Interview with Waynet: Jane Holman, Director & Photographer (Republished from 3/6/14)

Image Source: Self Portrait, Jane Holman

Waynet is an on-line gem of  all things local for Wayne County residents and visitors. Jane Holman, the expert behind the site is both Director of Waynet, avid photographer and all around awesome local lady. Because Jane is the head of Waynet and because she has amassed an outstanding collection of images of not just Richmond, but all of Wayne County, I requested a brief interview. She was gracious enough to respond! Here we go:


Since 1997, Waynet has existed as an on-line community resource for both residents and visitors of Wayne County, Indiana, what are some of the successes you've witnessed as the Director?

"The most important success is that WayNet.org is still here and still serving the community.  Community networks were created in more than 30 counties across Indiana in the mid-90's and very few of them remain.  We found a niche and a loyal group of members who continue to support our mission. 

Our visitor base has grown from a monthly average of less than 3,500 in 1998 to over 50,000 a month currently. That doesn't include the additional people we reach with our Flickr, Twitter and Facebook accounts.  That's a lot of positive light we're able to shine on Wayne County!

Jane Holman Photo: Source (copyright)

As a photographer, how has your immediate surroundings inspired you? What are some of your favorite shots showcasing the beauty of Richmond?

I like to use photography to put a focus on the positive, beautiful and interesting things I see right here in our own community.  It's too easy to pass by people or places daily and become so used to them, you don't really "see" them.  The camera forces you to think about color, light and composition and in the process of doing that - you see familiar places in a new way.  









With nearly 10.000 photos total on my personal Flickr and the WayNet Flickr account, it's too difficult to pick favorites, but I gravitate to the ones that feature nature, people having fun at local events, and those that would cause me to go - "Hey...I'd like to visit there!" - if I didn't already know the location!  

Jane Holman Photo: Source 

I hope your readers will visit the Wayne County, Indiana Flickr group too.  We have a lot of very talented photographers here in Wayne County that have contributed to the group.  Scrolling through the photos is like looking at a "year in the life" of Wayne County, Indiana."
  
What do you love most about our city/county?

"So many things!  I like the landscape.  I've lived near oceans and mountains, but I find I'm more of a rivers and hills kind of gal.  I like the wide variety of cultural opportunities - museums, theater, symphony. The values the community holds make it a good place to raise a family.  And, it has to be said, it's so easy to visit nearby metropolitan areas for the big city benefits and still not have to deal with the big city headaches of traffic, pollution and noise on a daily basis."

Do you have a best Richmond memory?

"Times with family and friends, of course, but also watching the fireworks from Roosevelt Hill in Glen Miller Park, cheering our high school basketball team at the sectional in Civic Hall, watching parades, catching up with friends and neighbors at the Wayne County 4-H Fair, taking my boys to Morrisson-Reeves Library, bicycling along the Cardinal Greenway."

As a lifelong Richmond resident, have you noticed a shift in attitude or greater positivity in the community recently?

"I think it's something we as a community seem to be more aware of and I do see a shift towards a more positive attitude.  There are a lot of positive things happening in Richmond and Wayne County right now.  The positive change in the Depot District over the past few years has been huge.  I see great things happening with our local museums and important collaborations taking place.  With Richmond being named a Stellar Community we're going to continue to see additional exciting changes take place downtown.  We still have big issues to deal with, it's true, but so do most other communities.  

As we learn to toot our own horn regarding the many wonderful events, restaurants, recreational opportunities, etc. that are happening here, those outside our borders are starting to notice and spread the word.  That's going to keep the ball rolling and hopefully we'll gain even greater momentum towards a positive landslide!"

Waynet: Image Source

Thank you so much for your dedication to our community on-line and off, for sharing your beautiful photography and for your time spent on the Local-Lady! 

I would encourage my readers who want to brush up on local history, find a local business, or just browse and enjoy the beauty of our nick of the woods, to visit Waynet, Richmond and Wayne County's on-line community resource. When you do, be sure to send a note of thanks to the Director, Jane Holman for keeping the Waynet site of All Things Local running!


