As well as 60 years of stability and continuity, it seems the Queen has another gift for each of us in Diamond Jubilee year. Eight new friends.
According to research carried out by community event co-ordinators Streets Alive, that’s the dividend we will all reap by attending a Jubilee street party or similar get-together over the holiday weekend of June 2 to 5.
Actually, the figure should be slightly qualified, in that the precise statistic is 7.9 – and the word “friends” is perhaps putting it a bit strongly, too.
“Neighbours you haven’t met before, whom you can now be friendly with; that would be a more accurate way of putting it,” says Chris Gittins, director of Streets Alive, which has established itself as the national authority on open-air knees-ups.
“That’s the lasting contribution which a street party makes, beyond the enjoyment of the actual day. It gives you the chance to meet people who live near you and who, like you, want to be friendly, but without being friends, and without having obligations beyond looking after your keys or watering your plants while you’re away.”
And it’s in pursuit of that peculiarly British form of semi-detached-ness that Streets Alive has compiled a whole website’s worth of advice, both for this summer’s would-be street party organisers, and for the local councils on whose patch those bashes will be held.
And there looks like being many thousands of them – even at this early stage, councils say they have already received 3,500 street party applications, a figure which means the Jubilee celebrations will dwarf those held to mark last year’s royal wedding.
Part of the boom, says Gittins, is down to an uncommon outbreak of common sense among our legislators.
“There was quite a lot of silliness last year, with councils charging for road closures and putting all sorts of bureaucratic obstacles in the way of people organising royal wedding parties,” he says. “Signs are, though, that most of those problems have now been sorted out.”
There are, of course, a few exceptions to the rule. If you want to hang up little rows of Union Jacks in Hampshire, you’ll still have to apply to the county council first, for a bunting licence. And only the other day the mayor of Wivenhoe, Essex was complaining about his local county council needing reassurance that the weight of his bunting wasn’t going to pull down telegraph poles.
That said, a growing number of councils have decided to cut right through the blue-white-and-red tape this June, particularly when it comes to taking out public liability cover. This despite dire prophecies from people like James Buck, of quote comparison site PublicLiabilityInsurance.org
“The number of things that can go wrong at a street party really is untold,” he warns, mentioning fireworks, sky lanterns and a “claimant-friendly legal environment” just for starters.
Insurance companies generally require organisers of even the smallest street parties to take out 5million worth of cover – enough to pay out for two deaths and a compete re-surfacing of the road: the kind of eventuality which would require the tombola to get really out of hand.
Premiums may not be large, starting at around 50, but they are enough to put some people off. In recognition, some councils have announced that they will take out blanket cover on behalf of all street parties in their area (hurrah for Basingstoke and Deane in Hampshire). Meanwhile, others have dropped the insurance requirement completely (Oxford City Council) and some are offering to pay the first 50 on any public liability insurance premium which party organisers decide to take out.
Others are letting their statutory hair down, and actually offering to help fund the fun; Sherwood Council, in Nottinghamshire, has put aside a fund of 20,000, while East Dorset District Council has a treasure chest of 30,000 for party organisers to dip into. And, while the grants being given aren’t large (500 is an average), that money can still go a long way.
In the Hertfordshire town of Radlett, for example, organisers are using a 1,000 grant from Hertsmere Borough Council to turn part of the main shopping street into a enormous party venue on Jubilee Sunday. They’re putting out 150 tables (bookable at 20 a time, two bottles of wine included) and staging an all-day programme of entertainment with a 1940s and 50s flavour: local swing band, The Bevin Boys; singing trio, The Three Belles (Hertfordshire’s answer to the Andrews Sisters); plus a pair of magicians, an Elvis impersonator and rubber-inflatable sculptress Miss Ballooniverse.
Now available from Mouser stock, TE Connectivity’s Micro Poke-In Wire SSL connector is a low-profile, printed circuit board connector developed specifically for LED lighting applications.
