This afternoon as I was working, I started hearing everyone in my office shouting to one another. I looked out my window and everything outside was black from smoke. Fire engines started blaring, and things got really hectic. I don’t know the details, but the old Midland Savings Building (the one set to implode on Nov. 8th) was on fire. Natalie with Downtown Midland, Inc. emailed me these pictures.
Its all about family time for me this weekend! First, my 8 year-old daughter is having one of her classmates spend the night. So, stupid me, asked her what they wanted to do tonight, and told her we would do whatever they wanted… Oh, my, I forgot that High School Musical 3 is opening today. So, tonight, I will be fighting lines and trying to get a decent seat for the three of us at the movie theatre. I’m trying to buy our tickets online at www.gohollywood.com to avoid at least one line, but I keep getting an internal error. I hope that doesn’t have anything to do with every other mother of an 8 year old out there trying to get tickets too!
Okay, so moving on, there are a several things going on tomorrow that are family friendly in the downtown area. First is the Farmers’ Market (see Farmer Matt’s email below of what will be there this week). Also, the City of Midland Parks and Recreation Division is hosting Jack-O-Lantern Jam. It will be from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Dennis the Mennace Park. There will be music, food vendors, games, contests, door prizes, and pumpkin painting. Costumes of good taste are welcomed. Families and children of all ages are invited to attend. For more information, check out the City Website at http://www.ci.midland.tx.us/.
Hope to see everyone out tomorrow, taking advantage of the gorgeous weather and great family activities. I plan to be out, assuming I survive tonight!
Farmer Matt’s Weekly Email:
I’m a bit late on getting this out to you so I’ll make it short and sweet this week. Hope all is well in your world. Remember to come to the Midland Downtown Farmers’ Market. Tell your friends and family, better yet, bring them with you to experience Midland’s best source for local flavor.
As the election of our new president and other civil servants draws near, know that your true vote for what is important to you is where and what you spend your money on. So invest your money in your home, in your community, where you are an important part of the wheel. Know where your hard earned dollar stays, not goes. That’s enough of the rant.
http://www.bigbendcoffee.com/. We have several different roasts to suit each palette. We also have different teas and hot chocolate.
Schuyler Wight will have locally raised longhorn beef products.
David and Marta Beard of Golden Bouquet with local honey products.
Audrey White of Granny & Grans with sweet and zesty relishes.
Brandi Willingham will have body care products and gift baskets by Earthy Essentials.
Chocolate Creations will return with gifty paint cans.
Michelle of MAK’S will have really cool knitted goods.
Kathy Kubeth of Kathy’s Kreations will be back with excellent mosaic artwork.
And lastly but not leastly, Bunny. Miss Bunny has beaucoup of breads and baked benevolence.
Forward this to your close and far ones.
The Midland Downtown Farmers’ Market is open Saturdays from 9a.m.-1p.m. April - November @ 501 W Texas Ave. under the Green.
Peace Out
Farmer Matt
My husband and I went to Wall Street today for lunch. When I told him that I wanted to go there, he said “Okay, I’ll pick you up at 11:15.” I didn’t even hesitate, and told him I’d meet him in front of my building. He was there at 11:15 sharp and we immediately drove over there for lunch. As we walked in the front door at about 11:18, we were not alone. Several other parties walked in with us and several of the tables were already taken. You see, the reason we arrived so early is that we knew that if we were not there before 11:30, the place would be full and we would have to wait for a table.
I used to go to lunch at 11:30 because 12:00 was the time all the restaurants got crowded. Now, certain places such as Wall Street, King and I, and Luigi’s are for the most part full by 11:30. If you arrive at 11:35, its not uncommon for you to have a wait! So, thus I ask… is 11:15 the new noon? (This makes me feel like Carrie Bradshaw when I ask questions like this, so just bare with me through my delusions).
On as separate note, a post on the message board recently referenced a new coffee house coming downtown. Here’s the post if you missed it:
telliot wrote: If you look across wall st from the courthouse you can see the new location of the “old ground floor”. It’s right next to cristiani’s jewelry. Some bought all the old equipment from the ground floor coffee shop and moved it down the street to a new location. Renovations are complete and it should be open very soon. Hang in there.
