Village commissions, staffed by appointed citizens and elected officials, are fundamental to the functioning of Village government. While the Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, Community Access Panel, and Economic Sustainability Commission are not currently seeking volunteers, they offer opportunity for direct citizen involvement in governmental affairs.

As an Antioch student in the mid-1980s, Mark Greenfield staged theater productions on the college golf course, inside the mail room, and during board of trustees’ meetings. Now Greenfield returns to Yellow Springs to teach a workshop on producing theater in non-traditional and outdoor settings and put on Oedipus Rex in the Antioch amphitheater.

Antioch alum Mark Greenfield returns to Yellow Springs to host a workshop on putting on theater productions in outdoor and non-traditional venues and to stage his rendition of “Oedipus Rex” in the Antioch amphitheater.

The Rolling Pen Book Cafe, now open in the former home of Dolbeer’s Cleaners, is a place to relax, read a book and enjoy a cup of coffee with some homemade cobbler.

Crowds came for the free ice cream, face painting, balloons and carriage rides at Friends Care Community Center’s annual summer ice cream social last Sunday. Revived last year, the tradition dates back decades as a community event organized by the 33-year old senior institution.

Growing food in a backyard garden can be a lot of work. But by designing a “forest garden” of trees and shrubs, aligned with ecological principles, gardeners can achieve a food yield sustainably, with less maintenance. This is the essence of a seven-day forest gardening workshop from Aug. 9 to Aug. 15 on a farm homestead north of Yellow Springs on Hustead Road…

That Yellow Springs would attract visitors to arts, wellness and eco-tourism activities didn’t surprise the organizers of the Yellow Springs Experience. But the nearly 20 local organizations that put together the 10-day educational event in mid-July did learn ways to improve upon its first effort.

This summer the Yellow Springs Tree Committee is scouring the community for the next state champion tree. Several weeks ago, committee members Kathy Beverly and Macy Reynolds measured a 37-inch-circumference shagbark hickory at Mills Lawn School and a 55-inch-circumference oak tree on the Antioch campus, the largest yet.

It’s no a surprise that Yellow Springs has an abundance of large trees. This summer the Yellow Springs Tree Committee seeks the largest in their update to a 1972 report, “The big trees of Yellow Springs.” See a 1972 map of the largest trees in Yellow Springs here.

Before rural farming and land trust crusader Shirley Miller Sherrod was thrust into the national spotlight when she was forced to resign last week from her position at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), she studied at Antioch University Midwest. The Obama Administration, admitting it was wrong, quickly offered to rehire her.

Helping villagers stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter is the aim of a new business in town, Southtown Heating and Cooling. From its new office in Yellow Springs, the 22-year-old Greater Dayton company will install and service heating and cooling equipment as well as do plumbing, electrical work and building maintenance for residential and commercial customers.