Boxing History @ The Decatur Library

Learn all about Jack Johnson and the Fight of the Century!
Photo courtesy of http://praisecleveland.com
Date: Saturday, July 10 2010, 2:00PM—3:30PM
Location: Decatur Library
215 Sycamore St.
Decatur, GA
More info call 404-370-3070



Celebrate the 100th anniversary of Jack Johnson's victory over Jim Jeffries with Mike Glenn. The former NBA basketball player, author, rare book collector, TV analyst and African-American memorabilia enthusiast will talk about the significance of the boxing match and display many pictures, newspaper articles, and other items highlighting the fight. Included is a demonstration with Xavier "Bad Pads" Biggs of the Decatur Boxing Club.
Funding provided by Friends of the Decatur Library.
http://www.dekalblibrary.org

Book Sale @ The Decatur Library this Saturday May 29, 2010

The Friends of the Decatur Library Book Sale
Saturday May 29, 2010
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Front Lawn - Rain or Shine

Decatur Library
215 Sycamore Street
Decatur, Ga. 30038
404-370-3070

The Decatur Library wants you to design a Library Card

For the first time ever, DeKalb County Public Library will use designs from DeKalb County residents for its library cards. The Library is holding a Design-a-Library-Card art contest this spring and summer, with the winning designs to be featured on limited edition library cards. The new cards will be available to the public beginning in September 2010. September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month.

Designs will be accepted from DeKalb residents between Tuesday, April 13 and Tuesday, June 1, 2010 in three age groups—children (5-12 years old), teens (13-17) and adults (18 and older). Click here for more information.

DeKalb County Public Library
215 Sycamore Street
Decatur, Georgia 30030
404-370-8450

Toco Hill library’s green remodeling series March 23rd

The last seminar in the Toco Hill library’s green remodeling series

Creating a Healthy Home: Tuesday, March 23rd @ 6:30PM @ the Toco Hill Avis Williams library in Decatur. Learn how to improve the indoor air quality of your home and protect your family from indoor pollutants like gases, chemicals, radon, and carbon monoxide. Presented by Joe Thomas and Steve Herzlieb, Home Performance Consultants. More info can be found at http://renewalsystemsolutions.com/whatsnew.php.

Have a good one,

Kelly Cheek

Marketing Manager
Renewal Design-Build

t. 404-378-6962
f. 404-378-6963

124 S. Columbia Dr., Decatur, GA 30030

Kelly@RenewalDesignBuild.com

http://www.RenewalDesignBuild.com

Toco Hill ­ Avis G. Williams Library Offering Free Seminar Series in March

Toco Hill ­ Avis G. Williams Library Offering Free Seminar Series in March

This March, the Toco Hill ­ Avis G. Williams Library in Decatur will host a free seminar series focused on green remodeling. Topics discussed will be: The Homeowner¹s Guide to Green Remodeling, Show Me the Money:Why Green makes Sense for Your Wallet, and Creating a Healthy Home. The library is even featuring local green experts as speakers. Joe Thomas and Steve Herzlieb, Home Performance Consultants for Renewal System Solutions, will be speaking from their extensive experiences with green renovations. Sister company Renewal Design-Build is an EarthCraft Renovator of the Year and has been featured on the Discovery Network and HGTV. The seminar series was originally given at the Decatur Library.

The date and description of each seminar are as follows:

· Tuesday, March 16, 6:30PM: Show Me the Money: Why Green Makes Sense for Your Wallet
This seminar will discuss how certain green improvements to your home will increase energy efficiency and save you money. In addition, you will learn how the most recent green tax credits and rebates will put even more money in your pocket.

· Tuesday, March 23, 6:30PM: Creating a Healthy Home
Recent EPA studies have shown that the air in your home may be even more harmful than the air outside. In this seminar, you¹ll learn how to improve the indoor air quality of your home and protect your family from indoor air pollutants like gases, chemicals, pests, radon, and carbon monoxide.

