Yellow Springs Street Fair will return Saturday, June 13, and will feature more than 200 vendors, with an expected attendance of about 25,000 people.
New this year: Acoustic Sessions on Short Street will feature local and regional unplugged performers; a new Street Fair Guide will highlight village shops, dining and attractions; and an expanded Kids Zone will offer additional family activities near Mills Lawn Elementary School.
Vendor hours are 9 a.m.–5 p.m. The accompanying Backyard Beats + Brews Fest & More, featuring Yellow Springs Brewery, will run noon–7 p.m. on the lawn of John Bryan Community Center.
Shuttle parking will be available at Young’s Jersey Dairy.
More information is available at http://www.ysstreetfair.com
The YS Board of Education’s most recent meeting Wednesday, May 13, marked the near-end of the 2025–26 school year — and the near-end of Superintendent Terri Holden’s time at the helm of YS Schools, as she is set to retire May 31.
Board President Amy Bailey reflected on Holden’s seven years as superintendent, which she noted began just a few months before “one of the most difficult moments public education has ever faced” with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bailey went on to thank Holden for her emphasis on long-term planning during a period of transition for the district, including the ongoing facilities project, which is set to wrap up before the end of the calendar year.
“Your focus this past year has not been, ‘How can I get out of here as fast as possible?’” she added, addressing Holden. “Instead, your focus has really been, ‘How can I make sure this district is set up for success when I’m gone?’”
Incoming Superintendent Megan Winston — currently the district’s assistant superintendent — also lauded Holden, joking about the superintendent’s detailed knowledge of the facilities project and construction process.
“As a matter of fact, she can probably tell you the exact name and number of every paint color that is going in each building,” Winston said. “She’s an expert.”
Winston described Holden as a mentor, and said district administrators — including herself — are “better leaders” because of the opportunity to work with Holden. Winston’s remarks were followed by a video featuring Mills Lawn students offering Holden retirement advice: relax, sleep in, travel to Hawaii, pursue hobbies — and, of course, return to visit the schools.
Accepting gifts from both the district and the YS Alumni Association, Holden thanked board members, district staff, students and community members.
“It’s my honor to stand before you here at the close of seven incredible years in this school district,” she said.
Reflecting on relocating to the village with her wife, Holly Smith-Conway, in 2019, Holden noted that they moved “55 miles north” from their established community in Hamilton County, where Holden had previously been executive director of teaching and learning at Winton Woods City School District, to a place where neither had family or connections.
“I will not lie, it was very difficult … but I can look out here and point to those of you who made [us] feel welcomed, respected, part of this community,” she said. “Over time, through this generosity and kindness, we developed many friendships, and the village of Yellow Springs now truly feels like home.”
Holden added that she was leaving the district “with deep gratitude and confidence in the future of the district under the leadership of Dr. Winston,” who officially begins her tenure as superintendent June 1.
An “exit interview” feature on Holden’s retirement is planned for a future issue of the News.
Facilities project update
As one of her final official acts as superintendent, Holden presented a facilities project update during the meeting, introducing a list of costs that have accrued during construction and renovation as unexpected issues have arisen.
Holden reported that the district has encountered more than 100 “change events” — that is, deviations from the original scope of the project — for Mills Lawn. Unexpected costs have included drainage and storm piping investigations to address water pooling issues near Mills Lawn, revised restroom groups, electrical work and structural modifications.
At Yellow Springs Middle and High School, the district has recorded 101 change events thus far, including unexpected utility work, stormwater revisions, electrical conflicts, asphalt replacement and modifications related to the building’s new mechanical systems.
“We expected some surprises,” Holden said. “We have had far more than we expected.”
With these additional expenses in mind, Holden revisited discussion of the district’s capital campaign, which launched late last year to help offset project costs not covered through state funding or the bond issue approved by voters in 2023.
Holden told the board the district had initially anticipated needing to raise about $2 million through the campaign, but that the expected need has been winnowed in the past few months, because district Treasurer Jacob McGrath “is fiscally responsible and has worked very hard to make sure a lot of what you see here, we were able to right.”
