Loving Garland Green is having our year-end fundraising Yard Sale! 
SATURDAY OCTOBER 6

9 AM TO 3PM 269 Bellwood Drive Garland, Texas 75040

Hope to see you there AND you can buy stuff now--ahead of the sale.

We all know that yard sales are places where items are sold at huge bargains—pennies to the actual dollar value.  Since folks have donated such great stuff this year, we’ve decided to aim our profit margins at “quarters to the dollar” value before the yard sale.

The following are a few of the items we’ve listed so far on Craig’s List. 

If you see something you want to buy, call or text 972-571-4497.  If it’s not sold we can arrange for you to come by and purchase it before the sale.  We’ll update this site throughout the week as new things are added and others are sold.  Already we have sold three items for a total of $340.

Note:  We don’t mail. Our customers must call the number above and make arrangements to pick up.  In rare cases we might deliver locally.

_______________________________________________________________________

This is only the tip of the iceberg of our offerings.  I’ll post more tomorrow on the Loving Garland Green site and probably Monday too so keep coming back. All the proceeds from our sale go to support Loving Garland Green, a local nonprofit organization and the official stewards of the Garland Community Garden.

_______________________________________________________________________

 Pfaltzgraff Dinnerware

We have several selections of Pfaltzgraff dinnerware for sale.  All sets are in like new condition.  You can see photos of these dishes at the Pfaltzgraff website and also compare prices while you are there.

• 12 place settings in like new condition of their Christmas Heirloom Dinnerware for $100
• Four 10-inch dinner plates in their Folk Art design for $20
• Four10-inch Dinner plates in Napoli design $10
• Two 10-inch dinner plates in their Yorktowne design $5
• Four 8-inch dessert plates from their Holiday Spice collection $5

 
____________________________________________________________________________ 

 Vintage, Antiques, Collectibles and the Unusual

Excellent Condition - Whether you use them to make chocolate candies or as decorative art, these two pieces are lovely all by themselves as little works of art.  Sorry to say but we don’t have any details on their history.  Today most molds for candy are made from silicone.  However research on the Internet revealed a tin 8-inch vintage similar bunny chocolate mold for sale for $134

________________________________________________

Antique Tin Tray $20

A touch of Americana - A very very old handmade (8 x 9 inches) tin tray - It’s still in such lovely sturdy shape that it could still be used to carry things but I think it would be better served as a piece of art hung on the wall.  Someone made this years and years ago.  To me I would guess it was made during the Great Depression. The design was made by punching holes in the tin—likely with a hammer and nail.  You can have it for $20 if you are the first to call.  Who knows?  Perhaps it’s older than I think and George Washington made this. You can tell people that if you want to but you didn't hear that advice from me!

 __________________________________________________________________________

Little Cat Ceramic Tea Pot – The top of the chair lifts off and the pot holds exactly one cup so it is functional.  If you have a friend who drinks tea and loves cats, this is the perfect gift because they are almost sure to not have one and most cat lovers like all cat things.  $10.  Perfect condition.  No nicks or chips.

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

The Turkey Deviled Egg Ceramic Holder

This is another piece that makes me smile—a great conversation piece for your Thanksgiving table perhaps.  You can put 12 whole boiled eggs around the turkey or six deviled eggs cut in half.  The turkey is the lid to a little bowl in the center.  I don’t know what you put in the little bowl as my family never dipped their eggs, boiled or deviled into any kind of a sauce.  An edge of the lid has been mended, but very well as I didn’t notice the first time I examined this piece.  It’s yours for $5.

 ________________________________________________________________________

 Antique Royal Bavarian chocolate/coffee/ teapot - $20

_______________________________________________________________

MOLDED CLEAR GLASS and CRYSTAL PLATE Sets

Set of four fun Fish plates – like new condition   $10 - Perfect for Sushi or sandwich plates.  11 x 8 inches - Mint condition.  Not scratched.  

___________________________________________________________

Set of six beautiful 10- inch crystal dinner plates $15  Tree motif These plates are works of art.  Isn’t it lovely!  You deserve these plates.  Mint condition.  Not scratched.  We also have four 7.5-inch dessert/salad plates in the same pattern for $10.