Okay, I’m not so good at “hang in there,” so I had to go look for myself. Sure enough, through the windows of West Wall Towers, just where telliot said it would be… I saw a coffee house that was close to opening! The espresso machines were installed and the coffee bean grinders were sitting right beside them. Boxes of cups and other coffee bar paraphernalia were sitting on the counters waiting to be unboxed . If this is your project, I love the way things are looking and can’t wait to be one of your first customers. Thanks for putting a coffee house back in downtown!
Earthy Essentials Body Care
Good afternoon!
I just returned home from what I consider to be a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning in Midland. My daughter and I left the house around 8:30, ran by the ATM to get cash, and then headed downtown to the Downtown Farmers’ Market (see blog below for details). It was a beautiful, crisp morning, so the coffee and hot chocolate waiting for us upon our arrival were a welcome site.
As it hit 9:00 on the dot, I headed to Grace, the tomato grower, to pick out an assortment of her beautiful and delicious tomatoes. She had numerous varieties, so I picked out enough to fill a bag full of camparis, big beef, and Cherokees. You see, I’ve been here before and I know the tomatoes go the quickest. Its sometimes a wrestling match depending on what the quantity is on that Saturday. This Saturday was good though, and there were enough tomatoes for everyone to have their adequate share.
Next, I headed over to Farmer Matt’s table. Its always a joy to visit with Matt. He’s so passionate about what he does, and as the organizer of this market, has really stood by his commitment to high quality, and organic or natural products only. His table is always full of colorful and aromatic herbs, squash, okra, onions and garlic. His produce is generally the catalyst behind my Saturday evening dinners, or Sunday baking (I love to get the big zucchini’s for zucchini bread).
Today, there was a new vendor for me. The Wight family was selling locally raised longhorn beef. My daughter immediately ran over and bought some jerky. After I had bought everything else I was going to get, I met her over there and bought a pound of grain-fed beef tenderloin. Between that, the campari tomatoes, and the acorn squash that I bought today, we are going to have one delicious meal tonight!
I had met a bunch of girlfriends at the market this morning, so after we were done shopping, we all walked over to The Bar for brunch. Now if you’ve never been to The Bar for Saturday brunch, you are really missing a great treat! Beware though, the portions are huge! They offer everything from Huevos Rancheros to Eggs Benedict to Deep Fried French Toast, and everything in between. I got the frittata this morning, and it was loaded with green chilies and chorizo. It was delicious!
So ends my perfect Saturday morning. Good weather, good company, good food, and good produce. What else could you ask for? Nothing… if you’re this Downtown Junkie.
One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday mornings is going to the Downtown Farmers Market. For those of us who are loyal customers, it has become quite the social scene for us. Its a time for us to all greet each other and discuss all of the wonderful produce grown locally, not to mention organically. My daughter loves it, and has already hit up Farmer Matt for a job next spring!
Here is an email that Farmer Matt has sent out that I want to share with all of you who maybe don’t know what to expect when coming out. Hope to see everyone out there Saturday morning!
As always I hope this note finds you well. We only have 7 more Saturdays for the Midland Downtown Farmers’ Market, so definitely make a point to come down and support all of our hard-working local producers and artists. With the mornings starting out a little chillier, now’s the perfect time to start your weekend off right by coming early and getting a hot cup of java, tea, or cocoa. We start serving these hot delights at 8:45.
This week Bunny’s back bearing baked breads. We also will have Schuyler Wight offering local longhorn beef. The Dominguez family will have roasted Big Jim green chiles along with other excellent produce from Pecos. TBA farms will have various herbs, peppers, greens, and more than I can mention here. Grace will be back with heirloom hydroponically grown tomatoes. Wholistic Gardens will have heirloom produce including but not limited to mustard greens, radishes, okra, tomatoes, pumpkins, winter squashes, basil, parsley, and leeks. Kathy’s Kreations will have mosaic crosses and other beautiful artwork. Golden Bouquet returns with local honey products. Granny & Grans also returns withsuper good sweet and zesty relishes. Oh Marla! will be offering her jammin’ jewelry. Michelle with MAK’S will have fantastic knitted items, good stuff. Earthy Essentials has excellent body care products and gift baskets. Chocolate Creations will offer crafty personalized paint can gifts. And lastly but definitely not leastly, Elizabeth will be selling and serving the coffee for the Midland Downtown Farmers’ Market.