Related Posts:

Interview with Scott Zimmerman, City Planner 
Interview with Local Author, Connie Wooldridge


Pertinent Links:

Waynet
Wayne County, Indiana Flickr

Blooming in Richmond

"Bloom where you are planted." 

St. Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva (1567-1622)

The author of Just Pieces, quibbled with the phrase "bloom where you are planted". I too am a quibbler. I am not native to Richmond. I was not born here. It might be better to say "Bloom where you are transplanted" or "Bloom where you consciously choose to bloom", but who am I to argue with saints?

As a child, I never bothered to know the street names or the use of buildings. I didn't know the beautiful upright piano I grew up playing with was made here by the Starr company. I didn't know much really. I only knew that this city seemed small, like myself. It is my most familiar landscape. My brother and I ate clover leafs as babies in our front yard. We splashed in the creeks. All of my siblings have gone to school here, worked here, played here. My children were all born here. I've fallen in and out and in love again here.

For the greater parts of my life, this has been and is my setting. I spent most of my youth unaware, unappreciative of my surroundings. I'm remedying that and looking at my hometown with a renewed lens. The more I explore this setting, the less I feel like I am floating or merely drifting blindly in a current of life, and more and more I own a sense of place.

I am looking at Richmond, Indiana from different angles: visiting neighborhoods and turning down streets I never knew existed. I find myself lingering over new perspectives, underneath bridges, atop tall structures and meandering along outdoor trails, & finding beauty, whether it is as obvious as a rose in the Richmond Rose Garden or an unexpectedly cultivated corner in what I perceived to be a forgotten alley.

A Garden behind the E Street Pub

I am even learning the names and histories of the wild things thriving in my backyard. You may not realize some weeds are native, useful & very interesting... The Compass Plant was used by Native Americans to treat asthma. The dried sap was chewed by natives and pioneers like a gum. The leaves often point North and South allowing travelers to orient themselves.

Compass Plant

It is another summer in Richmond, and the familiar songs of cicadas ringing in the thick air resounds. The same clovers are spreading like green and white and yellow carpets. Honeybees are visiting them, & I hear my own voice calling to the children & sounding just like my mother's "Watch your feet".

Richmond, Indiana, A Place for Everyone

Dear Richmond, my children are learning your street's names. We are blooming.

Interview with Local Author, Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge

On a recent trip to Morrison Reeves, my children and I sought out copies of books by local author, Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge. We were delighted by her historical non-fiction! The children especially enjoyed Just Fine The Way They Are a story about the formation of our nation's highway system. Connie and I exchanged e-mails. I'll share some of our dialogue below:

Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge

Connie, you live in the Richmond area. What is one person, place or thing that keeps you living and loving this area?

When my husband and I were considering relocating to Richmond back in 1991, two things about the place really stood out.  The first was Morrisson-Reeves Library.  It was organized, friendly, obviously well-run.  I could see myself spending lots of time there and, as a writer, that was important to me.  The second was the Richmond Symphony Orchestra.  I was stunned and delighted to learn that the community had supported the Symphony for decades.  On that initial visit, knowing nothing about Richmond, both Morrisson-Reeves and the Symphony spoke volumes.  They told me what the people of this area value and what they are capable of coming together to create and sustain.  I knew this was a place I could love being a part of and I wasn’t disappointed.  I’m just finishing a two-year term as president of the Richmond Symphony Board and the folks at Morrisson-Reeves know me.  They know me well!

You primarily write historical non-fiction and children's books. What drew you to these particular genres?

Early on I dabbled in fiction when I wrote for Highlights for Children and Cricket Magazine.  But my first non-fiction magazine article about the friendship of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams was just such a joy to write I knew it was my thing.  I loved not having to worry about the plot:  in both non-fiction and the retelling of folktales (which I also love) the plot is a given.  That frees me up to focus on teasing out the best narrative flow and telling the story in the most engaging way I can.  I also love the research part of writing non-fiction.  Visiting archives where old letters and diaries are stored and actually holding them in my hands (often wearing special gloves!) is thrilling.  I write for children and young adults because they are a demanding audience and I respect the demands they make of me:  honesty, clarity, brevity, and most of all fun!

