This issue has so much good stuff, it’s hard to decide where to start. As usual, we’ve got art, we’ve got community concerns, we’ve got food and wine, and we’ve got pets.
COMMUNITY ISSUES
I’m going to start with community issues, because we’ve got pieces from both our City Council representative and our school board trustee.
Our new District 1 Councilwoman, Sukh Kaur, plans to contribute regularly to LNF Weekly. We’re pleased with that. We’ve been dealing with her District 1 office in recent weeks, and we find that the staff has been really responsive. In her article for this issue, Sukh introduces some of her staff and talks about an upcoming town hall she’s hosting to get input on the City’s budget.
Our school board representative, Sarah Sorensen, has been writing articles in LNF Weekly for quite a while now, and her pieces are some of the most thought-provoking and important things we publish. Sarah’s latest article, about school closings, may be the best thing she’s written so far.
Over the years, we've written a lot about LiftFund, the local non-proft that provides loans and assistance to small businesses. It was founded by Janie Barrera, who is stepping back now, and she has written about that transition.
We also have a new community voice, Lauren Leija, to tell us what's going on at Hemisfair. Hemisfair is a terrific part of this neighborhood, and we're pleased to once again have someone from the organization to keep us up-to-date with new developments there.
And one last community piece: Since it had its official re-opening, I've been spending a lot of time at the Central Library. I go there to work, and then I browse. I've discovered that there's a lot more to it than I knew, and I've written about that.
PETS
We’ve got two thoroughly researched and valuable pieces for pet-lovers in this issue.
Jen Galletti has written about the importance of spaying and neutering your pets. Jen is active in the local animal rescue community, and she brings a lot of passion — and a lot of knowledge and experience — to this issue.
I’ve put together an article about pet insurance — why it’s valuable, how it works, and how you can go about choosing a pet insurance company. We had insurance for Micky throughout his life, and it was invaluable.
ART
One of the most important things we do, both via Jane’s weekly newsletter and through this magazine, is promote local artists. In each issue, we both present art and write about the art community.
Our community lost one of its best-known and best-loved artists in July. Gilbert Duran died suddenly on July 10th. We’ve included a remembrance of him.
Jane Gennarelli has written a really informative and interesting piece about Sala Diaz, a very different and very interesting gallery / studio / living space here in the neighborhood. The concept is fascinating, and this is a fun read.
Jane has also put together an article about upcoming exhibits at the San Antonio Art League and Museum (SAALM). Lots of good stuff in the works.
As always, we’ve got some great cover art. ‘Madonna and Child’ by Kaldric Dow is part of a series he’s creating in which he experiments with textile patterns from different cultures, combining them with acrylics.
Al Rendon always has something interesting for us. For each issue, he digs into his archive, finds a photo, and tells us the story behind it. This time, he didn’t have to dig far; ‘Zoot Suiter’ is a recent work that continues Al’s fascination with images of the Virgen de Guadalupe.
Important note: Be sure to check out the editor’s note at the end of Al’s story. The Witte Museum is putting together a fifty-year retrospective of Al’s art, opening on September 2nd. There’s a book in the works, too.
GOOD FOOD, GOOD WINE, AND BURNING THE RESULTING CALORIES
In this issue, Jen Beckmann of Re:Rooted talks about summer wines to go with summer food. She explains why white wines are so refreshing, and she assures us that there’s much more to rosé than you might think.
Jane Gennarelli once again goes culture-hopping and finds some recipes to put together a traditional German dinner — sauerbraten with spaetzle. Translated, sauerbraten means ’sour roast’, and that’s pretty much what it is. And alongside it, she’s serving the traditional accompaniment, spaetzle, which is sort of a cross between a dumpling and pasta.
Once you’ve eaten all that food and knocked off a bottle of rosé, you may want to burn a few calories. So join Alyson Galvin of EnergyX Fitness as she explains how she stays motivated to work out.
Jim Feuerstein is co-editor of LNF Weekly; he also designs and manages the website.
You might also like...