Tag Archives: international

Indiana State Fair 2017 Photos #3: Breadbaskets Beyond Our Borders

August 13, 2017 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Vertical Farming!

Hydroponics: the wave of the future! That’s what scientists have been trying to tell us since I was a kid, anyway. Are we finally getting on that yet?

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians that other people love, and farm animals competing for cash prizes and herd bragging rights. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context. Usually we’re all about the food.

…and, in a bit of a bold departure for our State Fair, this time it’s not all about Hoosier crops and recipes. In collaboration with Manhattan’s own American Museum of Natural History, this year our fair presents a special exhibit called “Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture” — an in-depth look at how other countries and cultures, past and present, view and prepare ingredients and meals from farm to table and all the unique processes in between. Because this year at the fair, there’s more than corn in Indiana.

(Slight in-joke for the locals out there.)

Continue reading →

Indy 500 Festival Parade 2015 Photos, Part 5 of 6: The Nationalities Council

May 26, 2015 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Nationalities Council!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

This year marked the fifth time my wife and I attended the Indy 500 Festival Parade in downtown Indianapolis. It’s an annual date-day tradition for us — partly to see the floats and high school marching bands, partly for the famous names (even if the rest of the audience loves them more than we do), and partly because I love the sight of a bustling downtown Indianapolis (which needs to happen every single weekend ever).

The next six entries (to be posted over the next few days as quickly as time and attention span permit) represent a fraction of the pics my wife and I snapped.

Each year our 500 Festival Parade pics always include a few shots of the Nationalities Council of Indiana, a local nonprofit that makes a strong showing every time with a scintillating array of members showcasing their heritage in costumes and clothing from dozens of nations. Their official Facebook page sums up their mission statement:

The Nationalities Council is a non-profit, all-volunteer educational foundation comprised of more than 50 ethnic or national affinity organizations plus other groups, corporations and individuals interested in celebrating Indy’s diversity. For more than 30 years, the Council has worked to increase the visibility of and participation by ethnic groups in the community life of central Indiana. The Council’s website includes links to hundreds of multicultural and international organizations in Indianapolis and Indiana, a comprehensive calendar of international events, and links to thousands more pages of information, including the only comprehensive directory of ethnic restaurants, markets and festivals in the Indianapolis area. The Ethnic Hoosier, a monthly newsletter, is sent free of charge to an electronic mailing list. Since 1976, the Nationalities Council’s annual International Festival, held each fall at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, has been a popular “Celebration of Diversity” that introduces thousands of schoolchildren and adults to the wide range of Indy’s culinary, historical, social, ethnic and linguistic heritage.

This year, rather than narrow down their parade appearance to one or two nominal shots, I’ve decided turn the spotlight in their direction for an entire entry and post every usable shot we have, because that’s how impressive I thought they were. Further information regarding what they do is available at either of those last two links.

Continue reading →