Cat’s Cradle Wish List

Photo from Cat's Cradle Web Site

The adoption center of Cat’s Cradle is now open in the Keezell Building – and as of yesterday, eight kitties had already found new homes.

Stop by and visit with the little furballs at 124 S. Main Street. Hours are 11 to 7 Monday through Friday, 11 to 5 on weekends.

Want to help the non-profit feline spay/neuter and rescue organization? You can make donations at the shop, or here’s a list of items on their wish list:

JMU Students Market Downtown Businesses Online

Two teams of marketing students from JMU’s College of Business partnered with downtown businesses to compete in the 2009 Google Online Marketing Challenge.

The team of Jessica Jacklin (team captain), Stephanie Scheper and Nicole Thornton worked with with James McHone Jewelry. Nancy Woody (team captain), Kye Swenson and Tim Seher partnered with Gentry Photography.

Using a $200 voucher from Google, the teams designed and executed a three-week AdWords campaign for each business. Their results netted them a spot in the top 50 of some 2,100 teams from 57 countries. Another JMU team was named the winner of the Americas region.

New Window Art for One Court Square

Dear Eddie: I notice several new posters on buildings around downtown and new art on the One Court Square building. Can you tell me more about these projects and how they came about?

Blue and gold signs indicate businesses opening soon

From time to time Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance receives suggestions from downtown business people or the general public that can lead to positive changes. Barton Mercer, co-owner of Madison Interiors, commented that occasionally visitors to downtown see vacant buildings and assume there are no plans for occupancy. This led to HDR producing five attractive blue and gold signs announcing the plans for five new businesses to fill existing downtown space. Look for signs in the windows of Union Station, Pennybackers, Beyond, Polished*, and Digital Phenom, with additional signs for new businesses expected to be added soon.

Summer Specials from The Nest

If you, any of your friends, co-workers, or relatives are looking for a family photographer, look no further than Rebekah Girvan of The Nest. Summer prices are available until the end of August for families in Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Charlottesville. Plus, prior customers who refer a friend are eligible to receive a free print package.

Visit Rebekah Girvan’s blog to learn more about the summer photo special.

Just for kicks, here are some photos she’s taken of some downtown business owners (yes, there is an Eddie photo somewhere, but luckil—I mean unfortunately, I couldn’t find it).

Come Out to FundFest Tonight!

Assuming the rain holds out, tonight is the night when Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance hosts FundFest. Everyone come out to Liberty Street from 5:30 to 8pm!

In case you’re not familiar, FundFest takes place on Wednesdays in the grassy area near the Farmers’ Market pavilion. For $1, you get to hear live music from bands all over the area, and beer and pizza are also for sale. The proceeds from the entire summer are split among area charities. There’s a lottery at the beginning of the season hosted at Joshua Wilton House to determine which charities may participate. HDR was fortunate to have its name drawn again this year. As this week’s host, our volunteers are doing the set up/tear down, serving the food, and handling trash duty.

Downtown’s All A-Twitter

Here’s a running list of downtown-related businesses and organizations now using Twitter:

Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance: DowntownHburg
HDR’s Twitter feed is the best way to stay informed or get reminders of events. Miss the antique milk truck exhibit? Got to Court Square Friday only to find out Fridays on the Square was moved to the Turner Pavilion? You wouldn’t have if you were following us on Twitter.

Arts Council of the Valley: HarrisonburgArt
Keep up-to-date on arts related news and events downtown, including gallery exhibits, movies and live concerts, and First Fridays.

Big Brothers Big Sisters: BBBSHR
The Harrisonburg branch of this non-profit located near on High Street is a great source for family-friendly events both downtown and beyond. Also interesting RTs on articles related to child development.

Blue Nile Ethiopian Cuisine: The_Blue_Nile
All locals in-the-know have Blue Nile near the top of the list of nighttime haunts, or at least they should. Unfortunately, their Twitter feed hasn’t had an update for months, but used more regularly, this would be a great place for finding info on upcoming shows.

Blue Ridge Design Studio: blueridgedesign
Randall Seitz, co-owner of this downtown architect firm, has a Twitter page that is a bit difficult to describe…much like Twitter itself. Find photos, interesting articles (some even related to architecture!) and a few random musings in the mix.

By the Side of the Road B&B: HburgVaBandB
By the Side of the Road is one of Harrisonburg’s three B&Bs, all located near downtown. Owner Janice Fitzgerald keeps her page fed with room specials tied to local events, but also tweets about the day to day trials and joys of owning a bed and breakfast.

Chaz Evans-Haywood: ClerkChaz
Follow the Rockingham County Clerk of Court as he tweets from his office in the Court House. It’s actually more interesting than it sounds; Chaz lives a busy life, from traveling to Peru to volunteer in an orphanage to kissing a cow in the name of cancer research.

Daily News-Record: DNRonline
Kudos for the local paper for joining Twitter! Though so far the DNR is only re-tweeting content from its web page, breaking news is also posted here, so there’s a possibility you may see breaking headlines first on Twitter before you check DNRonline.com.