Do you have a favorite out of your books?

That’s a question I’m asked a lot and it’s a hard one.  I suppose I will always have a tender spot in my heart for my very first picture book Wicked Jack, which came out in 1995.  We had a prickly relationship, Jack and I, and at one point I was determined to just file the manuscript in a drawer.  But Jack wore me down, I sent his story off and it’s become something of a Halloween classic.  I can still hear him saying “I told you so!”

One of your books has an almost local slant “Just Fine the Way They Are” is a story about the formation of our nation's highway system with a slight focus on Old National Road, Highway 40. How did you decide to write a book about this particular subject?

I discovered the National Road right about the same time my family moved to Richmond.  It was the subject of an issue of Cobblestone, a great U. S. history magazine for kids I subscribe to.  I remember thinking “A road.  How boring is that???”  After I finished that magazine, I knew the National Road was anything but boring.  I started reading and researching but, for several years, couldn’t find a story in the middle of all the interesting facts and anecdotes.  Then I came upon a reference to Mr. John Slack, who thought The Road shouldn’t be built because things were just fine the way they were.  Bam!  I had a title and a storyline and I was off to the races!

Another subject of your writing is Edith Wharton, a person and subject you have studied passionately. When did you discover Edith for yourself and what about Edith made you decide to write her biography?

Back in 1995 and 1996, I took some English courses at Earlham College and Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth was one of the books I was assigned to read.  A new Wharton biography (No Gifts From Chance by Sheri Benstock) had just been published, and I devoured it because I liked House of Mirth so much I wanted to know more about the woman who wrote it.  When I finished that biography, I knew Wharton was a woman young people would be interested in.  She was part of Old New York Society, which frowned on novelists in general (let alone female novelists!) but she managed to make her escape from a life of pampered leisure because she simply had to write…stories poured out of her from a very young age.  Her charitable work during World War I (when she was living in Paris and decided to stay rather than relocate to a safer place) also intrigued me.  She had silk sleeves but she was capable of rolling them up and getting to work when action was called for.

Is there another book in the works?

I’m currently at work on a second biography for junior high/high school readers of Emily Post, author of the most well-known etiquette book ever written.  Emily is ten years younger than Edith Wharton and, since they were both upper class New Yorkers, this new book seems almost a historical sequel to The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton.  I also have the bare beginnings of a non-fiction picture book set in the early days of the Roman Republic and a piece of middle-grades fiction sitting off to the side of my desk in case I hit a rough patch with Emily and need a break.

Indeed, Richmond is rich in cultural resources: our excellent public library, orchestras and community arts enrich us all. We are blessed by the contributions made by our local authors, musicians and artists. Thank you so much Connie! I am glad you live here. I am glad you make history come alive for your young readers. 

The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton, a biography of Edith Wharton is a wonderful read, and I can't wait to read and share more of your stories with loved ones in the future!

For more information about Connie and her books, please visit her website.

Richmond Native Experiences South Korea: Interview with Steven Wilcox

It recently came to my attention that a fellow Richmond graduate has been living abroad and teaching in South Korea. I contacted Steven Wilcox to hear his adventure story and he was willing to share it with the Local-Lady audience! Here we go: 

Steven instructing a classroom of children in Seoul.

You spent some years in the Richmond area, what's your best Richmond memory?

Walking in the woods around the Arboretum and Glen Miller. I really miss forests.

You are in Seoul, capital of South Korea, which is the world's second largest metropolitan area, teaching English as a second language. How did this come about?

I've always been interested in Asian culture and after studying abroad in Japan thought it would be fun to try out another Asian country.

That's right! I believe you were one of Mr. Brook's Japanese language students at Richmond High School. So you have been a student of Asian culture for many years. 