Renewal System Solutions, 124 S. Columbia Dr. in Decatur, is part of the Home Performance w/ENERGY STAR program. They uncover and fix home energy loss problems and safety hazards.

For more information, call 404.378.6962 or visit the DeKalb County Public Library website at http://www.dekalblibrary.org/branches/toco-hill.html. The library is located at 1282 McConnell Drive, Decatur 30033.

Kelly Cheek

Marketing Manager
Renewal Design-Build

t. 404-378-6962
f. 404-378-6963

124 S. Columbia Dr., Decatur, GA 30030

Kelly@RenewalDesignBuild.com

http://www.RenewalDesignBuild.com

Book Sale @ The Decatur Library this Saturday 2-27-10

Book Sale: Friends of the Decatur Library :: Book Sales
Family (All Ages)
9:00AM—4:00PM at Decatur
Lower level of the Decatur Library.

DeKalb County Public Library
215 Sycamore Street
Decatur, Georgia 30030
404-370-8450

Used book sale at Decatur library

By April Hunt

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Friends of the Decatur Library will host a large used book sale later this month.

Hardcovers, paperbacks and other media items will be available at the sale, with prices ranging from 50 cents to $4. Money raised will be used for various programs at the library, the main branch for the DeKalb County system.

The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 27 on the lower level of the library on Sycamore Street.

For additional information about the sale or other branch book sales, visit the system Web site at www.dekalblibrary.org.

ajc

Saturday’s seminar is last in a green remodeling series hosted by the Decatur Library.

Kelly Cheek of Renewal Design-Build sends this in.


Make Your Home “Green”
Learn to remodel your home so it is more
energy efficient and environmentally friendly.




Saturday, November 14, 10:00 a.m.

Creating a Healthy Home: Learn how to improve the indoor air

quality of your home and protect your family from indoor pollutants like gases, chemicals, radon, and carbon monoxide.



Presented by Peter Michelson, CEO, of local Renewal Design-Build

and Joe Thomas, certified Home Performance Consultant for

Renewal System Solutions.

Decatur Library
215 Sycamore Street
Decatur, GA 30030
404/370-3070

For more information, visit DekalbLibrary.org or
RenewalDesignBuild.com.

Kelly Cheek

Marketing Manager
Renewal Design-Build

t. 404-378-6962
f. 404-378-6963

124 S. Columbia Dr., Decatur, GA 30030
Kelly@RenewalDesignBuild.com
http://www.RenewalDesignBuild.com

Free Green Seminar Series Continues @ Decatur Library

Interested in green renovation?

Kelly Cheek sends this in:




Free Green Seminar Series Continues @ Decatur Library

Learn how to make your home healthy, comfortable, & energy efficient



Saturday, October 17, 10:00AM: Show Me the Money: Why Green Makes Sense for Your Wallet

This seminar will discuss how certain green improvements to your home will increase energy efficiency and save you money.

In addition, you will learn how the most recent green tax credits and rebates will put even more money in your pocket.



Presented by Peter Michelson, CEO of Renewal Design-Build, and certified home performance consultant Joe Thomas of Renewal's sister company, Renewal System Solutions.


Visit RenewalDesignBuild.com/seminars.php for more information.


Hope you’re having a great week!





Kelly Cheek

Marketing Manager
Renewal Design-Build


t. 404-378-6962
f. 404-378-6963

124 S. Columbia Dr., Decatur, GA 30030
Kelly@RenewalDesignBuild.com
http://www.RenewalDesignBuild.com

Books, Bags, Bollywood, Baubles, Bangles ... @ Mingei World Arts

New Reading Figures from La Union!

La Union Library project featured in AJC article!

Yes-- we have new reading figures, but they are going fast!

The Atlanta Journal Constitution featured the story of our reading figures and La Union on Monday, August 31, and the reposnse has been tremendous.