Remember to reply if you would like future information regarding a Spring CSA and possible winter veggies. For those that have already replied, I got it and will send out an update as the details arise.
The Midland Downtown Farmers’ Market is located at 501 W Texas Ave. on Saturdays from April - November starting at 9a.m. and ceasing at 1p.m.
Regards
Farmer Matt
Thank you so much to everyone that came out last night, in spite of the rain. The music was great, and it was awesome getting to see all of you! Pictures are starting to get posted now of the event, so don’t forget to check them out. Thought I’d quickly post my personal favorite…
I am so behind on this blog thing, its not even funny! As much as I like to talk, you would think that I would have jumped on this a long time ago. This is the perfect forum for someone like me. I can express my opinions or whatever I want to rant about, with absolutely no interruptions or anyone telling me to cut it short. But I haven’t… until now.
So, now I’m getting with the times, and VERY excited to talk about LIVE Midland and the potential I see in Downtown Midland. I’ve always been a downtown kinda girl (hence the name “Downtown Junkie”). I always thought downtown was a cool place, even when I was growing up here. I remember Midland’s Centennial Celebration and coming to Midland Center and Centennial Plaza for the World’s Largest Cake (at least I think that’s what it was… I was young, and it SEEMED REALLY BIG). I thought then, “This must be were everyone hangs out!” OK, I was wrong. After that, growing up, my visits downtown were limited to a couple times a year - Celebration of the Arts, and the occasional special family dinner to Wall Street or Luigi’s.
However, in high school and college, I really developed my fondness for downtown. I was in Summer Mummers for 5 years, which started my sophomore year at Midland High and ended my junior year at Baylor. I would actually come home each summer just so I wouldn’t missing being in the show. I loved everything about it, but ESPECIALLY getting to perform in the historic Yucca Theatre. It was hard for me to believe then that people considered downtown “dead” when, from what I saw, there was so much life and energy going on in that theatre every Thursday through Saturday during the summer months. And even now, 15 years later, my love and appreciation of the Yucca Theatre and the tradition that Summer Mummers has to offer Midland and its summer visitors continues. Its just now I show that appreciation from the audience, heckling the actors and throwing massive handfuls of popcorn.
When I graduated from college, I did what most kids growing up in Midland do - I didn’t move back. Instead, I was wooed to the big city life of Houston. I lived the life I thought I was meant to live. I had a great career full of opportunities and lived in the Galleria area, taking full advantage of the ‘trendy’ life that was available to me. Houston began renovating its downtown during this time, and lofts and even trendier restaurants, bars, and shops were all the rage for the 20-something crowd.
It was during this time that I got married and had my daughter. Needless to say, my downtown lifestyle was relocated to the suburbs of Houston. As the additional stress of trying to work in Houston and still have a meaningful family life caught up with us, my husband and I decided to move to Midland in late 2002. For me, it was coming back home. For him, it was moving to a small town for the first time. His roots were in Houston, but he was open to the less demanding lifestyle that Midland could offer over his hometown.
So, here we are… six years later. Never once looking back at the decision we made or second guessing ourselves. Obviously, we came here at the beginning of the economic boom that was taking place in Midland (and had left Houston at the time Enron was collapsing). But it was so much more than that. We are able to have successful careers, loads of quality family time together, and be involved in the community. We have a network of friends that are stronger and closer than we ever could have had in a big city where sometimes you live hours apart and no one can ever seem to find the time to all get together.
But despite all of the changes in my life, I am still a Downtown Junkie. Whether its a small town or a big town, you can bet that if I can find a reason to hang out, eat, or work downtown, that is where I’ll be!