By the YS Habitat Team
June was National Pollinator Month, and replacing invasive plants with native plants is one of the easiest ways to help our declining pollinator population on your property.
Invasive plants and noxious weeds may have beautiful flowers or stunning foliage, but they are dangerous invaders in our ecosystems, often innocently planted in our gardens and then escaping cultivation, ultimately crowding out the native species on which pollinators depend.
Below is a list of native plants that can be replacements to common invasive ones. The berry-producing plants, such as winterberry and spicebush, will provide bluebirds and other bird species a nutritious food source in the fall and winter.
Replace:
• Japanese honeysuckle with coral honeysuckle
• Amur honeysuckle with spicebush
• Garlic mustard with bee balm
• Lesser celandine with golden ragwort
• Dame’s rocket with woodland phlox
• Purple loosestrife with gayfeather or queen of the prairie
• Common privet with winterberry or gray dogwood
• Asian bittersweet with Virginia creeper
• Wintercreeper with bearberry
• Japanese barberry shrub with chokeberry or Virginia sweetspire
• Burning bush with highbush blueberry or fragrant sumac
• Butterfly bush with Joe Pye weed
• Glossy buckthorn with arrowwood Viburnum
• Common buckthorn with witch hazel
• Autumn or Russian olive with button bush, fringe tree or red buckeye
• Multiflora rose with pasture rose
• Norway maple tree with sugar maple
• Callery pear tree with serviceberry, fringe tree or black gum
For more information, go online to http://www.YSWildlifeHabitat.com.
At their most recent regular meeting, held Monday, July 21, the Miami Township Trustees agreed to allocate additional funds for cemetery expansion, approved text amendments to the Township’s zoning code and discussed the future of Township-placed defibrillators.
Pine Forest moves ahead
The trustees voted 2–1 to allocate $5,000 to complete the Pine Forest section of Glen Forest Cemetery. First presented last year, the section is intended for cremated remains and is designed to hold 309 potential plots; the Pine Forest section is expected to be completed by next year.
Trustee Chair Chris Mucher said the added funds would bring the total cost for the section to around $23,000. Trustee Marilan Moir, who voted against the request, said she was concerned about the scale and long-term costs of the Township’s cemetery expansions over the last several years, which include a columbarium and the new Oak Grove section, in addition to the upcoming Pine Forest.
“Obviously, we won’t stop short of completing it, but I find it unusual that we would give carte blanche [to the Pine Forest],” Moir said.
Mucher said revenue from existing plot sales has been used to fund cemetery work and emphasized the importance of maintaining local burial options.
“These are valuable assets to the residents of Miami Township,” he said.
Ahead of voting on the funds, Moir said she aims to revisit the long-term maintenance plan and expected costs for the Township’s cemetery infrastructure once expansions are complete, citing similar concerns raised recently by nearby Bath Township.
Since the first meeting of the trustees in July, the Township has recorded three new burials.
Zoning amendments continue
Zoning Administrator Bryan Lucas led public hearings on two proposed amendments to the Township Zoning Resolution. Lucas reiterated, as he did at the first meeting of the trustees this month, that the purpose of the text amendments is to expand on and clarify zoning regulations already previously codified in the Zoning Resolution or create new text for previously unaddressed issues.
The text amendments, crafted by the Township’s Zoning Commission and reviewed by the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, concerned maintaining road visibility near fences, walls and screening on rural properties, which was not previously addressed in the resolution; and clarifying agricultural uses and agritourism within the Township.
The amendment related to agritourism prompted discussion among trustees. Trustee Don Hollister moved to strike “hayrides, corn mazes and petting zoos” as examples from the amendment’s definition of agritourism, citing concerns about potentially increasing non-agricultural traffic in rural areas.
“I’m against more traffic and more tourist activity that doesn’t have to do with agriculture,” Hollister said.
Lucas noted that the examples in the definition were not prescriptive and that removing them would not meaningfully alter the resolution. Hollister’s motion failed for lack of a second.
The text amendments were approved by a 2–1 vote, with Hollister opposed.
Servicing defibrillators, MTFR report
Linda Parsons, representing the YS Senior Center, requested that Miami Township Fire-Rescue replace the expired battery and pads on the center’s automated external defibrillator, or AED. The unit, which remains Township property, would cost about $515 to update.
According to Parsons, MTFR Captain Nathaniel Ayers said a new battery could be ordered as early as July 29.
