7 minute read
TALK OF THE TOWNS
talk
OF THE TOWNS
by bill beggs jr.
ladue
COVID-19 is here for the long haul, which is one of the reasons Schnucks cited for changing its hours and closing most of its stores an hour earlier, beginning Oct. 4. A continuing shortage of labor was also cited, as well as ‘evolving customer shopping patterns,’ whatever the heck that could possibly mean to the average grocery shopper. Stores that closed at 10 p.m. have dialed back closing to 9 p.m. Deli, meat and seafood counters will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Apart from nine exceptions in Missouri, stores throughout Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin will be open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Six stores in the St. Louis area will remain open until 10 p.m.: Arsenal, Cross Keys, Dorsett, Hampton Village, Ladue Crossing, Lindell, Loughborough, Richmond Center and South City. Suffice it to say, if you have a jones for soda, ice cream or salty snacks, from now on after 9 p.m., you’ll probably have to head to the nearest convenience store. For the persecuted smoker, no worries: Schnucks doesn’t sell tobacco products anymore anyhow.
frontenac
You don’t need to be a bookworm to enjoy an evening with bestselling author Mitch Albom. Maybe you’ve seen one of the four TV movies produced from his books, but the book is usually better, you know. The St. Louis County Library (SLCL) is hosting a special in-person ticketed event with Albom, whose memoir Tuesdays with Morrie spent four straight years atop the New York Times bestseller list. Albom will appear at SCLC Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., at 7 p.m. Nov. 6. Albom, also a screenwriter, playwright and nationally syndicated columnist, has written five consecutive No. 1 Times bestsellers. Could-be writers should read this: Albom’s books have collectively sold more than 33 million copies in 42 languages worldwide. He will discuss his new book, The Stranger in the Lifeboat, which some critics assert is his most inspiring and beguiling novel to date. Tickets go on sale Oct. 8 and can be purchased through Eventbrite. Admission includes a copy of the novel, which Albom will sign following the presentation. Albom has also been deemed the nation’s best sports columnist in the country by sports editors. Gives one cause to wonder whether he’s been writing anything about our unstoppable (as of writing) Redbirds.
st. louis
To an unschooled observer such as myself, the views north and south from the eastbound Interstate 64 / Hwy. 40 exit at Kingshighway are a study in jarring contrast: To the north, the expansion of the BJC medical campus seems incessant, with sky cranes nearly always towering over new construction as demolition and replacement of the old continues apace. To the south? Nothing less than an eyesore, what with seven boarded-up residential buildings that have stood vacant since a hotelier’s $100 million plans for two 16-story towers imploded during the Great Recession of the late aughts. A subsidiary of Drury Hotels has sold it to Lux Living, a robust local developer, which proposes to raze the buildings on the east side of Kingshighway and erect a six-story apartment building—144 units with the same number of underground parking spaces—on the site. To this unschooled observer, it’s progress that will upgrade a key intersection and raise our urban self-esteem, if you will. It also should anchor and help reestablish a languishing section of the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood by providing more neighborhood and less urban deterioration. Just a few blocks south at Manchester is a hodge-podge of businesses including a service station/convenience store/car wash and a Subway. Would zoning in those few blocks of Kingshighway have prohibited a car-title loan shop next? Because just to the other side of the interstate and across from BJC is a jewel of the metro: Forest Park. The Lux project might not offer as commanding a park view as 16-story towers would have, but it feels like a good urban plan. It would be a more welcoming sight for visitors—to this unschooled observer, at least.
