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YE L LOW SPR INGS NEWS Y E A R I N R E V I E W DECEMBE R 29 , 2023 PAGE 7 V I L L A G E L I F E ANNUAL CE L EBRAT IONS • On New Year’s Eve, the annual down - town ball drop was revived after a two-year hiatus. A large crowd gathered in down - town Yellow Springs to ring in 2023. • In January, the theme of the 2023 MLK Day celebration was “The Fierce Urgency of Now.” Keynote speaker and historian John E. Fleming, Ph.D., gave a presenta - tion on “How African American Music Was and Is at the Forefront of American Social Justice.” Villagers Elaine and Keith Kresge were presented with the annual Peace - maker Award for their community service to the village. • Around 100 villagers and visitors gath - ered at the John Bryan Community Center to celebrate Earth Day on Sunday, April 23. The event featured a variety of environmen - tally focused booths and activities, as well a milkweed raffle. • In celebration of National Senior Health and Fitness Day, the YS Senior Center held its annual flash mob dance in May on Short Street. • Juneteenth celebrations were kicked off this year with a gathering outside YS High School and a walk that proceeded through the village past several sites of significance in the Black history of Yellow Springs. The walk concluded on the grounds of Mills Lawn with music, food and fellowship. • The village celebrated Pride in June with a day-long schedule of events, includ - ing the annual parade and musical perfor - mances throughout the day. • Perry League coaches Rob and Margi Gay and Yunus Brevik successfully shep - herded the village’s youngest athletes through another season of T-ball this summer, faithfully writing their accounts of young joy at Gaunt Park for the News every week. In their weekly Perry League write-up, they also honored Becky Reed, a longtime dedicated T-ball volunteer. • The second annual Wheeling Gaunt Day, honoring the famed local philanthro - pist, was celebrated in October at the statue of Gaunt located in Hilda M. Rahn Park. The celebration was inaugurated in 2022 on the first anniversary of the statue’s creation and installation. • After being halted for a few years due to the pandemic, the beloved annual Yellow Springs Community Thanksgiving Dinner returned to First Presbyterian Church this year. The event featured turkeys, traditional sides and vegan and vegetarian dishes, and about 175 community members attended. • The annual tree-lighting was held downtown in early December, complete with a visit from Santa Claus, hot chocolate and holiday serenades from the World House Choir and YS schools choirs. MI L E S TONE S • In May, Ben Guenther took over as station manager at Yellow Springs Com - munity Access Channel 5, succeeding Lacey Fox. Though Channel 5’s full pro - gramming lineup had previously only been accessible to those who were Spectrum cable customers, in September, Guenther instituted a change that made the lineup more accessible. Now, anyone with an internet connection can stream Channel 5 online at yellowsprings.tv. • In June, a baseball diamond at Gaunt Park was dedicated as the Jackie and Yvonne Davenpor t Memorial Baseball Field. The field was named in honor of the Davenport sisters — Jackie, who died in March 2023 and Yvonne, who died in February 2021 — who were integral in cre - ating a space for women in Yellow Springs’ recreational baseball league. • In September, local residents Beth Rubin and Catherine Roma were inducted into the Greene CountyWomen’s Hall of Fame. Rubin was honored for her long career in social ser - vices in the county, and Roma for her years of work with the World House Choir. • Beginning in January 2024, Yellow Springs will be the first community in the U.S. to test an up-and-coming philan - thropic program in which donors share their wealth with beneficiaries in the form of investment savings accounts. The nonprofit star tup Gifted Savings, the YS Community Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research, or CGIR, launched the program’ s two-phase, three-year research study in the village in December. The goal of the study is to determine how donated assets held in a savings account will af fect those who partake in the study. ENV I RONMENTAL E F FORT S • In April — Earth Month — 108 prop - erties throughout the village were noted for having been certified with the National Wildlife Federation, or NWF, as official native wildlife habitats. The properties met the NWF’s criteria of providing local fauna with sources of food, water and shelter, while abiding by stringent sustainable practices. • As the weather grew colder and Yellow Springs prepared for winter, villagers and Thistle Creek neighbors Pat Brown and Philip Bottelier unveiled a small prairie plant nursery that will raise native plants in their neighborhood. The duo aims to distribute the plants to local residents and donate some to help populate the prairie at Glass Farm. • In November, a small team of local residents and members of the Village Environmental Commission installed a 4,500-square-foot prairie in Ellis Park. The purpose of the prairie is to provide a natural buf fer from the adjacent farm fields and prevent runof f from leaching into the pond. F ROM AFAR • During Memorial Day week, the staf f of the Yellow Springs News got the chance to visit with and learn from two journalists and publishers of newspapers in South Africa. Andile Nomabhunga, of Matatiele, in the Eastern Cape Province, and Dunisani Ntsanwisi, of Giyani, in Limpopo Province, spent the week work - ing with the News as par t of a three-week fact-finding project investigating ways to boost the