___________________________________________________________________ 

Set of 24 exquisite molded glass dessert plates 7.5 inches Abstract Floral Design

Notice how the design of the petals extends beyond the edge of the plate.  I especially like these because of the little lip on the edge making it the ideal plate for cake and ice cream thus ending the dilemma of serving cake and ice cream in a bowl or on a plate where guest will get ice cream on your sofa or chairs.  Sold in sets of 12.  Each set is $10. Mint condition, not scratched

 ________________________________________________________________

Nothing shouts elegance like a Texas-sized pair of crystal salt and pepper shakers with sterling silver tops. (6.5 inches high with a 3-inch diameter base)  Purchase this pair and make a statement on your holiday table this year.  Only $10

Garland Residents Have a Long History of Creative Problem Solving

Garland has a long history of making and “making do.”  One of our early examples of “making do” is the establishment of the Garland Power and Light Company (GP7L) Since 1923, the City of Garland has been providing electric service to its citizens through GP&L, its locally owned and controlled not-for-profit municipal utility. With more than 69,000 customers, GP&L is the fourth largest municipal utility in Texas and the 42nd largest in the nation. GP&L is recognized nationally as a Reliable Public Power Provider (RP₃^®) and as a Tree Line USA Utility.

In 1923 privately owned electric utilities chose to maximize profits, bypassing small rural communities, such as Garland, to provide electric service to urban centers such as Dallas.  

Garland had a choice 95 years ago of biting the bullet and paying exorbitant rates for our electricity or striking out on our own and devising a better solution.

After the local, privately owned utility refused to give the City of Garland a commercial electric rate to power the water pump at the newly constructed water well, Garland's civic leaders turned to the Fairbanks-Morse Company who sold the city a 100 HP generator on credit, provided the city would build its own electric distribution system and use the revenue to retire the debt.  On April 1, 1923 Garland officially entered the electric and water utility business with 300 customers and a load of 70 kilowatts. 

____________________________________________ 

A spirit of optimism is also deeply ingrained in Garland residents.

As for optimistic, what could be grander that the optimism demonstrated by W.H. Roach, founder of Roach Feed and Seed here in Garland located on the same spot for 85 years at 409 Main Street.  He founded the store in 1933—the beginning of the deepening of the Great Depression in the USA.  It was the year when our banking system was unable to keep up with the panicked withdrawals that customers were making from their bank accounts, rendering banks incapable of providing money many customers had deposited.  Imagine the courage of starting a new business in this financial climate of uncertainty.

________________________________________________ 

I’ve been thinking about our community profile a lot over the past few days.  We have people like Bobby Orozco and his wife Jessica.  In my opinion Bobby has such a rare and exceptional talent as a pianist and composer that he deserves the support not only of our community but the world.  

However, Bobby is not sitting back waiting for the reincarnation of Emperor Joseph II, Mozart’s patron, or recognition from the world.  He and his wife are working with the resources they have.  There is no grand music hall yet available for Bobby’s performances but there is their small home at 1414 Resistol here in Garland.  It is here that Bobby holds house concerts with small audiences of 15 to 25 people.  This however is not enough to make mortgage payments and meet other expenses so Bobby is a substitute music teacher—a good thing since many pupils in the GISD will have exposure to a great talent.  In addition, Bobby composes pieces for special events in people’s lives—weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, etc.

We also have the establishment of the Garland Area MakerSpace underway.  We too are making do with limited resources.  Since January we have relied on the Garland Nicholson Library system as a temporary space for our once a month public meetings.  However, in September we learned that the meeting places in our library are closed indefinitely for remodeling.  Left without even a temporary space we are now meeting in my home at 216 East Kingsbridge Drive here in Garland.

And the Garland Area MakerSpace despite our current limited resources continues to move forward toward establishing a permanent space located near our downtown area. 

Read about a few of the important decisions our board made at our monthly board meeting last night and our upcoming programs on the Garland Area MakerSpace Facebook.

Bobby Orozco's piano in his Garland Texas home, The Marigold House

Here in Garland, Texas we have opportunities to listen to all kinds of live music—from country and blue grass to classical. Last night Charlie and I joined the lucky ones who had the opportunity to listen to Bobby Orozco play his grand piano in the living room of the Orozco’s home (also known as “The Marigold House”) on 1414 Resistol here in Garland, Texas.

Before leaving we joined others in audiences who before us signed a door in the Marigold House.  I feel overwhelmingly lucky to have been able to spend time listening to this great musician and composer perform live in such a small intimate setting.  Tonight there were 15 in the audience—young, old and in between.

___________________________________________________________________________

 
Jessica Orozco and door in their home that has been autographed by audiences who have attended concerts at the Marigold House.

Jessica, Bobby’s wife, is a Spanish teacher who has studied in Spain, painter and gracious hostess.  Her work decorates the walls of the two rooms that are open to the public when they have house concerts.  The audiences who attend these intimate concerts also have a small part to play in decorating the Marigold House since they are asked to sign a door in the Orozco home before leaving.   Although you can’t see it in the photo above, Charlie and I both signed our names before leaving.  The audiences also get to add touches of spray paint to a piano that sits in their front yard.  Charlie and I sprayed some paint on the Orozco's yard art piano before we left for home.