What influenced you to take this life path? Although, I'm not surprised. I remember you pretty well from Richmond High School. You were a nice funny, smart guy and retroactively I can totally see you growing up to be one of those really cool memorable teachers! 


I studied Cultural Anthropology and Japanese in college and I've always been interested in living in another country and experiencing a different way of life. This was by far the easiest way to travel and get paid to do it.


Did you travel as part of a group or organization? 

No. Although there are plenty of groups such as JET (The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) and EPIK (English Program in Korea), I came with my significant other and it was much easier to come through a recruiter than through an organization. It's incredibly easy to do what I'm doing. As long as you have a bachelors degree, enjoy traveling and you're open minded and flexible all you have to do is look around online.

Steven and his significant other in front of a Buddhist temple.

You had the opportunity to visit a temple and enjoy tea time with a monk! What was that like?

The temple stay was interesting, though it was a lot different than I had expected. We went with a group called WINK (When In Korea) that does different tours throughout Korea, so we were part of a large group of about 35 to 40 foreigners. The purpose of a temple stay is to live the way monks do for a day, but because we were part of a large group that needed a lot of instructions translated, things went slowly and there wasn't much time for personal reflection.

The tea time was interesting, but after staying the night at a jjimjilbang (basically a bath/sleep house) and traveling all day everyone was exhausted. We had tea for about an hour, but the Q&A with the monk was a little lackluster due to general fatigue and a lot of things getting lost in translation.

Overall it was fun, but it wasn't relaxing in the least and it wasn't much of a learning experience. I feel like I have a better understanding of the life of monks from reading books and articles online.

Do you ever plan on returning to the land of Hoosiers? 

Who knows? I will be returning to the USA on May 3rd, but I'll be living in Chicago.

Is there anything you have learned or experienced in Korea that you would like to share with people in Richmond, IN?

If someone doesn't speak the same language as you, getting angry and repeating yourself louder and louder isn't the answer. Next time you see someone from another country looking bewildered take a moment and try to put yourself in their shoes. Show some patience and be respectful.


That is excellent and timely advice. Richmond seems to be growing more and more diverse and I think with change and growth everyone could use a little more empathy. You have the experience through traveling of actually being the foreigner in an unfamiliar country, which I can only imagine being bewildering at times!

I can recall seeing instances in Richmond of persons being frustrated with, for example a Spanish speaker, and yelling never helps! Although I like to think that most Richmond residents have learned and moved past such actions, as I've not seen a scenario like that for many years, misunderstanding and impatience are always a problem. 

Steven Wilcox and his classroom pose for a photo.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions, Steven! I wish you both a safe journey on your way to the States! I am sure your students will miss you both!

Sprout of Control

I recently contacted via e-mail a new group forming in the Richmond area, Sprout of Control is Susan Isaacs, Wayne County's trustee, Jessica Clark of Porter Advertising, and Bethany Norwalt, who is busily at work many hours in a designated Sprout of Control greenhouse area. I thought it would be great to ask them some questions to get the scoop on Richmond's community gardening initiative! Susan Isaacs graciously answered me. Our transcript is below:

Image Source

spearheaded by three local ladies:

Great name! Where does it come from?

I have to defer to Jessica and Bethany on this one - when I heard it I loved it, but I cannot say where the inspiration came from...

I'm so sad not to hear the back story on that, as I absolutely love the name! Kudos to the clever person for coining it! What prompted the formation of this community garden project? How did you all meet?

A community garden was started last year at Sylvan Nook Church through a partnership between my office (Wayne Twp Trustee) and the Sylvan Nook Church. This year, I believe Bethany and Jessica attended the BOOST event and became interested in (and then passionate about) starting community gardens in Richmond. Jessica heard about the Sylvan Nook garden and called me. The three of us decided that by merging resources and working together we could have a greater impact and Sprout of Control was born.

Are you interested in sustainability and organic gardening methods? If so what kinds of sustainable/organic actions are you implementing in your work? 