sustainability of South Africa’s community media. • Air quality in the Ohio Valley was nega - tively affected in June as smoke from wide - spread Canadian wildfires drifted into the U.S. A thin veil of haze was visible for days at a time in Yellow Springs and much of the surrounding region at both the beginning and end of the month. FOR A GOOD CAUS E • Following a Feb. 3 derailment of a freight train that was carrying hazardous materials, and a resulting chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, village resident Jenny Johnson established a fundraiser to help relocate a family who lived a quarter mile away from the wreckage. • On Fridays throughout the summer, members of Pleasant Grove Missionary Church gathered on the porch of YS Com - munity Library and offered free lunch to kids up to age 18. • In June, local residents Nancy Mellon and Holly Underwood organized and orchestrated the inaugural Parkinson’s Puzzle Hunt, a fundraiser that benefited Parkinson Support and Wellness, a South - west Ohio nonprofit that empowers those with Parkinson’s Disease. • In partnership with Greene County Public Health, or GCPH, Yellow Springs Pharmacy began of fering free doses of naloxone in September. The FDA-approved medication — also known by its brand name, Narcan — blocks the effects of opi - oids and can be used to temporarily reverse an opioid-related overdose. • After being put on pause at the start of the pandemic, the local Beloved Community Project resumed its monthly free community mealsatFirstPresbyterianChurch inOctober. • In October and November, local resident David Williamson — a world- renowned magician and sleight-of-hand artist — held pop-up magic shows in venues around town as a benefit for The Riding Centre. —Lauren “Chuck” Shows PHOTO BY MATT MINDE Lance Rudegeair pulled in 2023 during the annual New Year’s Eve ball drop, which returned after a two-year absence. On Dec. 31, around midnight, crowds will again assemble below the famed disco ball in downtown Yellow Springs to ring in 2024. PHOTOS, TOP : MATT MINDE; R IGHT : RE I L LY DIXON ABOVE : A crowd of over 200 march- ers young and old took to the streets of the village once again on Monday, Jan. 16, to commemorate the actions and celebrate the ideals of the slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. RIGHT: On Saturday, June 24, thousands of kaleidoscopic villagers and visitors celebrated personal expression, radical acceptance, love and friendship in the downtown thoroughfares of Yellow Springs for the annual Pride event. Village Council Agenda — Public Notice — Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, 6:30 p.m. Council Chambers, second floor, Bryan Community Center CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL EXECUTIVE SESSION (6:30 p.m.) • For the Purpose of Discussion of Pending or Imminent Litigation. SWEARING IN OF NEW COUNCIL (7 p.m.) • Carmen Brown (4); Gavin DeVore Leonard (4); Trish Gustafson (2) ROLL CALL NOMINATION/VOTE FOR PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL NOMINATION/VOTE FOR VICE PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS (7:15 p.m.) CONSENT AGENDA • Minutes of December 18, 2023 Regular Session REVIEW OF AGENDA PETITIONS/COMMUNICATIONS PUBLIC HEARINGS/LEGISLATION (7:30 p.m.) • Reading of Resolution 2024-01 Authorizing the Sale During Calendar Year 2022 of Municipally Owned Personal Property which is Not Needed for Public Use, or Which is Obsolete or Unfit for the Use for Which it was Acquired, by Internet Auction, Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 721.15(D) • Reading of Resolution 2024-02 WesBanco Paypal Account • Reading of Resolution 2024-03 Authorizing the Interim Village Manger to Enter into a Lease Agreement for 201 South Walnut Street • Reading of Resolution 2024-04 Authorizing the Interim Village Manager to Enter into a Contract for Marketing of the Village CBE Property CITIZEN CONCERNS (7:50 p.m.) SPECIAL REPORTS (8 p.m.) • Meter Reader Rose Pelzl: Tantalus Meter Update and Helpful Tips for Utility Customers (10 min.) MANAGER’S REPORT (8:10 p.m.) OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS • Monthly Check-in with Interim Village Manager (5 min.) FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS * (8:50 p.m.) Jan. 16: • Work Session 6pm-7pm • Council Membership on Boards and Commissions • Village Goals Discussion • Broadband Update *Future Agenda items are noted for planning purposes only and are subject to change. ADJOURNMENT The next regular meeting of the Council of the Village of Yellow Springs will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. The Village of Yellow Springs is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. Any person requiring a disability accommodation should contact the Village Clerk of Council’s Of fice at 937-767-9126 or via e-mail at clerk@yso.com for more information. 937-767-7671 • 247 Xenia Ave. YS GENERAL ADMISSION: $9 General; $7.50 Seniors, Students, Military; $7 Matinees & Mondays PG-13 PG 140 mins 92 mins FRI 12/29 SAT 12/30 SUN 12/31 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 2p.m. THE COLOR PURPLE (2023) Amid many hardships, Celie finds extraordinary strength in the unbreakable bonds of a new kind of sisterhood. IT’S BACK! The festivities include a screening of John Waters’ originial 1988 Hairspray , a performance by local band That’s What She Said and the midnight ball drop! TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE & AT THE BOX OFFICE 30 MIN. BEFORE SHOWTIME. NewYear’sEve Party! 4 Sunday,Dec.31@7:30p.m. TICKETS: $25 With a screening of Giving & Gifting? Gift a Movie Pass or Donate to the Little Art!