Hollister said former Fire Chief Colin Altman confirmed via phone last week that MTFR had placed AEDs at the Senior Center, Tom’s Market and other locations years ago, and was originally responsible for regular checks and upkeep. However, Altman added, some of those devices may no longer be supported by the manufacturer.
Parsons and Moir said Ayers had confirmed that at least some of the units are still supported. Moir noted it was unclear when the AEDs were installed and suggested a broader review.
“It seems like we should find out how many we’ve placed, check them all out and make a decision what our commitment to this continued program is,” Moir said.
MTFR Chief James Cannell agreed, and said the unit at Tom’s had begun beeping due to low battery, and was moved out of public view. He said he would compile a full report on AEDs for the board by the next meeting, adding that checking their status could be incorporated into the department’s annual fire inspection process.
“Mercifully, the one at the Senior Center has not needed to be used — but it just takes once,” Parsons said.
Mucher said MTFR originally suggested placing the devices and voiced support for recommissioning the existing unit.
“It’s hard to say, ‘No, we don’t want to have something that will save somebody’s life,’” he said.
In his report to the board later in the meeting, Chief Cannell said MTFR has begun to solidify daily duties among personnel and is continuing to work toward a three-person staffing model. He has met with regional fire departments to aid in recruiting, and is researching contracts with vendors in preparing next year’s budget.
As promised at the trustees’ July 7 meeting, Cannell has re-enrolled MTFR in a drug kit exchange with local hospitals, which will provide pre-filled drug kits for ambulances and will handle exchanges for used or expired medications.
MTFR is averaging about three runs per day, Cannell said.
On Thursday, July 24, Phase 1 of The Cascades affordable housing project was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, open house and tours of eight rentals, which will serve seniors of low-to-moderate income.
Home, Inc. thanked the community for its support over many years of pursuing the project, which began on the Barr Property — now the site of the Mills Park Hotel — in 2011.
The ceremony included appreciation of the local senior housing working group founders, the Morgan Family Foundation, elected officials and various project and funding partners.
Attorney Michael Loudenslager was honored with the sole “Manna from Heaven” award for his well-timed pro bono contribution to the project.
Home, Inc. also thanked the community for advocating for the restoration of the Ohio Housing Trust Fund, which Home, Inc. plans to pursue this year for Phase 2 of the project.
75 years ago: 1950
Car safety checks. “Local police, with the assistance of the American Legion state highway patrolmen, checked 2454 cars during the June traffic safety check. … Over 500 cars with 700 to 800 defects were discovered in the cars checked, Police Chief Russell Bradley said this week.“
Ad — house for sale. “BRICK BUNGALOW – 5 rooms, 1½ story. 3 bedrooms, hardwood floors, full basement. Beautiful corner lot in Yellow Springs. House approximately 10 years old. A bargain today at $11,750.”
Morris Bean & Co new foundry. “So that residents of this community may see what goes on in the largest industrial plant in their vicinity, Morris Bean and Company are holding ‘open house’ at their new Hyde Road plant July 13.”
New benches. “Yellow Springs is assured of a dozen park benches for use on Mills Lawn and the Presbyterian Lawn. … Some settees, four feet long, will be ordered at a cost of $6.50 each, plus freight, and some eight feet long at a cost of $10.50, plus freight.”
50 years ago: 1975
Good neighbor. “John Bush … found Jerry Womack’s dog ‘Pud’ injured on Xenia Ave., apparently having been run over by a car. With the Womacks out of town, John took the suffering mongrel to Dr. Docton in Xenia for emergency surgery. Pud will be OK, the vet predicts.”
Affordable housing. “Planning Commission put itself on record Monday night, as Village Council had done the week before, ‘favoring the principle’ of providing Village-owned land on which housing for low- and medium-income families can be built.”
Wheeling Gaunt on July 4th. “A parade that left viewers oohing and aahing and fireworks that attracted a crowd perhaps the biggest in years marked the 4th of July celebration here. But the top event of the day for many citizens was the dedication of a marker honoring the memory of Wheeling Gaunt who on his death in 1894 donated the land on which Gaunt Park is located.”
Farmers market launched. “Saturday is the first selling day for the weekly Village Produce Exchange scheduled for Saturday mornings on Short St. in July and August.”
25 years ago: 2000
Overuse caused water advisory. “Saturday afternoon around 3 p.m. the Village of Yellow Springs Department of Public Works employees went door to door notifying residents on Herman Street and all areas south of a water boil advisory in effect immediately. Water pressure dipped below EPA regulations earlier that day as the Miami Township Fire-Rescue Department was running an unscheduled training session for its volunteers at Morris Bean & Company on East Hyde Road. … The boil alert was rescinded Tuesday around noon.”