The connector features a flat surface for vacuum pick-and-place, rounded corners to minimize shadowing, a high-temperature resistant thermoplastic housing to enable reflow processing, 250VAC/VDC at 3A (max) rating for power handling, and wire termination to reduce the time-intensive task of hand soldering leads to the lighting board.
With the small size of 8.2mm (L) x 3.3mm (W) x 2.475mm (H), the Micro Poke-In Wire SSL connector is less than 1/3 the height and length of TE’s standard SMT poke-in wire one position connector and is well-suited to smaller boards and light modules. The connector is available in a one-position style that accepts 24 and 26 AWG solid wire only, has a wire retention force of 6N, a creepage distance is 1.5mm.
Typical applications LED channel letter lighting strips General illumination LED fixtures Architectural cove and valence lighting Digital signage LED module COB application Various non-lighting applications that require attaching flying leads to printed circuit boards
CONWAY — The issue of streetlights came up before the selectmen for a third time last week, and while there was unanimous support to turn a number of the lights back on the board couldn’t agree on what move to make.
“We must be ready to do something by now,” selectman Crow Dickinson said at one point, but that inclination proved wrong.
A consensus formed over the course of the meeting around just turning the lights back on in North Conway Village without replacing them with LEDs, but it didn’t end there.
“If you’re going to turn on one village,” chair David Weathers said, “you’re going to turn on both.”
Selectman Michael DiGregorio turned to Janice Crawford, who first brought a proposal from the Mount Washington Valley Preservation Association to the town about lighting, and asked, “Where does it stand for you guys right now?”
“I’m going to interpret what I believe I’m hearing from the constituency,” Crawford replied. Of a decision made by selectmen last year to turn off some of the streetlights, Crawford said it comes down to two things: “safety,” and “it’s not good for business.”
“If I was making the decision I would do LED cobra-head lights in the strip,” she said, “and I would leave the fixtures in the village.”
The town turned off the lights to save money, she said, but it hasn’t been worth it.
DiGregorio agreed. Shutting the lights off cut the town’s yearly lighting expenses from $90,000 to $60,000, but he said it has proven to have been a shortsighted decision.
“I believe we made a mistake,” he said.
He suggested doing what Crawford suggested, turning the lights back on in both villages and changing over the lights on the strip. Selectman Mary Seavey agreed, but Weathers did not.
“That’s wrong in my opinion,” he said. “I would vote against it if it does not include the residential areas.”
Seavey protested, urging the board to take a vote and make a decision. The lights on the street she lives on were turned off, she said, and she has learned to live with it. The villages and the strip, however, are busy commercial centers that cannot afford to remain dark.
“I really think we have an issue here of safety, safety, safety,” she said.
She pushed for a vote, but the other selectmen were unwilling to move forward. Weathers said he wanted to wait for selectman Larry Martin, who was absent.
Seavey protested further, pointing out that board business does not stop because a member is absent.
Martin said the next day he would not have voted anyway.
“I have abstained the last couple times when New Hampshire Electric Cooperative is involved,” he said, since he works for the utility. He shares his opinion in such matters, he said, but he doesn’t vote.
Town manager Earl Sires, meanwhile, encouraged the selectmen to gather feedback from residents.
“My only caution is to remember the public was involved in this first decision” to turn off the lights, he said, and the board should consider just how involved in the decision they want the public to be this time.
While the discussion has dragged on, meanwhile, more and more lights have gone out.
“It’s dark in the village because more than half the lights are out,” public works director Paul DegliAngeli said. Roughly 65 percent of the lights are out, he explained, because the town has held off spending money to change bulbs on lights that may get replaced.
The difference won't be day and night, but replacing hundreds of lights at the Libertyville Sports Complex is expected to produce a better environment for athletes and cut energy bills.
"We'll have savings and the lighting will be comparable if not better than what we have," said Conrad "Connie" Kowal, recreation and Sports Complex director.
Replacing 385 metal haloid fixtures that illuminate the main playing area of the sprawling complex with energy efficient fluorescent lighting will save an estimated $22,625 per year in power costs.
