Yellow Springs, OH – Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute
The prospect of three gigs the following day dragged us out of our beds and back onto the road, where we first stopped to parade through Yellow Springs, Ohio. We were there to support the local lefty learning community and the Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute movement seeking to revive Antioch College, a historic hub of social justice activism in higher education. After a brief post-marching break, where we fueled up on more coffee, chatted up these lovely folks, ate a much-appreciated gratis lunch (who knew there was delicious Indian food in Ohio?), learned to hula-hoop, and spooned on the lawn, we waved goodbye to the cheering academes and got back on the bus.
Columbus, OH: Back to School March & Show at Skylab
The band piled into town just in time to make a march planned to build on the August 15th Anti-Violence Back to School rally, followed by an ice cream social organized by an inner-city school that had just graduated its first class. Free fluorescent green backpacks were distributed to the childrens, and much ice cream was consumed by the band. While guarding our post-lunch picnic table, I made friends with a very talkative 6-year-old named Taylor who later commenced some impressive headspins, to the delight of all. And then we did laundry, and were joined by three latecomers from New York (two more trombones and a tuba), and there was more rejoicing. Later in the evening found us playing for a super-thankful crowd at Columbus’ Skylab space, as a benefit for the local Books Through Bars program. And then we crashed, among several floors and many cats and even an elevator. There are cats everywhere we go. People have a lot of cats, we have noticed. This is always an adventure to those in our ranks with feline allergies.