Read the article here. These carvings of animals, mermaids and angels with books that benefit the library we helped open last summer in one of our favorite artisan villages are leaving almost as quickly as we can unpack them-- but never fear! Ellen and Ann are headed back to Mexico on September 18 for more. And remember-- you can order readers especially for you. Want to give Uncle Whit a donkey reading a detective novel? Does your sister need a cat reading Jane Austen? We can do that. Please let us know your deepest desires and we'll see what we can do for you. Or-- watch your email to learn when the newest figures are available.
----------------------------------------------------

Decatur Banner Bags are here!

In early August, the Decatur City Commission voted to donate their used festival banners to another Mingei project-- banner bags! These eco-friendly totes are made from banners that have flown over Decatur during the Olympics, the Millenium celebrations and more. Maria Cristina Giraldo Echeverria (pictured with the bags above), a refugee from Colombia resettled by the International Rescue Committee with a great talent for sewing and design, works her magic to transform the banners. She just brought in a stack of these one-of-a-kind totes. Come on in and see! $35 each

----------------------------------------------------------
Remember
Night Life of Trees?

The most popular book we have ever carried, the fabulous hand-made Night Life of Trees
featuring Gond tribal artists from India,
looks to be on its way back to us by October! We have a list of people waiting for copies, and if you'd like to be added to the list, please let us know so we can order accordingly!
In the meantime, we have two other wonderful titles by Tara Books in India, I Like Cats and The Flight of the Mermaid. They are certainly worth a look while you are waiting !
-------------------------------------------------------------

Bollywood posters are back

Orginal, vintage posters from Bollywood are back at Mingei.
We have a great collection from our spring buying trip to India.

$40 each

Come see us soon--
and remember to let us know any special requests for Mexico!
Mingei will be open while we are shopping in Mexico, September 18- 29.

Ellen and Ann
Mingei World Arts
427 Church Street
Decatur, Georgia 30030

Free Seminar at The Decatur Library Sept 8th @ 7PM

This fall, Renewal and the Decatur Library are hosting free seminar series on green remodeling. The first seminar is next Tuesday, Sept. 8th at 7PM.


September 1, 2009 - This fall, the Decatur Library will host a free seminar series focused on green remodeling. Topics discussed will be: The Homeowner’s Guide to Green Remodeling, Show Me the Money:Why Green makes Sense for Your Wallet, and Creating a Healthy Home. The library is even featuring local green experts as speakers. Peter Michelson, CEO of Decatur’s Renewal Design-Build, and Joe Thomas, certified Home Performance Consultant for Renewal System Solutions, will be speaking from their extensive experience with green renovations. Renewal Design-Build is an EarthCraft Renovator of the Year and was even featured on a green remodeling show last summer. “Our hope is that this series will meet the needs of Decatur and Atlanta homeowners, who are interested in going green but may not know where to begin,” says Karen Skellie, coordinator for the Library. “By bringing in green experts who are also local residents, we feel as if the community will really benefit from the speakers’ knowledge on greening homes that are similar to their own.”


The date and description of each seminar are as follows:



· Tuesday, September 8, 7:00PM: The Homeowner’s Guide to Green Remodeling

Thinking of going green but don’t know where to begin? This seminar will discuss the typical Decatur home’s inefficiencies, some possible solutions, and how incorporating “green” into your home will benefit your wallet, health, and peace of mind.



· Saturday, October 17, 10:00AM: Show Me the Money:Why Green Makes Sense for Your Wallet

This seminar will discuss how certain green improvements to your home will increase energy efficiency and save you money. In addition, you will learn how the most recent green tax credits and rebates will put even more money in your pocket.



· Saturday, November 14, 10:00AM: Creating a Healthy Home

Recent EPA studies have shown that the air in your home may be even more harmful than the air outside. In this seminar, you’ll learn how to improve the indoor air quality of your home and protect your family from indoor air pollutants like gases, chemicals, pests, radon, and carbon monoxide.


