fruit.
The library has the magazine Organic Gardening, a wonderful resource for gardeners. Published by Rodale, it is dense with innovative, useful ideas and thoughtful articles for both food and flower gardeners. We also offer Canadian Gardening magazine, a beautiful magazine lushly illustrated with photographs of gardens across Canada. It also offers excellent ideas and advice specific to Zone 5 (this region) and cooler.
Don’t forget the databases! With your library membership you have access to several on-line databases via our website. Just visit hanoverlibrary.ca and click on the menu item, “E-Resources: on-line resources for research and reading”. There is a database specifically for people who grow food and flowers, called Gardening, Landscape and Horticulture. This database contains over three and a half million articles published between 1980 and 2013. Farmers, landscapers and gardeners alike will have their information needs met with this collection of journals focused specifically on key issues in gardening, landscaping, and other areas of horticulture.
Of course, nothing can replace direct conversation with a gardening expert! One of our local horticulture specialists, Jeff Davis of Davishill Nursery, will be presenting a program at the library on Saturday, April 6 at 1 pm, entitled “Make Gardening Easier 101.” Tickets are available at the library or at the door, for only $2 per person, so don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to pick a Master Gardener’s brain for the help you need. Call the library at 519-364-1420 for more information.

As in Camelot.

The architecture firm BNIM has been chosen to collaborate with renowned New York architect Steven Holl to help design a $100 million expansion to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

The 1.5 million-square-foot center, which opened in 1971, includes nine theaters and is one of the nation’s biggest and busiest performing arts centers and a cultural touchstone.

In 1999, Holl selected BNIM to assist on the acclaimed Bloch Building addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

And with new vision for the Kennedy Center bearing some resemblance to the Bloch Building, he has reached out to BNIM again to be his firm’s sole partner on the project. BNIM will help refine Holl’s ideas to the point of construction-ready drawings.

The opportunity to work on the nation’s premier stage has Casey Cassias, 61, and J. Gregory Sheldon, 59, the local architects assigned to the project, channeling their inner boyhood.

Both were kids when Kennedy was president during that optimistic once-upon-a-time referred to as Camelot.

“It’s very humbling,” Cassias said. “I grew up in that era of Kennedy and had a lot of admiration for Kennedy and what a leader he was.

“Here we are, with these humble Midwest roots, and the incredible opportunity to work on this Kennedy expansion is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Added Sheldon: “It’s pretty darn cool.”

The Kennedy Center is on the Potomac River just northwest of one of the most hallowed locations in the country, the National Mall.

Holl and his senior partner, Chris McVoy, envision three connected pavilions totaling 65,000 square feet cascading south of the existing building to the river. They are being situated to offer a framed view from the Kennedy Center of the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials.

As with the Bloch Building, the pavilions will rise from parklike terrain and cap larger underground spaces devoted to classrooms, multipurpose rooms, rehearsals and a new public entrance to the center.

The exteriors will use translucent Okalux insulated glass and Carrara marble, the same Italian marble used for the Kennedy Center.

And in a nod to the late president’s love for the water and his service in the Navy in World War II, the proposal calls for the third pavilion to be built on a platform floating in the Potomac and including an outdoor performance stage.

One of the pools in the landscaping scheme proposed by Holl also will use the dimensions of Kennedy’s patrol boat, PT-109.

The plan also calls for a Kennedy quotation, “When we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came,” to be sandblasted into the wall of the waterfront pavilion.

Cassias, a principal at BNIM, said he didn’t realize the Kennedy Center, which was designed by Edward Durell Stone, was intended to be Washington’s “living memorial” to the late president.

The entrance to the main building has a large bust of Kennedy and two information kiosks, but the expansion calls for creating a space for visitors that will be more directly associated with the late president.

“Conceptually it calls for a series of memorial quotes etched in glass and mementos from the Kennedy family in a dedicated pavilion away from the Kennedy Center itself,” Cassias said

BNIM’s relationship with Steven Holl Architects began with the Bloch Building and has extended to other projects besides the Kennedy Center.

Shortly after the Bloch project opened in 2007, Holl invited BNIM to participate in designing a performing arts center at Princeton University in New Jersey. That project, the Lewis Center for the Arts, is now in the design stage.

BNIM also was hired to repair a Holl-designed School of Art and Art History building on the campus of the University of Iowa that was damaged by flooding in 2008.

The Kennedy Center opportunity came up early last fall. Cassias said he got a mysterious call from Holl’s partner, McVoy, asking whether he could come to Washington, but he couldn’t say why.

He was a bit skeptical.

“We’ve been through some wild goose chases, and I asked if it was worthwhile,” Cassias said. “He said it would be worth coming for. I got there and two representatives from the Kennedy Center were there.”

Holl’s firm was unanimously chosen by the Kennedy Center board to design the expansion, but it needed help. The New York firm is relatively small, about 30 employees, and it has up to 20 projects going on around the world at any one time.

Despite their experience, Cassias thought it was a leap for BNIM to tackle such a high-profile project alone with Holl.

“We had no experience in D.C. or the Kennedy Center, and no office in D.C., and I asked, ‘Why us?’” Cassisas said. “But it was this good working relationship we had with Steven.”

McVoy, the partner in charge of the Bloch Building project, described BNIM as a “great collaborator.”

“Casey Cassias has more integrity than any architect I know,” McVoy said. “Greg Shelton is an expert at the art of making a building.

“BNIM shares with us a commitment to an architecture that outlasts the individuals who make it, an architecture that gives joy and speaks of our time.”

It helped too that Marc Wilson, a former director of the Nelson-Atkins, and Dana Knapp, who helped manage the Bloch project, endorsed BNIM’s work.

The Kennedy Center itself also has a Kansas City connection.

Its president, Michael M. Kaiser, was once the general manager of the Kansas City Ballet, and Donald Hall Jr. is on the Kennedy Center board of trustees. Kaiser was in Kansas City in 2011 to dedicate the Todd Bolender Center for Dance Creativity, a project designed by BNIM.

“We are very happy to work with the company that brought us the Todd Bolender Center and the Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum,” Kaiser said. “We look forward to working with BNIM in the months and years ahead.”

Though Holl is the creative brain who came up with the concept, BNIM’s role is far from simply stamping drawings or running errands.

“We work with them as a team, one hand working with another,” Cassias said.

“It’s very much Steven’s idea. He finds the essence of the problem and the way to solve it. That’s when you start the process of designing it with materials and ideas. It really becomes a collaboration.”

The announcement of the Kennedy Center expansion was accompanied by a $50 million gift toward its construction by David M. Rubenstein, chairman of the board. Congress approved the project but required it to be funded privately.

The center has started a $75 million fundraising campaign, with $25 million to be set aside for programming. The timetable calls for the design and approvals to take about three years, construction two years and completion in 2018.