“We got a lot of pushback from the community about our capital campaign,” she added. “But I can tell you that these two buildings will be showcases for the district … and our goal is to provide the best environment for our children, to provide the best payback for taxpayers. They are investing in something that is beautiful, that will last, that is safe.”
Full-building occupancy at YS Middle and High School is expected by Aug. 14, and at Mills Lawn, by Oct. 15.
For more information on the district’s capital campaign, go to ysschools.org/capital-campaign.
Property tax discussions
District leaders and board members also discussed recent state property tax legislation affecting public school funding, as well as a potential November ballot issue that would abolish property taxes altogether in the state.
House Bills 129, 186 and 335 were signed into law late last year and went into effect this March; as the News reported before the bills were passed, the measures limit the kinds of levies school districts can pass, cap growth in local property tax collections tied to rising property values and limit the calculation of the state’s 20-mill floor — the minimum effective tax rate school districts collect.
“You will see our property taxes are going down next year, and that is due to some of the state changes,” Treasurer McGrath said during his financial report. “We are losing on this deal.”
Later in the meeting, McGrath said public schools have increasingly shouldered the burden of funding education as the state’s share of financial support has declined over the past several decades.
“One thing [the state says] all the time is, ‘We’re giving more money to schools than ever before,’ but they ignore inflation entirely,” McGrath said. “If you give me $10 today, that’s more than $9 40 years ago, but it’s still not that much more because of inflation.”
The board also briefly discussed the ongoing movement to abolish property taxes in Ohio. The movement — led by a group called the Committee to Abolish Property Taxes, or AxOHTax — is currently seeking enough signatures to place a constitutional amendment before Ohio voters in November. In late April, multiple state media outlets reported that the group had collected about half of the signatures needed ahead of the July 1 filing deadline.
The proposal from AxOHTax has drawn concern from YS Schools — and from school districts and municipalities statewide — because of the host of municipal bodies and services that rely on property tax revenue to operate. At the same time, AxOHTax has not suggested a replacement for the revenue that would be lost if the measure passes.
“For small communities like Yellow Springs, this would impact not only the schools [but] the village,” Holden said. “It would impact senior services, it would impact police and fire.”
With these things in mind, the school board unanimously passed a resolution declaring, in short, that educating the public on the effects of the proposed constitutional amendment “constitute a proper public purpose.”
The resolution reads, in part: “The Board hereby determines School District actions and expenditures regarding education and raising awareness about the Constitutional Amendment, the lack of a revenue replacement mechanism and resulting School District impacts are reasonably related to funding the School District’s statutory duties, thus a proper public purpose.”
“The consequences of [the potential amendment] are pretty devastating,” Holden said. “That’s why we’re not just going to stick our heads in the sand on this issue and hope that it goes away. So we hope that folks will pay attention, and we’re happy to see this resolution.”
Perry League T-ball, a free beginner baseball program for children ages 2–9, will begin its summer season Friday, June 5, at Gaunt Park.
Games and activities will take place Fridays from 6–7:30 p.m. through Aug. 7, excluding July 3 because of holiday fireworks.
The program is open to all children, regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, disability or level of skill. The rules of Perry League are few, and unique: There are no teams, no assigned positions, no batting order, and every batter gets 1,000 strikes. Perry League is intended to provide a positive start to team sports for kids and their caretakers.
A companion program, Perry League Plus, will offer additional skills coaching for older participants interested in eventually joining the Yellow Springs Youth baseball program. Perry League Plus sessions will take place Fridays in July on the adjacent baseball field during regular Perry League play.
The volunteer-run program is free; optional tie-dye T-shirts will be available for purchase. Each child will receive a free baseball cap. Organizers request that guardians accompany younger children and encourage volunteers to assist throughout the season.
Register online at bit.ly/PerryLeague26Register. For more information, contact Margi at 937-768-5036 or PerryLeagueYS@gmail.com.
Donors’ best intentions notwithstanding, one never knows what they might encounter at one of the village’s several Little Free Pantries. Expired garbanzo beans and brown bananas are regrettably just as common as the shelf-stable necessities.
A bucket of kittens? Now that’s a rarity, even in Yellow Springs.