Renewal Design-Build, 124 S. Columbia Dr. in Decatur, an EarthCraft Renovator of the Year, provides complete solutions for renovations, additions, kitchens, baths, porches, decks, small projects and repairs.


For more information, call 404.378.6962 or visit the Decatur Library’s website at www.dekalblibrary.org/branches/decatur.html.


Kelly Cheek

Marketing Manager
Renewal Design-Build
124 S. Columbia Dr., Decatur, GA 30030
t. 404-378-6962
f. 404-378-6963

Kelly@RenewalDesignBuild.com
http://www.RenewalDesignBuild.com

Captain Healthy and Safety Dog an Original Puppet Show @ Decatur Library

Captain Healthy and Safety Dog

Safety DogDeKalb County Public Library and the Center for Puppetry Arts, in conjunction with the DeKalb County Board of Health, are teaming up on a project aimed at teaching children about a very important topic—health and safety. This fall, the organizations are presenting a special free puppet show, called “Captain Healthy and Safety Dog,” that will entertain school-aged children while telling them about things they can do to live a safe and healthy life.
Read the full press release including the schedule for upcoming shows.

Saturday. Sept. 12, 2009
First Show 10:30 AM
Second Show 1:00 PM
Location: Decatur Library- 215 Sycamore Street
Decatur, Georgia 30030

NOTE: Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis

Angela Easterling Free Show at The Decatur Library

click on image for more info. on Angela Easterling

The Last Staycation Sunday in 2009!

Last Staycation Sunday on Church.
First chance to see many new things!


Sunday, August 9
1-4pm
The last Staycation Sunday in 2009!

Come on over to Church Street this next Sunday to Get Local. Each of the seven participating businesses on the block will be featuring local suppliers, offering samples and special sales, and door prizes at the end of the day!

.

Detail of an old Indian trunk.
And, yes, if you haven't seen the new arrivals from India-- get on in here!

What's happening on the street?

Leon's Full Service: instant portraits drawn for $40
Taste: demo and samples of loose leaf organic teas
Hoopla: shoe trunk show with Pedipeds
Seen Gallery: a variety of visiting artists
Javamonkey: refreshing granita and yummy cookie samples

And a special treat! Welcome The Yogurt Tap! Right next door to Mingei, the Yogurt Tap opens this weekend, offering organic, local yogurt with a variety of toppings for 39 cents an ounce! FREE SAMPLES on Sunday!

Who will Mingei be featuring?

sara beads yellowsara beads

Sararabrazil
Sara Brandon, anthropology prof, jewelry designer and importer will be showing off her gorgeous, earthy Brazilian designs. And she's clearing out old stock and putting it on sale! Sara's work has quite a following at our store. Here's a chance to come and meet her!

denise wood

Denise DiSharoon
Denise's jewelry is inspired by organic forms found throughout the natural world and by the most basic, elemental shapes. The pieces pictured above are made from recycled sterling silver and walnut from a naturally felled tree in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood. She'll also be showing her lotus designs, which were a big hit at Mingei last November.
Treasures from the Sea

Daryn KaganThere can be no more unique gift. We have just received these antique celadon rice bowls, recovered last year from the wreckage of a Chinese junk that went down in 1850 off the coast of Vietnam. These bowls, used as ballast in the ship, were recovered just last year. They are not food safe, but they sure are gorgeous!

Bags to carry the end of summer with you
rivierabagdetail
These beautiful cotton bags, made by a woman's co-op in South India, are woven in an assortment of colored stripes and made into a variety of sizes, from totes to coin purses. These are the perfect bags to tote to the pool, the beach, the market, the library, or work! They are in a heap right inside our front door, so come on in and dig in!

In the News

Are you flying Airtran this month? We are mentioned in the flight magazine!

Check here online to read an article about finding global goods in metro Atlanta.