We are very interested in all of the above! We hope to incorporate these things into the gardens as much as possible. Again, I think Jessica and Bethany may have more to say on this - they are very passionate about upcycling...

Jessica weighs in: 

One thing we are doing is rain barrel systems for water conservation. Porter Advertising has donated parcels and polyethylene posters (ad poster materials) that we are using for many different projects. We have been using 2 liters pop bottles and pizza boxes in the seeding process.  We will be using many up cycled materials such as wood pallets and rubber tires.

I can't wait to see further conservation and up cycling efforts made through your project. I think it has a real potential to empower people not just by growing their own food but also to empower them to really try out better environmental habits through their new awareness and experiences found in gardening. 

I've heard your gardens will be included in the RAM's Garden Tour this year! I love to see existing groups working together in our community. Are there any plans in the works to collaborate more with existing companies or nonprofits? It would be great to see involvement with the Clear Creek Co-op!

We have many ideas for future collaboration - everything from gardening classes by local master gardeners (through Wayne County Extension) to canning events to end-of-season feasts. There are so many opportunities to do so much around the garden project. The community has been incredibly supportive of the garden project. The challenge so far is not lack of ideas and opportunities, it is simply making sure we stay focused on the gardens first - we have to do everything we can to make the gardens successful, which means we are focused on doing everything we can to get as many people involved in actually working in the gardens and helping them reap a wonderful harvest!

How can people apply for a plot? How much of a commitment do you expect from members?

Open Registration is Saturday April 13. People can also get registered by contacting any of the three of us - my office phone is 973-9392 or we can be reached at our sprout of control gmail address (sproutofcontrol@gmail.com). In a nutshell, those who sign up for plots are expected to take care of them. We want the gardens to be kept up and we want them to be fruitful. There are not a lot of rules...

How would you encourage someone who doesn't necessarily have the time to commit to a community plot, but who is interested in being a part of Sprout of Control to get involved?

Everyone is welcome to come to our Big Dig days (tentatively set for April 27 but dependent on weather and soil readiness). People can donate tools and supplies. People can help spread the word. People can donate money too - we have to pay for our water usage and buy equipment and supplies that are not donated. People can like our Facebook page to help expand our reach. We need garden coordinators/directors for each garden. We need canning jars and supplies. Experienced gardeners can volunteer to be at a garden once a week or once a month to help inexperienced gardeners be more successful! Any and all are invited to participate in whatever way they are able!!!

What are your goals for this year? What are your goals in the next five?

This year we want our gardens to thrive and for the gardeners to have fun and enjoy the fruits (and veggies) of their labor. Two new gardens is a big challenge. We will also be supporting the Hope House garden and a garden at Noah's Ark daycare. For me, the goal is to get these gardens (and the Sylvan Nook garden) up and running - with plenty of gardeners and support.

In five years, I would be thrilled to see 10-15 neighborhood community gardens all over the city of Richmond. Every neighborhood has at least one garden. There are small flower gardens drizzled throughout the city. Where there once were drab, colorless signs of urban blight, there are now green and colorful gardens, sprouting out all over the city! I believe people are sick and tired of all the negative - establishing and nourishing the growth of community gardens does much more than produce veggies. Community gardens build neighborhood pride and a sense of community.

I agree, and I am sure the gardens will be something all of Richmond will take pride in! Thank you so much Susan Isaacs, and ladies of Sprout of Control for graciously answering my interview request! I wish all of the gardens this year a very abundant harvest!

If you are interested in learning more about Sprout of Control, "like" their community Facebook page to stay in the loop. Visit them at their informational/registration meetings held throughout Richmond next week on April 13th at the Richmond Farmer's Market in the Townsend Center, the Innovation Center or the Depot. Please feel free to check the Official Local-Lady Community Calendar for the dates, times and locations for these upcoming events and more!

This is a wonderful opportunity to beautify the city, engage and enrich the lives of our residents. Kudos, Sprout of Control!