DIGICO: ShootPostDesign
The owners of this video production company tweet about cool projects they are working on, downtown sights from their vantage point on E. Market Street, and construction updates on their future site on Water Street, next door to the Free Clinic.

The Gaines Group: G2Architecture
Architecture and design firm The Gaines Group “gets” Twitter in a way that 98% of other Twitter-ers don’t. RTs of downtown news, words of wisdom, articles on green building (the company’s specialty), and the occasional tweet on Twitter’s most fundamental question, “what are you doing?” are all there for you to follow.

hburgnews: hburgnews
The micro-blog of hburgnews, the forum for news and all things Harrisonburg, often features downtown happenings, observations, and recaps of business from the city municipal building (which is of course located downtown).

Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint: JackBrownsJoint
Downtown’s newest restaurant stays jam packed almost all the time, thanks to its intimate size, reasonable prices and good food. Its tweets are much like their burgers: meaty and to the point.

Joshua Wilton House: WiltonHouse
Chef Mark Newsome’s decision to tweet from the Wilton House kitchen is what inspired this blog post. Anyone who has ever wanted to get into the mind of a chef in an upscale restaurant, or anyone who loves gourmet food from fresh ingredients, should definitely become a follower.

Kai Degner: KaiDegner
Harrisonburg’s young major is undoubtedly the most plugged-in of all time. He ran on a pro-downtown platform, and his tweets show it.

Kline’s Dairy Bar: Klines_DairyBar
Never miss another weekly flavor forecast from Kline’s! Need we say more? I think not.

Rosetta Stone: rosettastone
Rosetta Stone is practically a household name in the US, so it follows that they get way more action on their Twitter page than anyone else on this list. The company stationed in downtown Harrisonburg uses their account to respond to fans and product users from around the nation (turns out #jason_mraz is using their software to learn Spanish).

Sancar Flats/Liskey Building: SJDonuts
SJDonuts is the business name of the developer working to restore the Sancar building on West Rock and the Liskey building on South Main (the red building that houses the Harrisonburg Beauty School). It’s a personal Twitter account, but one that includes construction pictures from inside the buildings and peaks of the completed rental units.

Travel Counsellors: TCItravel
Yes, that is an acceptable spelling variant of “counselors.” I think it’s British. The TCI folks (in a new location on West Market Street) are so well travelled, it makes sense they would bring some European flair to the party. Their Twitter updates include their latest special package deals and rates, travel advice, and general greetings to their followers.

WHSV-TV3: WHSVnews
Much easier to follow than TV-3’s web page, a tweet from an hour ago from the station located off Court Square involved the increasing popularity of farmers markets. We like that.

The Yellow Button: TheYellowButton
What happens when we say the following: Shoes! Designer Handbags! Sales! Did your heart just skip a beat? Do the words “Lucky” and “Free People” conjure up images of fabulous fabrics and stylish clothes rather than leprechauns and the Revolutionary War? If so, get thee to The Yellow Button, re-tweeting entries from their blog on a regular basis.

Ann Cheeks at Darrin-McHone Gallery in August

The Arts Council of the Valley presents the paintings of Ann Cheeks at the Darrin-McHone Gallery in the Smith House. In coordination with the First Fridays Downtown, Cheeks’ show opens August 7th from 5-7pm. There will complimentary food and beverages for the public to enjoy while exploring the landscape, seascape and forest paintings. The pleasant use of color and texture encourages the viewer to simply look and appreciate the beauty in each piece.

The subject matter for Cheeks’ body of work is overlooked places and moments in nature. Cheeks explains that the places which she chooses to paint “calm and bring me back to what is real and important in the world”. The tranquil and often cathartic images reflect the elegance in nature and the power of existence itself. Moved by “the heat of the sun, the roar of the ocean, and the smell of the earth,” Cheeks creates paintings of places where one can “just be”. Although her subject matter may be simple, her method is surely not simplistic.

The large-scale paintings are mixed media, including acrylic, fabric and pastel. Cheeks’ technique for her paintings speaks to her personal experience and her past. Originally, Cheeks created traditional quilts but felt that the process for patchwork, appliqué and quilting stitches not only took too long but also resulted in pieces that were too stiff. She began to experiment, leading to the development of the technique she currently uses. In the body of work at the Smith House, the paintings are created by first making a loose painting on stretched canvas. Next she proceeds to add fabric to the foreground and finishes by adding in details with pastels. The variety of media adds interest to each painting as the viewer can observe the texture and depth in her work.

Cheeks, a Charlottesville resident, has a variety of experiences, both professional and personal, that have developed her skills and interests. After receiving her B.F.A. at Virginia Commonwealth University, she worked in Washington D.C. for a few years as a graphic designer. Cheeks then transitioned to mainly working as a freelance designer. Cheeks returned to her art and began teaching art to others after she took a pause while raising her two sons. Her work has been in solo and group exhibitions in The Nature Gallery at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, The Women’s Institute and Gallery in New Harmony, Indiana and Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia. The National Institutes of Health, University of Virginia Cancer Center and the Martha Jefferson Hospital Women’s Center have all purchased work by Cheeks.  The restful and graceful quality of her paintings is evidenced in the buying of work by these health centers that seek to bring a sense of repose to their patients.