Mingei Book Club
Tuesday , August 11, 7:30pm

Unbowed

This month, we are reading Unbowed, by Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner

What's next? Books available at Mingei

September: Geography of Bliss, by Eric Weiner
October : Bury Me Standing, by Isabel Fonseca, the story of the Romany people, known as gypsies
November: Red Azalea, by Anchee Min, a Cultural Revolution memoir from China

And mark your calendars for the Decatur Book Festival, Labor Day weekend!
Visit their website to make your plans!

Looking forward to your visit in August!



Sincerely,

Ellen and Ann
Mingei World Arts
427 Church Street
Decatur, Georgia 30030

Decatur's First Annual Greenfest!

Mingei World Arts sent this in.




Recycled Life
This Oscar nominated short documentary will be screened at the Decatur Library this Thursday evening, a preliminary event for the Green Fest. The film, created by producer Mike Glad and director Leslie Iwerks, tells the story of the families living on the Guatemala City garbage dump, and the organization, Safe Passage, that created a school for the children there. The screenings will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Safe Passage representatives and experts on related environmental issues.

Join us this week for Decatur's first annual Green Fest!

Saturday, May 2
3 pm
On Decatur Square

Live music
Green vendors
(Look for Mingei!)
Organic food
Rain barrel auction-- and more!


10% of Mingei's booth sales to benefit Safe Passage
(see below!)

For more on the Green Fest, click here.

Dear Mingei friends,

The pollen has dropped and the thermometer has risen and it is spring in Decatur! Please remember us as you shop for gifts and cards for Mother's Day, graduations, spring weddings and showers. We are full of goodies and more is coming almost every day!

Mark your calendars now, too, for the Decatur Arts Festival on Memorial Day weekend. Our featured Art Walk artist for Friday, May 22 is Sally Wylde, Decatur artist and gardener extraordinaire! More on that as we get closer--

Come out and enjoy spring in Decatur. Lunch at Leon's Full Service begins May 8!

Thanks for your support!

Ellen and Ann
Mingei World Arts

Thursday, April 30, from 7:30-9:30pm. Doors open at 7pm.
Where: Decatur Library Auditorium, Georgia Center for the Book at DeKalb County Public Library, 215 Sycamore Street, Decatur, GA.
Details: We'll screen Recycled Life, the Oscar-nominated short documentary created by producer Mike Glad and director Leslie Iwerks, along with a new short film about Safe Passage's Adult Literacy Program.

To learn more about Safe Passage, click here.


One man's trash...
Daryn Kagan
Featured for Greenfest:
An assortment of fun, funky, clean bags made of recycled polyethylene bags from the streets of Delhi and the city dump! Conserve India, a non-profit organization, trains and pays the city's ragpickers to collect, sort and grade the plastic. The plastic is then recycled into these beautifully made, sturdy bags-- using no colors or dyes, just creatively combining the colors of the trash to produce their fantastic designs!

Messenger bags, totes, shoulder bags, luggage tags- a limited selection available this weekend at Greenfest!

Mingei World Arts
427 Church Street
Decatur, Georgia 30030
Mingei World Arts

American Legion Scrap Metal Collection at Decatur Court House

circa 1940's
Special Coll. Dept.
Pullen Library.

Decatur-Dekalb Library

Mingei raises over $2300 to open library in rural Mexico!

Mingei World Arts is thrilled to announce that we have raised more than $2300 to date -- more than enough to open the doors to the Library in La Union, Mexico!

Funds were raised through a benefit performance featuring Carmen Deedee and John McCutcheon at the Decatur Library on July 29 and from sales of hand-carved folk art reading figures from the carvers of the village. The event waws co-sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book.

Ann VanSlyke, one of the owners of Mingei, is off to Mexico on Monday. The Library inauguration is scheduled for August 20th.