Street load limits proposed. “Last year the Green Environmental Coalition drew attention to the issue of through-trucks passing through Yellow Springs when several of its members conducted a truck count. The group counted over 600 trucks passing through town in a 24-hour period.”
Street ministry. “Pastor James A. Nooks and visiting ministers will lead members of the First Baptist Church in a Street Ministry in Yellow Springs on the lawn of the Jackson Lytle and Ingling Williams Funeral Home Saturdays during July and August at 2 p.m.”
Ad — Summer 2000 Institutes at Antioch College. “July 24–August 17… Entrepreneurship Institute … Writing Institute … Peace Studies Institute … Theater/Dance Institute …”
10 years ago: 2015
50 years in the grocery trade. “Tom Gray was a high school freshman when he got his first job, as a bag boy at Luttrell’s, the grocery store on Xenia Avenue. … After high school he moved up to manage produce, then the meat department, then dairy and finally groceries at the store, later called Weaver’s after Bud Weaver bought out Luttrell. And in 2001 Gray purchased the grocery, which is now Tom’s Market.”
Officer cleared of charges. “During last week’s trial in the Greene County Court of Common Pleas, a Springfield prosecutor asked a jury to find Yellow Springs Police Sergeant Naomi Penrod guilty of two criminal charges — assault and interfering with civil rights — following a November 5 incident in which Penrod forcibly took a camera away from a villager attempting to videotape an encounter with police. In the end, Penrod was found not guilty.”
T-ball. “It was an international muddy affair at T-ball Friday night. Louise Camard, 3, accompanied to the diamond by her grandmother Mary Campbell-Zopf, is from France and is only here for two months this summer. … Marina Gama-Lobo, 4, and her brother Morgan Gama-Lobo, 6, are here from Tanzania, Africa! They are visiting for three weeks and their grandmother Virginia Caudill told me the first thing Marina said when she woke up Saturday morning was, ‘Can we go play baseball again?’”
Dylan, Angelou in WYSO archives. “Talks by Martin Luther King Jr., Margaret Mead, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Cesar Chavez, Abbie Hoffman and Zbigniew Brzezinski. Poetry readings by Alice Walker and Maya Angelou. Recording from a 1965 Vietnam Colloquium at Antioch College. Concerts by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs and the Beatles. The recently released WYSO 91.3-FM digital archive features more than 200 hours of aural history from the 1950s to the 1970s, documenting the central role that Yellow Springs and Antioch College played in the national civil rights, women’s rights and anti-war movements; as well as the rock n’ roll and folk music eras.”
[WYSO continues to offer archived recordings, accessible at http://www.wyso.org/archives, via The Center for Radio Preservation and Archives.]
Since 2023, the Foundry Theater at Antioch College has been a near-constant host to performances of all stripes — from national and international touring musical acts and high-flying aerial arts shows to local choir concerts and theater productions.
Last week, the Foundry was activated for a different purpose. The theater was filled with the hum of conversation and the shuffle of chairs as several dozen educators prepared for a special kind of professional development: For the first time, Muse Machine’s Summer Institute for Educators was held in Yellow Springs, inside the Foundry.
With its stages and rooms now regularly in use for a number of artistic expressions, it played a fitting host for this year’s Muse Machine institute, “Storytelling and the Folk Arts Spirit: The Roads that Lead Home.” The four-day program invited Miami Valley educators to explore how folk arts within music, dance, theater and oral storytelling traditions can become tools for classroom learning and cultural connection.
Muse Machine Executive Director Ruth Reveal told the News on the institute’s last day of programming that hosting the institute at the Foundry helped expand the scope of the program.
“We’re usually in Dayton because our office is downtown,” Reveal said. “So, when [Foundry Director] Chris [Westhoff] pitched it, we thought, how cool would it be to show the teachers this space and to get them thinking about other places in our community that are making art?”
(Photo by Lauren “Chuck” Shows)
Muse Machine was founded in Dayton in 1982, and since then has grown into an organization that serves nearly 80,000 students in central and southwestern Ohio, as well as Indiana and Kentucky, via in-school performances, access to out-of-school performances, residencies, workshops and youth productions. Its annual summer institute — which is provided free of charge for educators — brings together K–12 educators across subject areas to work with professional artists, and offers hands-on workshops and collaborations.
