It's that time of year again. Butler's Homecoming and the Butler Bulldog Beauty Contest. It is Saturday, October 12th and if you are reading this fresh off the press you have time to make it, otherwise it will have come and gone before the next issue. This is Indianapolis' opportunity for a fun, FREE Saturday morning that shouldn't be missed. Bring the whole family. Experience the chill of an October morning as fall settles in. The contest will behold more than 100 Bulldogs that will have you laughing so hard you will be in tears. Every year it gets crazier and more imaginative as in the Marilyn Monroe look alike with a blonde wig and cleavage, or ET in a bicycle basket, or Little Bo Peep (a young girl) walking out her sheep (a Bulldog covered in cotton balls). Oh, just go see for yourself. The kids will love the bounce house and face painting. There are coffee and food trucks. It is a major production set up in the middle of the campus with dogs scheduled to waddle across the big skirted stage at 10:00 AM.

On another note I read with interest Matthew Tully's column in The Sunday Star, October 6th, 2013. The headline of the column was Risk-takers who saw potential have created a destination. He said "There's something uniquely exciting about urban renewal, particularly the organic kind driven by local entrepreneurs with a dream, and there's a great example of it in the midtown area of the city. I call it "The L" because that's how it's shaped. It's an undefined area that starts loosely at 49th and College, goes north to 54th Street and then juts east a bit past the Monon Trail." He's talking about my turf and I proudly accept the term "risk-taker" for indeed I was when I opened my first City Dogs Grocery location at 661 E. 49th Street. The Broad Ripple Gazette featured a picture of the storefront in a recent issue. It announced with the picture the present business Agrarian, a new urban homesteading and supplies store. Andrew Brake is one of the owners and as he was about to open the new business he reached out via email to find sponsors for the 3rd Annual Nap Town Chickens Tour de Coop. The event took place on Sunday, September 22nd in Broad Ripple, Meridian-Kessler, Butler-Tarkington and Rocky Ripple neighborhoods. There was to be a dozen show coops on the tour with a bicycle-friendly route. Also scheduled was an ol' fashioned egg-tossing contest after the tour at the parking lot across the street from Agrarian. I emailed Andrew back and welcomed him to my former location. I told him it had served me well until we outgrew it and moved north to the next intersection. I went on to say that "when we leased 661 E. 49th Street we were pioneers. The block was scary. . . it still is across the street. But then along came Paw Patch Place and Upland. Now it's the "in" place to be with Recess and Sinking Ship. I like to think that I started it all. The building has quite a history these last seven years. The Paw Patch people can tell you. I had an alarm system from day one. It only cost $20 a month and was great peace of mind. I never had much of value but it did have a panic alarm for safety. When I first moved in there were a lot of panhandlers and weirdos bumming money and lots of drunks due to the liquor store. But that all cleaned up with neighboring businesses coming in. I was down there by myself and it was freaky. I wished him and his partners good luck with the new venture, told him to enjoy the track lighting I left behind and attached some photos. I then met him in person at the BR Farmer's Market where he had a big coop set up. So from those words in my email you can see that I was a risk-taker at 49th Street. It pleases me so to see that our little "SOBRO" has caught on and gets the attention of newspaper columnists. I have emailed M. Tully at times. He lives in our midst. I appeal to him to help bring focus to that blighted NW corner. It needs to be more than a place to have an ol' fashioned egg-tossing contest. Tully got on a roll lately in one of his columns about the Shell station redevelopment in Broad Ripple on College Avenue. He was tired of the blight and wants to see new development. Gee Whiz, there's about five million dollars of TIF money from tax payers slotted to go to that development. We pioneers and risk-takers at 49th and College have been crying for help with TIF and development for more than eight years. Is anybody listening???? Get rid of the dirt parking lot. Matthew Tully, I implore you, for the sake of all the entrepreneurs at that corner will you please take on our case? Will you research what has transpired over the years (it's a lot) and write our story? SOS. . . .(save our stores) from this blight. I miss my old place but Andrew and crew will treat it well. It went from dogs to chickens. . . ..pets in the city. They make you smile.