Even better for the village is that it will not be responsible for any out-of-pocket costs. The work will be paid through grants secured from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
"It basically costs us nothing to lower the cost," said John Spoden, community development director.
The village board this past week approved a contract of $50,281 for materials to Century Electric Supply Company of Libertyville and for $51,713 for installation to Jasco Electric Corporation of McHenry, the low bidders.
Libertyville is one of nine communities, including Fox River Grove, Island Lake and Lindenhurst in Lake County, that shared in about $1 million in grants for similar work. The communities worked with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, which handles the funds on behalf of the state agency.
The new program provides grants to municipalities for energy use upgrades, according to Michael Stanch, energy solutions manager for 360 Energy Group LLC.
"Most of the municipalities don't have the extra staff or time to do this," said Stanch, whose company analyzed various facilities as part of the grant program. "You're saving a lot of energy, helping the villages and also village residents because they're paying the bills."
Most communities don't have the available funds to pursue such projects on their own, he added.
In Libertyville, the new fixtures will be installed sometime this spring. Visitors should notice much better light quality and more uniform distribution, Stanch said.
"The metal haloid fixtures are inherently inefficient," he said.
About $705,000 of the total grant funding comes from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, established as an independent entity by ComEd to promote energy efficiency. The foundation is funded by ComEd customers through a charge on monthly bills.
"Everybody pays into it but not everybody takes advantage of it," Stanch said.
Starting seeds is like raising kids: an ultimate act of faith. Give them the right conditions, and they'll do the rest. It's a little easier with seeds, I admit. Provide warmth, moisture, light and a disease-free potting mix to support them, and you'll soon have healthy, garden-ready plants.
Seeds sprout when they sense enough moisture for continued growth. A good way to surround them with moisture (or simply test the seed's viability) is to wet a paper towel, sprinkle half with seeds, then fold the other half over them and press flat. Maintain the moisture by putting the towel in a plastic bag.
Be sure to properly label the seeds -- such as listing the type of seed and the date you started it. Keep the bag open slightly to let air circulate freely. As soon as root hairs emerge, transplant each seed to its own container, filled with moist sterile potting mixture.
You can also start seeds directly in pots or other containers made specifically for this purpose. I like using the 2-inch-square size because they pack conveniently into trays, saving space and making them easier to move. But any container with drainage holes will do. Fill with moist potting mix and sprinkle the seeds on the surface, and add more potting mix to the depth as recommended on the package to cover the seeds.
A small fan placed near newly sprouted seedlings and set on low speed will help to prevent "damping off" -- a soil condition that encourages a fungus that can kill seedlings -- by moving air across the soil surface and reducing the chances of the fungus forming.
In a week or so, as the new plants start to crowd each other, transplant several of the strongest to their own individual pots. Gently handle each new plant by the leaves only and avoid damaging the tender stems and roots. Tip the pot so the potting mix starts to spill out, then gently tease the seedlings apart with a pencil. Poke a hole in the medium of the new pot and lower the seedling into it, keeping it at the same depth at which it was growing. Firm the potting mix around it with the pencil.
After transplanting, the new seedlings need light, water and a tiny amount of food. Mix water-soluble fertilizer at one-fourth the directed strength for houseplants and water the seedlings weekly.
When growing seedlings inside under lights, use a timer and give your new plants 16 hours of light every day. Fluorescent shop lights work very well for this, and new LED grow lights are the newest, energy-efficient alternative. Keep the lights 2 inches from the tops of the plants. In either case, you'll need to move the lights up as the plants grow.
When spring arrives, the seedlings will be too tender to go directly into the garden; they need to be hardened off by getting a bit more sun each day. Start with four hours of morning sun each of the first two days, and then add one half-hour a day for a week. In a little more than a week, the plants will be accustomed to a full eight hours of sun and be ready for transplanting into the garden. Watch the containers closely during hardening off. Outdoors, potting mix dries out more quickly than it does inside.