August 2009 Archives

This weekend was one of the few times I've spent nearly the whole thing in the city.

On Saturday, I helped a friend move from one apartment in the Avenues to another apartment in the Avenues. Both apartments are on the second floor. My legs still hurt.

Later, we took advantage of my fiance's rare Saturday night off to have dinner at Bistro 19. I had the vegetable cannelloni, and it was yummy. We headed to the White Rose a bit later.

In case you haven't heard, a ghost might be haunting the shelves of the York Emporium.

Check out Jim Lewin's blog for a little background. But to give you the short version, the Paranormal Activity Research Association was there in July to check out the ghost possibilities.

Apparently, the electronic equipment picked up some faint voices. Spooky. (Really, read Bookflaps for the play-by-play of what they did and heard. It's interesting, partly because they had a "sensitive" member who apparently felt a psychic presence plus the electronic equipment to pick up some more solid evidence.)

Jim tells me the association is coming back tomorrow night, after the shop is closed, to do a second round of investigation. (Just to be clear, this isn't open to the public.)  I'll be checking in next week to see what happens!

The Market and Penn Farmers Market group will meet at 6 p.m. tomorrow (Wed. Aug. 26) at Union Lutheran Church, 408 W. Market St., York. They're planning the Broccoli Blast/Taste of Market event.

And Central Market is welcoming a new vendor, Breneman's Produce.

If you have a minute, check out YDR photographer Bil Bowden's photos, story and video on Reid Menzer Memorial Skatepark.

You'll see some people doing some impressive things, and you'll see some people doing things that appear to really, really hurt.

And, as Bil notes, the skatepark's first anniversary will be celebrated from noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 5 with skating demonstrations, contests, raffles, a live auction and more.

Residential parking permits for the 2009 York Fair will be available Monday through Sept. 19, according to a news release.

The permits will be distributed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at the city's revenue office, in City Hall, 50 W. King St., York. Weekdays from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., the permits will be available at the police desk in City Hall.

Limit is three permits per household, and those requesting a permit must bring vehicle registration or a copy of a lease or utility bill as proof of residency.

There will be no permits for motorcycles.

Permit parking is enforced from 4 p.m. to midnight during the fair, Sept. 11 to 20. 

Call 849-2230 for information.

Keep reading for the list of streets affected.

The second annual celebration of the "birth" of the Avenues neighborhood will be held from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Sept. 19 in the 500 block of Linden Avenue.

The event is open to Avenues residents. Bring your own lawn chairs.

Activities include "Wheels on Parade," sponsored by Boulding Mortuary at 5:30 p.m. Kids can decorate their bikes, carts or carriages and then be in a parade at 6:30 p.m. There will also be other games and activities for children, live music, and historic architecture walking tours with Jim Leaman and Rose Gallagher.

The neighborhood association will provide hot dogs, chips and lemonade. Attendees can bring side dishes.

A sign outside Bistro 19 indicates the restaurant now has its liquor license and begins serving today.

In other restaurant news, I attempted to go to Mezzogiorno today, forgetting that they are closed through Sept. 6 while they are in Italy. Lucky.

I've gotten a few e-mails this week about events coming up. Here they are:

The city's Olde Towne East neighborhood will hold a back-to-school ice cream party for the neighborhood's kids from 1 to 3 p.m. Aug. 22 at Renaissance Park, located in the 200 block of East Princess Street.

Activities include make-your-own sundaes, book and school supply giveaways, Donna the Book Lady and more.

And Tidings of Peace Mennonite Church and School will hold a blood drive from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Aug. 26. Head to the school, 329 E. Poplar St., if you want to donate.

And over in the Avenues, the Spring Garden Band Concert will be Aug. 23 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Farquhar Park.

Also this weekend, the United Community Gardeners will hold an open house at the garden, located in the 800 block of East King Street. The event is Aug. 22 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Meet some expert gardeners and learn how to get involved. Next week is National Community Gardening Week.

And finally, go check out the Flipside blog to learn about an upcoming event at Reid Menzer Skate Park.

Bistro 19 is one of those places I've often thought about going, but I didn't get there until this week. I like to get downtown for lunch, but my schedule doesn't always allow it. But I had some interviews downtown on Thursday, so I was able to head in for lunch.