“We know that when we can equip [educators] with the skills to bring the arts into their classrooms, they reach exponentially more students, and they can really deeply impact them in whatever subject they teach,” Reveal said.
This year’s summer institute instructors included storyteller and frequent artist-about-the-village Omopé Carter Daboiku, musician Rick Good and dancer/choreographer Beth Wright — both of the former Dayton folk arts mainstay Rhythm In Shoes — and Westhoff, who is also managing director of Mad River Theater Works. Together, the artist-instructors led sessions on movement, songwriting, narrative structure and the role of tradition in shaping creative expression.
Educators were grouped into small teams to work collaboratively on a final performance, with each group creating an original song and performance based on the week’s theme of “home.”
(Photo by Lauren “Chuck” Shows)
The resulting songs ranged in tone and subject matter, with one group reimagining “Home on the Range” — renamed “Home that We Made” — to reflect the way the concept of home can shift as families grow and communities are built. Another group created “As the Circle Turns Again,” which used the melody of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” to tell a story of ancestry and inheritance.
A third group adapted “This Land Is Your Land” to meditate on immigrant identity and belonging, concluding that “this land was made to be our home.” The most somber of the four, “The Ballad of Guadalupe,” was performed to the tune of the church hymn “Pass It On” and memorialized the lives lost in the catastrophic Texas flood earlier this summer, focusing specifically on the losses sustained in a girls camp.
Katie Burns, a technology teacher at City Day Community School in Dayton, said she found deep connection with her group as they worked on the Guadalupe song.
“It’s a church song,” she said. “But apparently the girls were singing [‘Pass It On’] when they were leaving camp. That’s why we picked it.”
For Burns, who is in her first year teaching and her first year attending the institute, the collaborative nature of the workshops stood out.
“A lot of people here have been teaching for years, so I wasn’t sure how much we would have in common,” she said. “But we all have this passion to teach our children and help them grow.”
(Photo by Lauren “Chuck” Shows)
This year’s theme, Reveal said, grew out of the success of last year’s institute, which focused on Dayton funk music. That deep dive into the area’s history of the funk tradition inspired the organization to explore folk traditions.
“It really opened us up to this idea of focusing on local artists and all of the resources that we have in our community,” she said. “What was built there was this deep pride in Dayton and the music that was made there — so we thought, what other types of art are really born out of community?”
As part of the week’s events, the summer institute also featured guest speakers, including Dayton mixed-media artist Yetunde Rodriguez, World House Choir Director Catherine Roma and WYSO’s Neenah Ellis.
On the morning the News was present at the institute, Ellis gave an hour-long presentation on the history of WYSO and her own history with radio — which began in early childhood, as her father was a DJ in the Chicago area, and her parents built more than one radio station from the ground up. Connecting to the theme of the week’s institute, Ellis noted that her father chose to platform country music as a DJ, in part, because many of his listeners had come to Chicago from areas where country music was prevalent.
“They missed home,” Ellis said. “Radio provided a connection to home.”
Robin Blathers, who teaches eighth-grade social studies at Miamisburg Middle School, said the week’s exploration of music, in particular, helped solidify her current practice of exploring historical context through song — she regularly teaches a unit on the War of 1812 that examines the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” she said. Now, she said, she hopes to expand that practice.
“Incorporating songs that are older, like ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy,’ could help students understand the Revolutionary War,” she said.
(Photo by Lauren “Chuck” Shows)
Using art to make emotional learning visible was central for Karen Wilson, a prevention educator who works with multiple districts through the Montgomery County Educational Service Center. Wilson said her work focuses on helping students learn to self-regulate and understand their emotions — skills she believes the arts can support.
“The arts help you express yourself with your emotions and help manage your emotions,” she said. “I use a lot of singing to help regulate [students], but I want to bring in more movement.”
Wilson said this was her eighth year attending the Muse Machine Summer Institute, and this year’s location in Yellow Springs held special significance for her, as she earned her bachelor’s degree from Antioch University and completed her master’s thesis, which was focused on YS Kids Playhouse, in the Foundry building.
“Just like the theme, it was like coming home to me,” she said.
As the week’s events wrapped up, educators gathered in the Foundry’s experimental space to share the songs they had crafted throughout the week, incorporating theatrical and dance movement into their collaboratively created pieces.
Sharing is part and parcel of the summer institute experience, Reveal said — and it’s what makes the four-day event empowering for educators.
“We’ve had teachers say it’s the best professional development that they go to because it’s very active,” she said. “And we want it to be actionable for educators.”
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