Notes from my Knapsack 5-14-2026
Jeff Gill
And the beat goes on…
___
Summer is here.
You may want to call this spring still, but once the dogwood blossoms drop, it’s summer in my book.
There’s a pattern to summers here in Our Fayre Village: Denison commencement this Saturday, Granville High School graduation on Sunday the 24th. Then Monday the 25th, Memorial Day, with the parade down Broadway to Pearl and ending in Maple Grove, ceremonies ending at noon, and the half-staff flag raised back to full.
Ecumenical Vacation Bible School starts around the four corners June 1st through the 5th, then Cub Scouts and others have their day camps and overnight weeks, church camps and 4-H, all through the summer but increasingly jammed in before August when school sports and marching bands begin…
All of this punctuated by the legendary Granville Fourth of July Street Fair from July 1 to the Glorious 4th (sponsored and managed by your friendly neighborhood Granville Kiwanis club), fireworks on July 2nd and of course our beloved Mile Long Parade on the 4th. Yes, I plan to bring up the rear as usual, but make sure to cheer hometown heroes the Ross family, our grand marshals this year. They have earned this honor!
Take a deep breath, enjoy the heart of the summer, where we’ll hear so much about America 250 both before and after July 4, 2026; did I mention I’m helping with some events in June around our national semi-quincentennial? I’ll save that for my next column. But then the Great Granville Picnic comes along on August 15, 2026, intended to help accentuate the 250th birthday of our country; the table space is entirely sold out along Broadway, but there will fun to be had aplenty, walking around from 4 pm to 8:30 pm or later… Granville schools start on Wednesday the 19th, so better start working on those bedtimes, parents.
All of that and I haven’t even mentioned the Granville Recreation District’s concert series, celebrating 50 years of music and community, mostly at the Bryn Du Mansion, but during the picnic back to the old home on the Denison Fine Arts Quad along Broadway. The whole series runs from the evening of Memorial Day to the evening of Labor Day, Sept. 7, at which time summer is officially done.
It can wear you out just reading about it, you know? Mark events in your calendar, because it is amazing how quickly it goes by. And I can assure you that people are already working on planning for events this fall and through the Christmas season, because that's how planning works. The reason I can tell you about all these summertime events in Granville is a mix of firmly established tradition, and the reality that people have had meetings, shared text messages, and forwarded emails for many weeks and months before this May, just to see to it you can’t get bored this summer. Youth baseball is already in full flourish, and soccer coaches are starting to mend their goal nets and pump up the practice balls.
So when there’s a clear evening, and as the sun is setting, look to the southeast in a clear patch of sky, see Scorpius with red Antares rising, with a crescent Moon pulling together Venus and Jupiter in the west. Just enjoy the stars and the sky, and take a few deep breaths. It’s going to be a wonderful summer.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; yep, he’s thinking ahead to Advent and Christmas these days. Tell him how far you plan ahead at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on X.
Jeff Gill
And the beat goes on…
___
Summer is here.
You may want to call this spring still, but once the dogwood blossoms drop, it’s summer in my book.
There’s a pattern to summers here in Our Fayre Village: Denison commencement this Saturday, Granville High School graduation on Sunday the 24th. Then Monday the 25th, Memorial Day, with the parade down Broadway to Pearl and ending in Maple Grove, ceremonies ending at noon, and the half-staff flag raised back to full.
Ecumenical Vacation Bible School starts around the four corners June 1st through the 5th, then Cub Scouts and others have their day camps and overnight weeks, church camps and 4-H, all through the summer but increasingly jammed in before August when school sports and marching bands begin…
All of this punctuated by the legendary Granville Fourth of July Street Fair from July 1 to the Glorious 4th (sponsored and managed by your friendly neighborhood Granville Kiwanis club), fireworks on July 2nd and of course our beloved Mile Long Parade on the 4th. Yes, I plan to bring up the rear as usual, but make sure to cheer hometown heroes the Ross family, our grand marshals this year. They have earned this honor!
Take a deep breath, enjoy the heart of the summer, where we’ll hear so much about America 250 both before and after July 4, 2026; did I mention I’m helping with some events in June around our national semi-quincentennial? I’ll save that for my next column. But then the Great Granville Picnic comes along on August 15, 2026, intended to help accentuate the 250th birthday of our country; the table space is entirely sold out along Broadway, but there will fun to be had aplenty, walking around from 4 pm to 8:30 pm or later… Granville schools start on Wednesday the 19th, so better start working on those bedtimes, parents.
All of that and I haven’t even mentioned the Granville Recreation District’s concert series, celebrating 50 years of music and community, mostly at the Bryn Du Mansion, but during the picnic back to the old home on the Denison Fine Arts Quad along Broadway. The whole series runs from the evening of Memorial Day to the evening of Labor Day, Sept. 7, at which time summer is officially done.
It can wear you out just reading about it, you know? Mark events in your calendar, because it is amazing how quickly it goes by. And I can assure you that people are already working on planning for events this fall and through the Christmas season, because that's how planning works. The reason I can tell you about all these summertime events in Granville is a mix of firmly established tradition, and the reality that people have had meetings, shared text messages, and forwarded emails for many weeks and months before this May, just to see to it you can’t get bored this summer. Youth baseball is already in full flourish, and soccer coaches are starting to mend their goal nets and pump up the practice balls.
So when there’s a clear evening, and as the sun is setting, look to the southeast in a clear patch of sky, see Scorpius with red Antares rising, with a crescent Moon pulling together Venus and Jupiter in the west. Just enjoy the stars and the sky, and take a few deep breaths. It’s going to be a wonderful summer.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; yep, he’s thinking ahead to Advent and Christmas these days. Tell him how far you plan ahead at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on X.
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