I had the monte cristo, and my lunch partner had the pulled pork. Both were pretty yummy. I was a fan of the skinny, beer-battered fries, too. I wasn't sure what to expect price-wise, but both of our sandwiches came in at about $8 each. Not bad. It was pretty busy that day, and I saw quite a few juror tags around the room. But we were in and out in about 40 minutes.

I couldn't help but notice a good number of people milling around the Double D's stand in the square on our way out. Hot dogs appear to be a pretty good business.

(File photo at right taken by Paul Kuehnel.)

York property owners can get low-interest loans to improve their sidewalks through a city partnership with Fulton Bank.

Through the partnership, property owners can get home equity loan with a low monthly payment.  Property owners can contact one of the following four Fulton Bank branches for information:
  
30 S. George St., 771-4224
2057 S. Queen St., 771-4319
905 Indian Rock Dam Road, 771-4322
201 Pauline Drive, 747-9962
   
Visit www.yorkcity.org to check the city code ordinances for regulations related to sidewalk repair.

Does anyone know the story with this billboard? It's at the intersection of North George and Arch streets.

I didn't even notice it until a few months ago, when a co-worker pointed out that it sent "happy birthday" greetings to some guy riding a mechanical bull.

That one stayed up for several weeks, and then the billboard sent greetings to "Bobby" who was turning 50, if I remember correctly.

Today, it's sending birthday wishes to this guy. So, what, is this officially a birthday billboard?

My fiance and I have been spending our Sunday afternoons at open houses.

Last weekend, we went to see a home in the city that, admittedly, was at the high end of the price range we think we can afford. It was a two-story brick home, in a nice neighborhood with a nice little fenced yard. There's no way either of our cars would fit in the tiny garage, but there were two parking spaces off street. Inside, it was gorgeous: sunroom, big kitchen, nice bathroom.

In short, I loved it. Then as we browsed through the brochure, we came to the part where taxes are listed.

County, city and school taxes totaled more than $6,000 together.
 
Yikes. We've looked at homes in other municipalities with taxes that aren't even a third of that.

Spread $6,000 out over a year, and it would add $500 a month on top of the mortgage payment.

Yeah, there's no way we can do that.

So, I guess the lesson learned is, if we look in the city, we need to slash our price range. Sad, though. Such a nice house.

The folks over at Susquehanna Photo have weighed in on the downtown hot dog situation.

For those who missed it, there's a second hot dog cart, Mary's Concession Stand, on the corner of George and Philadelphia streets, giving a little competition to Double D's Dogs down in the square.

Check out the blog to see what Jody from Double D's had to say about his new competitor.

Just about two weeks ago, I wrote a story about Double D's Dogs in York's square, and how it was the only hot dog stand downtown.

Then, on my way to work today, I saw another stand, with another blue and white umbrella, on the other end of the same block.

At first I thought Double D's might just be expanding, because Jody Moore had mentioned to me that they were thinking about buying a second cart and starting a second location.

But I checked while I was downtown for an interview, and it turns out Double D's has some competition.

As a devote thrift store shopper, I come across some awesome finds every once in a while. Last week, I found a Vera Wang wedding dress at the Goodwill on Roosevelt Avenue.

Price: $20.

As many women know, Vera Wang's dresses are among the most coveted (and expensive).

The dress I found is probably one of her earlier dresses. It's not silk -- it's polyester. It's not long -- it's rather short. The bow? Well, it's better than most bows seen on dresses circa 1980-90, that's for sure.

It would make the perfect dress for a city hall wedding in the winter. It has two layers (both with Vera Wang tag). The inside is a cream sheath dress, form fitting, but modest. The outside (the fluff you see in the picture) is a sheer white cape that closes at the top near the bow. Not my style, but I can see someone pulling it off.  

The dress is tiny. It's a wedding dress size 4, which translates into a size 0 or size 2 in normal clothes. You'd need to be less than 100 pounds to pull it off, I am sure.

I've told a couple people about the dress, and all have asked if I bought it. I decided not to. First, it would sit in my closet unloved and unworn. Secondly, sometimes I like to leave good finds for people who will enjoy them more than I will. I mean, if someone with a size 6 foot found an amazing pair of size 8 leather boots (for example, fall is coming) I would hope they would leave them for me.

(Click on the jump for more photos. I took the with the phone, so they aren't the most wonderful photos ever, but they do the trick.)