That Would Be A Thousand, Then

Just a quickie. New dimensions in overwork and too much to do at home last night. Mrs. C is getting a shiny new knee today and we have to get up at 3:45 for the first surgical appointment of the morning. How unnatural.                            

Cake Boss

Another work in progress. Artist April Morrison (an actual pastry chef) works on a design for Francis Field at Washington University. The 1904 Summer Olympics were held there. We had the World's Fair the same year. We used to be somebody.

The cake in the foreground of the second picture celebrates the St. Louis Walk Of Fame along the Delmar Loop in University City. The list of inductees contains names you wouldn't associate with The Lou. Betty Grable is from here! And Phyllis Diller! The middle cake refers to Joe Edwards, the unofficial mayor of The Loop, and his celebrated bar, restaurant and performance venue, Blueberry Hill. 87 year old St. Louisan Chuck Berry still performs there regularly.                            

Paint Me A Cake

I met the painter Henryk Ptasiewicz four years ago. I was taking pictures in Citygarden while he was making an open air watercolor. I asked if I could photograph him at work. He agreed and we've been friendly ever since.

It turns out that Henryk painted the STL250 cake in front of the Old Courthouse, seen in Sunday's post, and several others that are about to hit the street. And, he invited me over to the "cake factory" yesterday afternoon. In the first and second pictures, he's working on a piece for a Jewish congregation in the suburbs. Martin Luther King once stayed in their residence.

Further down, cakes for the Tivoli Theatre in University City with a Vincent Price theme and another for the airport.                              

Malcolm's Cake

The late Malcolm Martin was a lawyer in downtown St. Louis for many years. We used to work in the same building and I knew who he was, even if I didn't know him. Never married, no children. He created a trust to buy the land in East St. Louis, Illinois, directly opposite the Arch, to preserve the view of downtown for the public. An overlook was built there (seen here a number of times before), graced by his dapper statue.

Martin and the overlook got one of the first STL250 birthday cakes. It's designed to look like a camera (no idea why). There will be more of it later because, when you walk around to the back, the Arch frames it very nicely.

Madeleine Monday                       

The tyke with her first Valentine's card, sent by Grandma Crowe. I think she'll have a taste for calamari when she grows up.                         

Birthday Cakes

A couple more STL250 birthday cakes since Saturday was so busy. No time to shoot, except a few of my granddaughter, for whom there's always time. I spent the day yesterday (and will again today) at a traveling workshop put on by the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. Very good quality and lots of new ideas. Then out to dinner with the next two generations at a new barbeque and taco joint (how could you go wrong?) on Gravois called Spare No Rib.  Good eats. Long day.

So, the top cake is in front of what we call the Old Courthouse, the other outside of the Old Cathedral a block away.  The list of all 250 cake locations, one for every year of the city's history, has been released, but they haven't all been baked and distributed. Lots of them will turn up here through the course of the year.       

Happy 250th Birthday St. Lou!

It's our semiquincentennial! According to people who study such things, it was 250 years ago today (more or less) that French trader and explorer Pierre Laclede, along with his teen-age sidekick, Auguste Chouteau, founded a trading post just south of the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Laclede named it after le saint roi, Louis IX of France. Just look what happened.

As part of the festivities, 250 fiberglass "birthday cakes" are being placed all over the region. The first 50 are up and the lot of them will be around through summer. I'm sure there will be photos of many more but this is certainly #1.

The illustration below is a fanciful account of the event. It is supposed to show Pierre and crew notching a tree to mark the location. Well, they must have marked it the summer before 'cause ain't no one dresses like that here in February.

There is something else to mention that's good about this place.  We get our heat in this region from natural gas. People with little income could get very cold at this time of year. The public utility, Laclede Gas, sponsors an excellent program, DollarHelp, to keep such people warm. Customers like me and my wife voluntarily add a dollar or more to our monthly bill to support the cause. Of course, all contributions are welcome.

DollarHelp reached out to local bloggers to help publicize the program and a contest they are running. They are hosting a “Share the Warmth” photo contest on their Facebook page. Customers will have a chance to win the ultimate winter warm-up – a trip for four to Cardinals Spring Training in Jupiter, Fl., and a meeting with Cardinals star Matt Holliday.  All they have to do is submit a photo demonstrating how they “share the warmth.” Customers who share a photo by Feb. 25th will also be eligible to win one of nine runner-up prizes including regular season tickets to a St. Louis Cardinals home game. So, St. Louis, get snapping.

And happy birthday to us!