TALK OF THE TOWNS

talk

OF THE TOWNS

by bill beggs jr.

the metro

What does ‘The Metro’ encompass? Well, usually, it’s the tag for an item in this column that can’t easily be plugged into one municipality or another. For instance, when we talk about masks, we’re not recommending that only folks in, say, Lemay or U. City wear one to protect themselves and others from the omicron variant or whatever iteration of the COVID-19 virus is scaring us to death this week. It means everybody, everywhere in the region. We also venture in our coverage into other Missouri communities, like St. Charles. This brings us to St. Francois County, just south of Jefferson County. Since it has a saint in it, it feels like one of ours. Its seal looks like the assignment a substitute teacher gave a suspended fifth-grader, who fooled around with Photoshop and Microsoft Word, then used Adobe, only to get a D-minus. For readers,

the county is in the metro, kind of: ‘The St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL Combined Statistical Area.’ OK, the image you see here has the requisite bald eagle, American flag and ‘In God we trust’ motto. (Note from substitute teacher, in red: “Capitalization!”) It has a crossed shovel and pick. (“Digging? Oh, mining … it’s the Lead Belt. Clever!”) Plus a Bible and a cross. (“Didn’t we talk about separation of church and state in social studies?”) The eagle can’t fly straight because it’s diving for a fish? Maybe it’s sick from eating fermented crabapples. And the text is off-center.

creve coeur

Starting this weekend, thousands of books will be available for sale at The J’s used book sale at the Staenberg Family Complex. The event will begin with preview day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23, with a $10 admission. It figures—all the best stuff will still be there! Then, on Thursday, Jan. 27, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. admission to the event is free and shoppers can “fill a bag” for $5. Admission is free Monday through Wednesday, Jan. 24-26, when the show runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Swing by to stock up on your winter reading material. And if you’re looking for ‘beach reads’ or for lolling around on your own indoor pool deck, you should be so lucky. Proceeds benefit the cultural arts department at The J. (Important: Suitable face masks required, along with proof of vaccination or results of a recent negative test for COVID-19!)

richmond heights

A huge white tent has occupied the southeast corner of Macy’s Galleria parking lot since Oct. 1. It’s not Famous-Barr anymore and there isn’t a hockey rink or wedding reception underneath the nondescript tent. You’d have to see the west side of the tent, where Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” has been reproduced, big as a barn, or you’d have no clue from the tent’s other three bright-white sides that it houses Beyond Van Gogh - The Immersive Experience. The exhibition has been held over through March 30, the famously troubled artist’s birthday. Is the experience as amazing as it’s been touted to be? A few of the reported 150,000 who’ve seen it let us know what they thought. Leslie Caplan of Olivette, a soprano with the St. Louis Symphony chorus, was underwhelmed, as was one of her two companions. They’re all, one might say, “a sophisticated audience.” Dale, the other underwhelmed party, felt it was ‘Van Gogh-ish.’ As Caplan put it, the experience had been pulled together by artisans, not artists. Dale’s wife, Marsha, however, was absolutely blown away. “I was so jealous that it worked for her,” Caplan said. Expectations can lead to disappointment. The exhibition was anything but a letdown for U. City residents Laurie and Mark Cross, who also spend time in Portageville, where Mark’s business is located. They may go to a play one night, the Rolling Stones the next, and they saw Beyond Van Gogh after Thanksgiving. They both were captivated—immersed, even. “It was a wonderful experience, even for a country boy,” Laurie texted. “Upon entering, it seems … a bit pedestrian reading about Van Gogh’s history, but that came in very handy.” She now recognizes Van Gogh everywhere she hadn’t noticed before. She bought a poster and T-shirt as keepsakes of an experience that was “lingering and lovely” and looks forward to other “immersion” shows. Andrea Vadner of Richmond Heights, a prolific painter and multimedia artist, texted that the exhibition is “wonderful, excepting some very trite gimmicks, like eyes moving. I have never enjoyed the ‘Ken Burns effect’ where things move around … I like to see what I’m looking at.” Vadner, a graduate in printmaking from Wash U., doesn’t think the experience leads to art appreciation; “We already like Van Gogh!!” Visit vangoghstlouis.com for more information.

☛TT trivia

VAN GOGH PAINTED “THE STARRY NIGHT” IN 1889. What event preceded his interpretation of that particular scenic view, along with many others? What did he write in a letter to his brother Theo about this iconic painting?

LAST ISSUE’S Q&A

When did Stan Kroenke vamoose with the St. Louis Rams to L.A., and when did our city and county’s suit against him and the NFL begin? Kroenke just picked up and left with our—OK, his—one-time Super-Bowl-champion football team in 2016. He paid $550 million for that. Of 32 team owners, 30 had approved the move. In 2017, St. Louis city, county et al. filed suit against Kroenke, the Rams, the NFL and its team owners, claiming the league broke longstanding relocation rules designed to avoid antitrust liability.

kirkwood

Might it be challenging for a Webster Groves graduate to set up shop smack in the middle of downtown Kirkwood—Pioneers territory? Well, this Statesmen (class of 1986) is up to it. I’ve heard it said that if you want a job done, done well and done in good time, give it to a busy man. Scott Rinaberger, proprietor of the Pioneer Bakery Café as well as owner of McArthur’s Bakery in South County, is plenty busy, even busier with the omicron variant of COVID-19 sidelining a number of employees on any given day. Pioneer is a pioneering business, especially for a former banker and MasterCard employee who’s as much baker as candlestick maker. The bakery employs workers with intellectual disabilities. But Rinaberger’s an entrepreneur with a heap of visionary folded in, plus a dash of relevant experience. As a young man he’d help his uncle, a schizophrenic, get around town. “My ‘a-ha’ moment was: Why can’t more businesses be part of the hiring chain?” Rinaberger says. First established as a nonprofit, Pioneer became an LLC in January 2020. Its mission statement: “A joint effort of McArthur’s and Lafayette Industries, Pioneer aims to provide a robust fast-casual training program focusing on front- and back-of-house skills for adults with intellectual disabilities. Benefiting from McArthur’s 64 years of bakery experience and Lafayette’s 44 in training adults with disabilities, Pioneer will provide top notch baked goods, food and drink—with an emphasis on empowerment.” Other ingredients were critical to mixing Pioneer’s special dough. His wife, Sheila, has years of experience in special education. Lisa Sinak, who was working the front counter on the Tuesday we met with Rinaberger, retired after 32 years with the Special School District. “She’s kind of the mom of the group,” he says. (If she rolled her eyes at that, we didn’t catch it.) “We’re concentrating on jobs above minimum wage, and the food world may not be their end goal.” Lafayette’s StepUp program trains for rudimentary workplace expectations such as good hygiene, proper dress and coping skills. Some, for instance, may act out when frustrated. Any job is stressful, but everyone must move out of their comfort zone. If they don’t want to work with customers, Pioneer and Lafayette help ease that interaction. Rinaberger is not in business to lose money, of course. He expects each employee to be dependable, and holds them accountable. But it’s sheer joy to share successes with this group. “Their gratitude motivates me. This has always been in my blood, but it’s never a job. It’s an addictive mission.” Visit thepioneer-stl.com (or mcarthurs.com). &

... THEIR GRATITUDE MOTIVATES ME.”

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