On Tuesday afternoon, May 12, villager Kyle Truitt and his pit-mix, Maeve, went out for a casual trot around the block. A personal trainer by trade, Truitt relishes his mid-day walks with his canine companion.
The pair went their regular route down Dayton Street, alongside the community gardens at Bill Duncan Park. Per usual, Maeve wanted to stop and sniff the latest news at the base of the Little Free Pantry. Truitt saw a black bucket there, thought nothing of it — maybe potatoes? He was busy drinking in the springtime air. Maeve knew better and wouldn’t let up her investigation.
“She started doing that head cocking thing that dogs do when they come across something real peculiar,” Truitt said. “I knew the vibes were off.”
He looked in and saw five three-week-old kittens curled up in the bottom of the bucket. Two orange, three classic tabbies. Their eyes were closed and they all lay motionless, head over tail.
“It was a little scary at first,” Truitt said. “I wasn’t sure they were even alive, but I saw them squirm around a tiny bit. They were so young and helpless. I just couldn’t believe it.”
So, Truitt did what any sensible Yellow Springs resident would do in a moment of panic — he turned to social media and raised alarms in every local community group he could think of.
Not being a “cat guy,” as he put it, coupled with his sometimes overeager pups, adoption was out of the question for Truitt.
That was no matter for longtime local Erin Hankie. She was among the many, many indignant dozens on social media who aired their disbelief that anyone could leave such vulnerable creatures under the sun without even a note — but Hankie was the first on the scene to snag the bucket and all five of its feline contents.
“I saw the post and immediately left work to grab them,” Hankie said. “I love animals, cats particularly. They didn’t ask to be born! If you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”
Though the work of taking care of baby critters is not at all foreign to Hankie, the minute-to-minute logistics that followed Hankie’s ad hoc adoption were no walk in the park.
She put it plainly: “It’s a challenge to teach very young animals to drink from a bottle, to poop and pee.”
But things are looking up for Hankie and the cats. Relying on the same online threads Truitt started, and by word of mouth, Hankie has managed to find suitable homes for three of the kittens — and she’s taken great pains to find better spots for them than a bucket on Dayton Street.
“I kind of stalk people on social media to see if I think they are responsible pet owners who won’t end up rehoming,” she admitted. “I give kittens and cats to people I know and trust — I’ve been caring for and rehoming strays for years.”
As of press time, Hankie’s still looking for homes for two of the kittens.
Should anyone else happen across a bucket of baby animals, Julie Holmes-Taylor, the director of Greene County Animal Control, said to give her a call right away at 937-562-7400.
“Really, start with calling us if you don’t know what to do, if you can’t take care of those animals, — we’ll accept them. At the end of the day, we’re here to offer that resource and to give you options,” Holmes-Taylor told the News via phone earlier this week.
She continued: “We try not to take kittens under a certain age — about three weeks old — especially if they don’t have their mother and are unweaned. Nine times out of 10, we’ll hold those kittens for three days and have to euthanize them. We try not to, but it’s almost always the most humane thing to do if no one wants them.”
Holmes-Taylor noted that Greene County Animal Control is well-connected to other area animal welfare organizations, including the Dayton-based SICSA, or the Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stay Animals; the Dayton Humane Society; individual volunteer fosters; and other private organizations such as Tenth Life, Gem City Kitties and Blue’s Mews.
By first contacting Greene County Animal Control in the event of an unexpected stray animal situation, they can link people up to the proper resource.
Given that it’s currently “kitten season,” as Holmes-Taylor put it, referring to the pleasant weather that stirs up romance among strays, Animal Control and all other rescues and shelters are becoming increasingly inundated with cats.
“We’re very space-driven here,” she said. “If we get overrun with stray cats, then we have to make decisions about what gets held and what doesn’t. Euthanizing is never our first option — anything we can do to avoid it — but we just don’t have the staffing to feed them, no one to take care of them overnight. But after that three-day period, if they’re the right age, have a good temperament, positive results on their behavioral and medical assessments, we’ll fix them and put them up for adoption.”
To learn more about the services offered by Greene County Animal Control, its hours and contact information, go to http://www.greenecountyohio.gov/112/Animal-Control
The word “semiquincentennial” is in the air as the U.S. heads toward its 250th anniversary this summer, heralded by year-long celebrations taking place across the state and the wider nation. Locally, a village speaker series is taking a look at Ohio and American history through stories and perspectives that are often left out of traditional narratives.
