Community Happenings
Things to do in and around the Fort.
Saturday, July 31st, 200 Oak St., Fort Collins
Larimer County Farmers' Market in Old Town! Visit one of the oldest farmers' market in Colorado and buy local veggies, fruit, meat, honey, bread, pasta, plants, etc...
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Saturday, July 31st, Noon - 8:30pm, Civic Center Park
A fundraising event for all of the pet owning and loving residents of Colorado. Enjoy local blugrass music from The Honey Glitters, The Holler!, Mountain Standard Time, Motorhome, and The Drew Emmitt Band and beer from Odell Brewing Company. Proceeds go to The Larimer Humane Society and the Animal House Rescue.
Sunday, August 1st, 2010, 10am-10pm
Twelve hours of music and informative speakers supporting efforts in opposition of uranium mining in northern Colorado.
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"Lost Cyclist" Not Forgotten |
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Author David V. Herlihy talks about cyclist Frank Lenz's failed trip around the world
Written by David Boerner
Photographs by Frank Lenz
Thursday, 22 July 2010
 In May of 1892, Frank Lenz set out from his home of Pittsburgh, PA on a new Victor “safety” bicycle to literally ride around the world. He never made it.
The Lost Cyclist by David V. Herlihy documents Lenz’s journey, his disappearance somewhere near Eastern Turkey, and his subsequent fading from American consciousness.
Entwined in Lenz’s story is the story of William Sachtelben and Thomas Allen, who successfully circumnavigated the globe by bicycle just as Lenz was starting his journey. Sachtelben and Lenz never met, but they were kindred spirits, united by their supreme self-confidence that bordered on pomposity, and by their ambition and interprise. Restless after returning from his two-year world tour to a successful but boring American life, Sachtelben took an opportunity to travel to Turkey and investigate the case of Lenz’s disappearance. He had little success in closing the case, and his trip spiraled out of control when he found himself at the center of the 1984-1986 Armenian Massacres by the Ottoman Empire.
Lost Cyclist author Herlihy is an expert on bicycle history and also the author of Bicycle: The History (Yale 2004).
He will be appearing Saturday, August 7th, 7pm, at the Bean Cycle/Matter Bookstore for a reading and discussion with a slideshow about The Lost Cyclist.
Matter Daily talked to Herlihy recently about his recent book, about the “globe girdlers,” and about how much plaudits these men actually deserve.
Matter Daily: How did you happen upon the story of Frank Lenz?
David V. Herlihy: I’ve been reading late 19th century cycling literature for about twenty years now. I would frequently come across the name of Frank Lenz. I was also aware of an article on Lenz by Irving A. Leonard in the Wheelman Magazine and entitled “Valiant Voyager.”
About twelve years ago, John Kelly of the Washington Post approached me for information on Lenz, knowing that I was a student of cycling history. He was on leave and had undertaken a project to write a book on Lenz. At the time I did not have much information to share. A few years later, after I had lost touch with John, I came across an interesting interview with Lenz in the Pall Mall Budget, conducted by a British journalist who had run across Lenz in the middle of China.
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Wednesday, 21 July 2010 17:12 |
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Wolverine Farm Publishing
NOW HIRING for
Contributing Editor, MatterDaily.org
15 hours per week
Wolverine Farm Publishing, a 501(c)3 non-profit literary/arts organization, is now seeking a Contributing Editor for our website, MatterDaily.org. Primary responsibilities include: writing investigative news stories, community profiles, and daily updates; managing freelance writers and content development; and other tasks as needed. Applicant should have: journalism or professional writing experience; be familiar with the Fort Collins community; a desire to make a difference in our local media landscape; and a strong work ethic. Good writing and editing skills mandatory; public speaking experience a plus; as well as the desire to jump headfirst into the local community. Position could evolve into a full-time job over the course of a few months if so desired. Bicycle commuting encouraged.
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Wolverine Farm Publishing’s DIY Urban Homestead: Settling Your Mind |
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Written by Todd Simmons
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Wednesday, 14 July 2010 15:44 |
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Photo by Jordan Twiggs
What would it be like to create an urban homestead at New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat? A homestead with chickens, gardens, greywater buckets, rainwater barrels, a few Wolverine Farmer’s and a kitchen to center all the hustle and bustle?
Even with an estimated 80,000 dams in the United States, seasonal floods still happen, and this was the case for Wolverine Farm Publishing’s DIY Urban Homestead at the launch of New Belgium Brewing’s 2010 Tour de Fat in Chicago. Thanks to a heavy rain the night before, our homestead was literally under water when we arrived at Palmer Square Park in Chicago, Illinois on June 26th. We scooped and pushed the water off the 25’x 30’ canvas our homestead is painted on. The park was full of bicyclists waiting to go on the bike parade and we were scrambling to salvage our homestead, like so many settlers before us. While the parade took off for a 45-minute ride, we used our Bicycle Water Pump to siphon off the rest of the water, and prepared for the cyclists to return.
We built our homestead to inspire and ignite conversations about self-reliant urban living. We see and read dozens of new books each year at our bookstore about this very subject—why not have a traveling road show, too? When the bicyclists returned we talked chickens, gardening, water conservation, and canning all day long while a full festival of wonderment pulsed around us. Our bicycle water pump proved reliable and awe-inspiring, and while we pedaled to make water fall, we ruminated on how much water it takes to make one automobile (over 39,000 gallons!). Who needs to be involved in an equation like that? We got to show off the new issues of Matter and Boneshaker, and we even had returning customers from last year! Unbelievable joy!
Chicago, thanks for being our first pancake, and good luck with those chickens.
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MORE FORT COLLINS THAN FORT COLLINS
Matter Daily is a news, views, and community website run by staff and volunteers of Wolverine Farm Publishing in Fort Collins, CO. We are always looking for contributors and supporters. If you would like to write for us, please read the submission guidelines and pitch us a story. If you're not a writer but you have an idea for an article, please e-mail anyone on the contact page. And if you just want to give us a big fat check (please) to help continue this project, do so by clicking on the guitar case below.
Thanks and happy reading!
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