_____________________________________________________

Bobby Orozco, a Garland Texas resident, may not be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but he is likely the one pianist/composer closest to Mozart’s talent living today in the DFW area.   

(Being a modest person, I’m sure Bobby will squawk at my comparison; however it is nonetheless true as I heard it with my own two ears.)

The parallels between the two musicians are very apparent in Orozco’s style and compositions and approach to music.  Like Mozart, Bobby has a gift for absorbing and adapting features of others’ music into his own compositions.  For one example, as a child Mozart met and listened to the music of J. C. Bach. Mozart adapted many features from Bach’s baroque style to his own compositions.  There were many other musicians whose features Mozart absorbed as well.

Bobby, being a member of our “Heinz 57” American culture, has a style that reflects the classical purity of artists such as Mozart as well as that of contemporary artists.  For example, last night he played a composition reminiscent of Floyd Cramer, an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the Nashville sound.  I was not a bit surprised when midway through the concert last night (Saturday September 22, 2018) Louis Moore, a member of the audience, asked Bobby to name his favorite composer and Bobby, with no hesitation, answered, “Mozart.”

Like the prodigy Mozart, Bobby too began playing the piano before the age of five.  During his last ten years Mozart frequently incorporated chromatic harmony into his compositions. [For those who may not know, chromatic harmony is harmony (chords) that uses notes that do not belong to the key the music is in. It’s not an easy composition technique and the execution (playing of the composition) is heavily reliant on timing.  Simply put:  if the timing is slightly off, the result will be cacophony, not music.]  Bobby expertly demonstrated his skill not only in composing, but also in executing this technique when he played one of his many original compositions, “Facing the Sun.”

In this piece the right hand (reserved primarily for treble clef) played in a major key while the left hand played in a minor key at the other end of the piano.  Bobby told us the piece was inspired during a camping trip taken when the heat index was off the charts.  They were surrounded by a field of sunflowers and noticed how the flowers turned to face the sun. When they went to sleep at night the sunflowers faced west.  When they awoke in the morning the sunflowers faced east.  I love knowing where and/or under what circumstance a composer made their compositions as this knowledge adds another depth to my understanding of the sounds of their creation. This knowledge provides a context, a backdrop for enhancing a fuller appreciation of the music and helps to bring the audience a little closer to the experience of the artist.

The piece is beautiful and Bobby played it from his soul with precision.  For me, the music made with his right hand evoked visions of the delicate gentle organic movements of the sunflowers following the sun across the sky.  The left hand created sounds reminiscent of the feelings of the heavy oppressive heat of a Texas summer—creating strikingly different yet harmonious sounds blending together in a feeling delivered on the wings of music instead of words. 

Naturally, with my love of the garden, it’s no surprise that this particular piece with its deep organic connections was my favorite.  The next time I see Bobby I might suggest that he walk around the Garland Community Garden (Naaman School Road and Brand) and see if a new composition might be inspired in our garden setting that so many have described as magical and healing.  Thank you Bobby and Jessica for a great evening.

____________________________________________

Epilogue: Financial Survival

How do classically trained musicians survive financially?  In the days of Mozart musicians often survived under aristocratic patronage.  For example, Emperor Joseph II appointed Mozart as his “chamber composer.”  Today it’s not as easy.  [I know firsthand regarding the difficulty of identifying aristocrats here in Garland in my quest to establish a Makerspace for our community.  It would be great to have a makerspace with a special space for musicians like Bobby.] 

Bobby has a degree in music from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas where he studied under the tutelage of Dr. Richard Dowling, a Steinway Artist, who specializes in chamber and jazz/ragtime piano works.  Bobby graduated in 2011 with a degree in piano. Thus, one of his avenues for income is substitute teaching.  Currently some lucky students in Rowlett have him for a while. 

In addition to substitute teaching, Bobby plays gigs for various types of business openings and events.  Then there are his house concerts such as the one last night, which brings in a whooping $7 a head, the current price of tickets to the Marigold House.  Also through his company, Sailing West Music, Bobby composes and plays music for weddings and other special events.  And finally he sells beautiful cotton T-shirts that feature silk-screened music sheets with his compositions.

Bobby Orozco is definitely a musician worth supporting.

facebook.com/marigoldhousegarland

sailingwestmusic.com

972-213-7398

bobby.orozco@sailingwestmusic.com

Garland Area MakerSpace Booth

I spent all day yesterday (Saturday September 15) amongst my favorite people—makers at the Garland MarketPlace, a bimonthly event organized by Kirk Lovett. It was a beautiful sunshine day and the Garland Area Makerspace had our second booth there.

