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54 GU I D E to Y E L L OW S P R I NG S | 2O22 – 2O23 which rise and fall across weeks, are notations about storm warnings, birdsong and the types and numbers of fish he caught. “It’s really fun, because you can kind of see a whole different dimension of time and space and climate,” he said. “You can discover the patterns … and you don’t need anything other than a 17th- century instrument.” Felker and his family — wife Jeanie and their two daugh- ters, Jeni and Neysa — moved to the village in 1978 after Felker accepted a position at Central State University in nearby Wilberforce. Though he was teaching Spanish, Felker’s love for discovering and chronicling patterns in the natural world endured. He continued to keep track of the weather, but his data set broadened in the early 1980s after he decided to stop smoking. Having previ - ously smoked “two or three packs of Luckys a day,” he said he eventually kicked the habit. “One of the ways I [stopped smoking] was by taking walks in the woods and looking at things,” he said. “I became obsessed — ‘Oh, look at these flowers, look at these bugs.’” Felker began taking notes on his findings in “daybooks,” in which he would record a summary of the weather and what he’d seen on his walks, with a new entry every day. Around the same time, Felker said, he became friends with then-News Editor Don Wallis. Wondering what to do with “all this information” he’d been collecting, Felker sug - gested an almanac that would appear in each week’s paper. “And [Wallis] said, ‘Well, if you do an almanac, you’ve got to do it every week,’” Felker said. “I haven’t missed a week since February of ’84.” When Wallis left the News and returned to Vevay, Ind., to again helm the editor’s chair for the Vevay Reveille and Switzerland Democrat — a position he’d held before coming to the village — he brought “Poor Will’s Alma - nack” with him. With a little marketing from Felker, by 1985, the “Almanack” was included in half a dozen com - munity newspapers, and that number, at various interludes, augmented and diminished over the years. These days, Felker said, he contributes to a dozen publications, and broadcasts a weekly version on WYSO. Depending on the maga- zine or newspaper, though, “Poor Will’s Almanack” looks different. In agriculture-based publications like Farm World, which reaches readers in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio, the “Almanack” eschews the essays featured in the News and offers astronomical, weather and field and garden observations and a Seasonal Affective Disorder Index, along with stories from read- ers. In another, now-defunct national publication, Felker’s writings focused, for years, on sheep. That magazine was, appropriately, entitled “Sheep!” “I don’t know anything about sheep,” Felker said with a laugh. “But with a little research, you can create an ▲ Bill Felker in his greenhouse circa 1990. P H O T O : Y S N E W S A R C H I V E S youngsdairy.com One mile north of Yellow Springs on U.S. 68 # 1 For Family Fun DAIRY STORE Homemade Ice Cream, Young’s Farmstead Cheese, Sandwiches & Side Orders UDDERS & PUTTERS Miniature Golf, Driving Range, Batting Cages YOUNG’S EVENT CENTER Book your event here; currently taking reservations BARNABE’S WALNUT GROVE Catered Picnic Pavilions Complete with Family Entertainment Dairy Store: 937-325-0629 youngsdairy.com  •  cows@youngsdairy.com Local Winery • Appetizers Live Music • Food Trucks Wine Slushies • Wine Tastings MERLOT CRANBERRY MOSCATO RIESLING CAYUGA BLACKBERRY SANGIOVESE VIDAL PINOT CHARDONNAY CABERNET RASPBERRY www.brandeberrywinery.com 937-767-9103 • 5118 W Jackson Rd, Enon Music that motivates and inspires our communities towards justice, diversity and equality as we strive for peace and build our web of mutuality. Catherine Roma 513.560.9082 worldhousechoir@gmail.com www. worldhousechoir.org www.facebook.com/ worldhousechoir Jail House SUITES Beautifully renovated historic jail house built in 1878. Just one “cell” block from downtown Yellow Springs. Available for overnight and extended stays. www.jailhousesuites.com 111N.Winter St., Yellow Springs, OH 45387 937-319-1222