richmond heights
Some of the most amusing photos I’ve ever seen are of goat yoga sessions. Yes, it’s a thing, even in the metro. Can’t imagine? Google it. YouTube it. It could be the biggest laugh you’ve had so far this week. Or it might make you want to do your own poses with a goat standing on your back, its brethren just all mellowed out around you. But this is a serious publication much of the time. And yoga practitioners take the discipline seriously. That’s not to say we don’t have fun with words, and yoga and fitness enthusiasts certainly have a great time stretching, contorting and, well, relaxing. So, in a few weeks you could take an Impressionist view of your ancient practice. Why not ‘Gogh with the Flow’ at the yoga classes offered during Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience? The Lou’s own Yoga Buzz will hold hour-long classes inside the multimedia exhibition’s Starry Night Pavilion while projections of Vincent Van Gogh’s most famous works surround the participants. The guided experience promises to elevate the mind-body connection and create a dreamy and mystical journey through astonishing, unique visual experiences and glorious sound. Yoga classes will be held each Thursday of the exhibition’s St. Louis residency from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. beginning Oct. 21. Beyond Van Gogh, located on the grounds of the Saint Louis Galleria, kicked off Oct. 1 and is scheduled to run until Nov. 21.
☛TT trivia
MAYBE IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS MITCH ALBOM WILL WRITE SOMETHING IN HIS DETROIT FREE PRESS COLUMN ABOUT THE RECORD-setting winning streak by the St. Louis Cardinals. Yes, it was simply a club record, but for how long had it stood, and how many games in a row had it been back then?
LAST ISSUE’S Q&A
Where in the metro are there fun dining establishments created in large part with metal shipping containers? Rockwell Beer Co. was built in part using metal shipping containers. The containers were also used in the construction of Hi-Pointe Drive-In, on the west side of McCausland just south of the Interstate 64/Hwy. 40 overpass.
clayton
SUZANNE SIERRA WITH CO-FOUNDER OF THRIVECO KATIE SILVERSMITH AND CORTEX DIRECTOR OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND FOUNDER OF STLJUNTOS GABRIELLA RAMIREZ ARELLANO
Suzanne Sierra, senior program manager for the St. Louis Mosaic Project, comes by her role quite honestly. She is the daughter of Colombian immigrants who did not, so to speak, ‘come to our shores.’ In 1963, after blanketing the States with CVs, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jesus Sierra and wife Alicia found themselves in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a town with the same number of syllables as the one they’d come from: Barranquilla, near the Caribbean coast. But there ends any similarity at all. Someone born here might compare it to moving from New York to Mayberry. While Dr. Sierra was swamped at work, his wife was a mom and homemaker learning English by watching TV. Enter serendipity: Margo, a nurse who worked with the surgeon, also was from Colombia. She helped the Sierras navigate life in the South, which wasn’t easy in the Civil Rights era. As Suzanne laments: “I saw it myself growing up.” From Tennessee, Suzanne and her family moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, ... SIERRA, GREGARIOUS where people poked fun at her parents’ accents: “It’s not a bastion BY NATURE, IS IN of multicultural enlightenment.” After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she had a three-year stint working in Chicago HER ELEMENT. and then moved to The Lou in 1990. Sierra parlayed her journalism degree into a career in marketing communications, chiefly to Hispanic audiences, first with Fleishman-Hillard, then Anheuser-Busch. She left corporate life for 10 years to operate Sierra Public Relations, “I missed the camaraderie,” she says. It goes without saying, folks in our hometown thrive on networking,and Sierra, gregarious by nature, is in her element. Mosaic, a program of the World Trade Center-St. Louis, was established in 2012 to help immigrants ease into stateside life in general but St. Louis in particular. Needs range from professional to societal—and these days, one may argue, the foreign-born have a tougher row to hoe in this country. The nonprofit works closely with local ethnic chambers serving Hispanic, Bosnian, African and Asian populations, among others, enhancing services through its International Spouses and Mentoring programs. Mosaic’s mission is to streamline and lessen the anxiety of putting down roots here after relocating from practically anywhere else in the world. It just makes good economic and demographic sense for the StL, and Mosaic’s ambitious goal is to make 25,000 internationals feel at home, and thrive, in our region by 2025. Sierra feels blessed, like she was born for this. By the way, as she can’t help but point out, it’s Hispanic Heritage Month. Visit stlmosaicproject.org. &
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