If you make things that you also like to sell, be sure to contact Kirk to schedule a spot for the first and third Saturdays of October—a great month to sell things as people are already starting to think about purchasing gifts for the holidays. (Kirk.Eventive@Live.Com or 469-275-9616).

_____________________________________________________________________

We had a great space right on Main Street.  People driving down Main could see our sign as they approached the square.  If you squint, you can see some of the things we had for sale:  to the left on the ground were those great shopping bags made from recycle feed sacks we obtain just down the street on Main from our local Roach Feed and Seed; a sign advertising our next event (Rock Painting) on October 13 at 7PM at 216 Each Kingsbridge; beautiful paper mache sculptures made by Carol Currie; dazzling ceiling fan pulls by Janell Jenkins: and to the far right you’ll see the GAM Maker Girl.  On the other side that you can’t see we had a table where we showed kids and their parents how to make tea light lanterns from soda cans and another table where we showed them how to make plarn (plastic yarn) from recycled plastic grocery sacks.  One of our missions is to make parents and grandparents into Maker heroes by showing them how to make things with the kids in their lives.  Even though our main goal was to share knowledge with the community about makerspaces, we still made $65 at this event.

Some of the Vendor Scenes from the September Garland MarketPlace

Vendors at the Garland MarketPlace are great for business.  They bring visitors to the downtown square who otherwise might not be down there on a particular day.  For example, I'm fairly certain that none of the five makers who were in charge of our booth would have been downtown yesterday.  Yet there we were, and as a group we spent over $100 downtown at local merchants and at the booths of the vendors.  Remember, that's only five people and there were a lot more people than that mingling about the square yesterday.  A lesson learned here perhaps is to be nice to makers because we are GREAT for the local economy.

That's another great thing about the Garland MarketPlace and the Garland Area Makerspace. They are both great opportunities to make connections that matter. Ms. Leeson represents artists and craft makers on a consignment basis. She was selling some of the works of her clients at the Garland MarketPlace.  Note:  Bellona was a Roman goddess of War and a consort of the war god Mars—a fact I did not know until I asked Brianne if the name of her company had a special significance.

Kella, a multitalented maker, had a booth right next to the Garland Area Makerspace.  Kella writes children’s books under the pen name of Judy Shea; sells some of her great nature photographs; makes lovely teacup and saucer bird feeders.

An interesting point about DeWayne and Suzanne is they are both great teachers to children in their lives regarding the value of making your way by being creative and inventing your own enterprise.  DeWayne's son is usually with him at his vegetable and fruit stand (This Saturday, however, he was playing in a Soccer game).  Suzanne's granddaughter who obviously admires and loves her Granny is always by her side.

Jimmy and his family make lovely, original wall hangings and other decorative art for the home.  As for Tamales over Texas.  They can't be beat!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

More Scenes with People and Maker Things at the Garland MarketPlace

WHO CAME?

Well, we didn't have royalty and we didn't have any representatives from our local City Council that I saw, but we did have a former maker Mayor and even another who is hoping to be elected as Mayor in 2019--Daniel Carrillo.  One thing you can say for the both of them:  They each recognize and honor the importance of makers to their local community.  Doug, a maker in his own right and also an talented photographer reminded us of the "Eyes of Garland" exhibit at our Local Granville Arts Center.  Those who came to the MarketPlace also got to meet Daniel Carrillo an Hispanic who may be throwing his hat in the ring for Mayor in the 2019 race. Daniel was suggesting with some flyers he was handing out that he would like to help guide Garland in the right direction by being our Mayor in 2019.

Former Mayor Douglas Athas, a great supporter of makers, shown above looking rested, healthy and fit after a few months of early retirement from City government.  To the left in the background is John Jones one of several technophile members of the Garland Area Makerspace.  Jonsey, a talented graphic artist and website designer (a guy who knows so much about computers that he repairs them too) recently taught an Introduction to PhotoShop class at our local Garland downtown library for our September Garland Area MakerSpace Meeting--Speaking of which:  Does anyone have a lot or building that you would like to donate to us for a makerspace?

AND WHAT IS THIS?

The photo below is of Daniel Carrillo who is at least thinking about the possibility of becoming Garland's next Mayor in 2019 as he was handing out flyers requesting support.  I know nothing about Mr. Carrillo beyond the fact that he is Hispanic and he appears to understand the importance of makers to their local economy as he was in attendance at the Garland MarketPlace yesterday.