As a member of the McGuffey Art Center, Cheeks has served with this co-operative art center on the executive committee. She coordinated community outreach projects, such as “Planet Art” and “the Holiday Open House.” Cheeks also volunteered during the past year and a half on “Forest Discoveries”, an intense program that joined art and science for two Boys & Girls Clubs, culminating in a professional show at the McGuffey Art Center. Recently Cheeks has returned to her graphic design background as the need for clear communication grows. Apparent in her life of service, she has worked to make art accessible to many people. The Arts Council of the Valley is pleased to be showing her paintings and supporting the work of this community-oriented artist.

The Arts Council of the Valley’s monthly exhibitions are open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.  For more information, please visit www.ValleyArts.org or call 540-801-8779.

The Arts Council of the Valley presents the paintings of Ann Cheeks at the Darrin-McHone Gallery in the Smith House at 311 South Main Street. In coordination with the First Fridays Downtown, Cheeks’ show opens August 7th from 5-7pm. There will complimentary food and beverages for the public to enjoy while exploring the landscape, seascape and forest paintings. The pleasant use of color and texture encourages the viewer to simply look and appreciate the beauty in each piece.

Random Glen’s Fair Price Vid

Who knows how anyone finds these things…

This video was put together by an employee of Harrisonburg’s most unusual store and I thought it was very “Glen’s,” from the campy music to the bizarre puppets amid a pile of clutter. Enjoy!

Can view the video? Click here.

Micro Loans, Grants for Downtown Businesses

As we all know, this has been a challenging year for many businesses due to the economic slowdown. Some businesses are finding they need to make changes in order to survive and thrive, and others have learned that startup or operating financing is difficult to find. To help with this, Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance is offering a micro loan and a facade enhancement grant program to downtown businesses:

Starting in July, HDR is partnering with Enterprise Development Group of Arlington to accept micro loan applications for up to $35,000 for new or existing businesses. Businesses must have five or fewer employees, have a written business plan, and be located in the downtown district as defined by Virginia Main Street.

Shenandoah Yoga Celebrates Anniversary with Free Guest Passes

This month, Shenandoah Yoga celebrates its anniversary.  In honor of the occasion, during the months of July and August, Shenandoah Yoga will be giving away free guest passes with each purchased multi-level class pass (one for a 4X or two for an 8X). We hope you’ll enjoy the chance to share yoga with your friends, family, colleagues whether local or visiting you from afar this summer.

Congratulations to all Shenandoah Yoga students who participated in the mountain bike and/or road stages of this year’s Tour de ‘Burg over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.  It was great to see everyone out there.  Come on out to class for some post-Tour recovery yoga!

The next Prenatal Yoga Classes will be held on Tuesdays July 7 and July 28 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Pregnant women at all stages of pregnancy are welcome to the prenatal class. Pre-registration is required by Monday, July 6 & July 27 (respectively). Furthermore, current & new prenatal yoga students are invited to attend any Level I class – simply let your instructor (who has received special training to teach in prenatal yoga) know you’re pregnant so appropriate practice modifications can be given.

Shenandoah Yoga hosted a free Community Yoga Class on Saturday, June 20 to celebrate the summer solstice with some yoga.  Thanks to those who attended.

Summertime means travel season for many of us, including your instructors. Please watch the website for all the latest schedule updates. Shenandoah Yoga’s ongoing class schedule is listed below. In general classes are most strongly influenced by the style of Vinyasa yoga with elements of Iyengar and Ashtanga.

Monday, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM – Level I

Monday, 7:15 PM – 8:45 PM – Level II+/III (no class 7/20)

Tuesday, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM – Prenatal Yoga* (on 7/7 & 7/28)

Tuesday, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM – Level II (TBD next date in August)

Thursday, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM – Level I (no class 7/16)

Thursday, 7:15 PM – 8:45 PM – Level II (no class 7/16)

Sunday, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM – Gentle Yoga (no class 7/12)

Drop-ins are welcome on a first-come, first-served basis for all Level I, II, III, Gentle Yoga and Multi-Level Yoga classes. Feel free to call or email with any questions about which level class is appropriate for you.

* Pre-registration is required for the Prenatal classes.

If you interested in yoga therapy at Shenandoah Yoga, read more on the website.

Logistical reminder: We encourage everyone to walk or ride their bikes to class downtown, but there is also plenty of free car parking nearby. If you drive, please park in the downtown garage accessible from Water and Bruce Streets. There are 2 hour, 3 hour and 10 hour spots available on the upper and lower levels.

If you forget this information, check the website:  www.shenandoahyoga.com. Hope to see you in a class soon!

This month, Shenandoah Yoga celebrates its anniversary.  In honor of the occasion, during the months of July and August, Shenandoah Yoga will be giving away free guest passes with each purchased multi-level class pass (one for a 4X or two for an 8X). We hope you’ll enjoy the chance to share yoga with your friends, family, colleagues whether local or visiting you from afar this summer.

Shenandoah Yoga’s ongoing class schedule is listed below. In general classes are most strongly influenced by the style of Vinyasa yoga with elements of Iyengar and Ashtanga.