For this project, Mingei partnered with Libros Para Pueblos, an organization that creates libraries in rural villages in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Mingei continues to take donations and still has some of these wonderful reading figures, and more are on the way. 20% of sales of these figures will be sent to the library in perpetuity to support and maintain its programs. The collection, including the newest pieces, will be featured during the Decatur Book Festival.

Donations to Libros Para Pueblos are tax deductible. For more information, visit their website at http://www.librosparapueblos.com. To earmark your donation for the La Union library, please donate through Mingei World Arts. Make checks payable to The Oaxaca Lending Library Foundation, with Libros Para Pueblos, La Union in the subject line.
Ann VanSlyke
Mingei World Arts
427 Church Street
Decatur, GA 30030
404-371-0101

Mingei World Arts present a Performance Benefit for LA Union Library

Don't forget!
Performance benefit for La Union Library
Carmen Deedy and John McCutheon!
Tuesday, July 29
7:15pm

Decatur Library
Come early! Doors open at 6:00pm.
Free, but donations for the library encouraged!

Browse and buy fabulous carvings from the artisans of La Union Tejalapan,
and bid for others in a silent auction!
A portion of the proceeds will benefit the library.

Carmen and John's books and CD's also for sale, and available for signing!

Post-performance tastes courtesy of El Tesoro.

Mingei World Arts, Inc.
427 Church Street
Decatur, GA 30030
404.371-0101
Fax 404.371-0131

Comment:
jd said:
Anything the women at Mingei do is worth a special trip. Ann and Ellen are the heart and soul of Church Street in downtown Decatur. Can't wait.

July 30, 2008 8:35 AM

Grammar Girl at The Decatur Library Wenesday

By ROSALIND BENTLEY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/14/08

Lie, lay, might, may, that, which, I before E except after C. Why crowd your overloaded memory bank with the rules? That's what grammar check is for, right?

Grammar Girl might caution against relying on that device.

Her Grammar Girl podcasts have been a hit on iTunes since they began nearly two years ago. But now grammarian Mignon Fogarty is about to make her first big foray into old media. Her new book, "Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing," was released last week.

She'll be at Georgia Center for the Book at the Decatur Public Library on Wednesday. We reached her in advance to see if she could help us break the grammar-check habit.

Q: How do you feel about spell check or grammar check? Does it make us lazy?

A: I think spell check is a good thing. I don't think you should ever send off a document without running it through spell check. ... Grammar check is not as useful as spell check. Grammar checkers can be helpful, but I would never trust one. They can highlight something that you should double-check, but I would never take their word for it.

Q: Who's your grammar idol? In your book you kind of take out Strunk and White.

A: Strunk and White ["The Elements of Style"] is a classic, but people don't adhere to some of their advice now. Certain things have become permissible. Like not starting a sentence with "however." Most modern language usage experts agree that it's fine, even though Strunk and White say you shouldn't. My favorite reference guide is Garner's Modern American Usage. I love it.

Q: What's the grammar rule you break most often?

A: I often start sentences with conjunctions. It's not really a rule that you can't, but it's a very informal style. I advise people not to do it in business letters and cover letters, but I do it all the time. That's just the way I talk.

Q: Do you feel like the grammar police?

A: The longer I do this, the less things annoy me. I realize how much in flux language is and how many things there are to know. So I'm understanding of people who don't know all the rules. My goal is to answer people's questions and help them not feel bad about errors they make.

Q: What are the most common errors we make?

A: The two biggest myths are that you shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition and that you shouldn't split infinitives. Nearly all modern grammarians don't hold people to those rules. ... You shouldn't contort your sentence just so you won't end it with a preposition. But I would tell people never split an infinitive in a cover letter because you never know who's reading it.

Q: I can't use commas to save my life. Do you have a jingle I could sing, like one from "Schoolhouse Rock," to help me?

A: I don't have a jingle for the comma. Commas are tough.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, discusses "Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing." 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur Public Library, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, ext. 2225; www.georgia

centerforthebook.org