Charlotte 'Shrooms!

Here are just a couple of the mushrooms from my yard that are enjoying the wet summer. According to AllExperts.com (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Lawns-725/Mushrooms-yard.htm), mushrooms in the grass (by the way, try googling mushrooms and grass together sometime) are not a good thing. Their response: "First off, if you RAKE daily, you'll get the itsy bitsy mushrooms before they get to be softball sized. ... Rake and the problem will be over for the next 24 hrs."
I don't know about you, but raking the yard every day, which is just a field mown short, would come pretty close to the end of my to-do list.

The Market Opens!

Have a taste! Rick Benson offers samples of his salmon salad to a lucky customer.

The Garden Market opened last week in the former Flying Pig building. Rick prepares food at his Burlington waterfront restaurant, Taste, and brings it to Charlotte for us. On Sunday, meat choices included sesame-glazed meatballs, spicy bbq ribs, grilled sausages and aged, organically-raised beef steaks ready for the grill. There were many wonderful choices of vegetables and desserts to with, or instead of, the meat. Stop by on a summer evening; hours are currently 10 to 6, Monday through Saturday, and 10 to 5 on Sundays. Eventually, the market will be open from 7 to 7. Call Rick at 425-5336 to see what's in the cooler today.

Good Neighbors

Team Eating Well, consisting of Jeff Teplitz, Claudine Safar, Jay Pilcer and Lisa Gosselin participated in last weekend's Tour de Cure, raising money for diabetes research. The Charlotte News and the folks at EatingWell Media Group share the office building on Ferry Road and we love to applaud their many accomplishments, both in and out of the office.

Here's what the website says about the Tour (at tour.diabetes.org, choose Vermont): "The 2008 Vermont Tour de Cure will take place on Sunday, June 1 at Dorset Park in South Burlington. Participants choose one of four different routes: 10K, 25K, 50K or 100K. Riders travel through scenic countryside, past picturesque farmland and along the shores of Lake Champlain, enjoying grand vistas of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains.

Sounds like fun! Maybe next year... In the meantime, check out EatingWell's excellent website at eatingwell.com.

Rockin' the street

Congrats to the CCS Stage Band, led by Tony Petriocola (below) for another fine year of entertaining the crowds on Church Street as part of the Jazz Fest.

And thanks to Edd Merritt for the pics!

Selling East Charlotte

Judging from the number of images he sent me, Charlotte News' Contributing Editor Edd Merritt has been living in his truck, eating street food and wearing out his camera. Thanks to Edd's efforts, Charlotte's Web will have new posts and lots of new pictures while I am off wading through the rainy northwest U.S. for a couple of weeks.

Today's pics were taken at the set up for Carrie Spears' inaugural East Charlotte community yard sale staged last weekend at Baptist Corners. We hope it's an annual event where Charlotters come and sit around visiting for the day and then take home each other's stuff until the following year. Thanks to Carrie for organizing the event!

The Mashnee Launches

Congratulations to George Darling and his talented crew of Darling's Boatworks on the successful completion of a 3 1/2-year project of the total restoration of Mashnee, the gorgeous 1902 Buzzards Bay 30' sloop that launched at the Point Bay Marina yesterday. Here's a video of the end of the launch (which did not involve any splash, but instead was a slow, careful process):


The ceremony began with speeches by owner Jan Rozendaal and George, who thanked his crew and the subcontractors and his wife, Pam. Here's a video of a bit of Jan's comments:



There was a large turnout despite the rainy, cold morning. Warmed by the muffins, scones and hot coffee, we all trooped over to the boat after the talks, which rested in her cradle straps of the lift. Jan's wife placed a traditional wreath on the bowsprit and then the Mashnee was gently lowered into the water to the applause of the crowd, where she bobbed magnificently in the breeze.