Organized by the Village’s Public Arts and Culture Commission, or PACC, two events in the “America 250 Speaker Series” have already been held, and several more are scheduled through October.
The events — funded by the Village last December via a budget line item that approved up to $19,999 to mark the semiquincentennial — are free and open to the public.
According to Village Council member and PACC representative Carmen Brown, the speaker series is designed to expand perspectives on the history of the nation’s founding.
“When the story of America is told, there is a tendency to make it smaller than it is — to make it more palatable, to forget who was here, who struggled and who insisted on being counted,” Brown wrote to the News last month.
The goal, she said in a later interview, is to bring forward voices and perspectives that may be missing from traditional narratives of early American history.
“It was our goal to [highlight] people whose stories were undertold, or not told,” Brown said.
The series began Feb. 27 with a talk by historian Jane Calvert, who examined the life and contradictions of John Dickinson, a lesser-known figure of early American history often called the “Penman of the Revolution.” Calvert’s presentation focused in part on the contradictions that defined Dickinson’s life and political philosophy: he spoke out against British rule, but initially opposed declaring independence in 1776; a wealthy man whose family were enslavers, he became an outspoken critic of slavery. Brown said Dickinson’s complexity made him a fitting subject for a series centered on resisting simplified versions of history.
“He was Quaker adjacent and was anti-violence, but was in a militia,” she said, adding that Dickinson struggled with the reality that the conflict would move beyond negotiation. “He wanted [to believe] that we could do it without violence.”
The series’ goal of highlighting complexity over simplicity carried into the second event April 11, when Shawnee historian and cultural interpreter Jeremy Turner spoke about the presence and history of Shawnee people in the Miami Valley and broader Ohio River Valley. Turner’s presentation, Brown said, delved into the realities of the displacement of Ohio’s Indigenous tribes following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, which forced the Miami, Shawnee, Seneca-Cayuga, Ottawa and Wyandot to relocate to western territories.
“[Turner] didn’t sugarcoat anything,” Brown said. “He talked about the reality of what happened … and that was important for people to hear.”
She said the coming events in the series, too, are intended to challenge audiences to engage directly with American history “not as history, but as contemporary conversation.”
“The people who have been invited are professional educators,” Brown said. “They’re expecting questions.”
So far, she added, turnout has been strong, with audiences responding to the opportunity to explore topics that don’t always share the same space with the idea of building a nation. To that end, remaining events in the series include discussions on the Underground Railroad’s lesser-known routes that led south rather than north; the stories of Black patriots; labor advocacy as viewed through the struggles of Appalachian coal miners; and the historical role of the press.
Ultimately, Brown said, the effort is about widening the lens through which history is viewed, so that it can be understood with a depth that makes clear the interconnectedness of all of the people who have made up, and still make up, the United States.
“We have a tendency to silo everything … as if one thing happening doesn’t affect others,” she said. “[History is] often told from the perspective of the people in power and … it becomes scientific to the point that it kind of removes humanity. It’s like the observed and the observer — and no one ever hears from the observed.”
Remaining events in the “America 250 Speaker Series”:
Friday, June 26: Maria Hammack, professor at the Ohio State University, historian and scholar, expands the story of the Underground Railroad beyond familiar routes, highlighting pathways into Mexican territories and placing Ohio within a broader narrative of movement, resistance and liberation.
Friday, July 31: Francis McGee-Cromartie, historian and member of Daughters of the American Revolution, focuses on the lives and contributions of Black patriots, bringing forward stories that deepen and complicate our understanding of the nation’s founding.
Friday, Sept. 4: Speakers from the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, a public history institution preserving the legacy of labor struggles in the Appalachian coalfields, including the fight for safe working conditions, fair wages and the 40-hour work week.
Saturday, Oct. 3: Jeremy Blevins, professor at the University of Cincinnati, examines the role of a free and independent press in a democratic society, and the responsibilities that come with informing the public.
Times and locations for the upcoming events will be published in future issues of the News.
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