Weekend Photo Gallery, EMWTTSFM, and the Grape Report
Sunday Concert Season - Week Two
Turn to Stone performed Sunday at the Alum Creek Amphitheater, showcasing its tribute to the legendary Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). After a brief threat of rain, the crowd enjoyed all of ELO's greatest hits, from symphonic rock anthems like "Mr. Blue Sky" and "Don't Bring Me Down" to their more pop-oriented songs.
Pride Festival Rainbow
A mother photographs her children posing for her in front of the 2025 graduation sign painted with a rainbow, which was returned to Rotary Park before Saturday’s Westerville Queer Collective festival at Home and State in Uptown.
Topping Westerville
While the rest of Westerville enjoyed the pleasures of events, music, commerce, and fruits and vegetables at farmers' markets, painters continued their task of cleaning and painting the water tower at Hoff Woods Park.
EMWTTSFM - Chocolate Croissant
Food Review by Gary Gardiner
My favorite bread memory is Merita white bread covered in a thick layer of butter, folded in half, and dragged across a plate that held the dregs of a fried pork chop, white rice, stewed tomatoes, and black-eyed peas with a dollop of bacon grease—just because. The white bread sopped up all the juices, drippings, and cornmeal breading from the pork chop. That collection of flavors alone would have been enough, but the double layer of butter on that folded Merita white bread made me wish there were more drippings.
Now I eat organic, wide-pan, ancient 12-grain bread with seeds that, no matter how much butter I put on a slice or how much bacon grease is in the dregs, never excites me like Merita in its simple goodness.
I don’t remember my first croissant, just like I don’t remember my first kiss. I know it happened, and it must have been a moment of joy, but it’s lost somewhere, pushed aside by 55 years of kissing only one woman.
Fortunately, food asks for no such loyalty. This week, I added another croissant to my collection of indulgent memories, accepting that devotion has no place in pastry.
This decadent delight at the Saturday Farmers Market came from Goodness Gracious in Roseville. The large croissant was layered with puffy chocolate frosting and embedded with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I chose it over its nearest neighbor—the same pastry with a Hershey's Kiss. I am loyal to Reese's.
My only difficulty was deciding the best way to eat it. There were several choices.
For the bearded diner, eating this decadent croissant is a tactical operation. The thick frosting and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup nestled at the center present a dual challenge: how to enjoy the indulgence without turning your beard into a casualty, and when to eat the candy centerpiece.
At first, I charged in headfirst, embracing the mess in exchange for immediate gratification. The most immediate result: a large portion of the icing was now in my beard, where it would be lost forever, wiped away by a wet napkin, never making its way to my mouth. I reminded myself that this is why I eat Graeter's in a cup instead of a cone.
I finished it by tearing it into pieces, like any normal croissant diner would do—only I had to be more discerning with the tears, making sure each bit had an ample portion of icing, and the Reese's wouldn’t topple from its perch at the delicate center.
One more decision to make: which bite should be saved for the Reese’s? The final? The penultimate? The antepenultimate? Choosing how to eat a decadent, icing-glazed croissant with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup at its center is no easy task.
One of the formative moments of my youth was the day I was challenged by older scouts to climb to the top of the tree that grew immediately at the edge of the Florida natural spring where we'd camped for a weekend trip. No one had yet attempted a leap from the tree’s unmeasured height. Everyone else jumped into the crystal-clear, cold water from an established platform—a safer, lower limb.
Off I went, with abandon, leapfrogging my way up the tree from limb to limb, to the topmost branch partially dangling over the swirling water below. I had decided that when I reached the top, there would be no delay in jumping. No measuring the distance or finding my balance. No performance. No waving or seeking recognition for reaching the top. Just jump.
I leapt, with the confidence of youth, into something that, once I began my feet-first fall, no longer seemed like a good idea. But it was too late. I wasn’t just committed; I was in freefall.
I survived the leap, greeted by the jubilant cheers of the scouts—and the fury of a scoutmaster who would never have approved of my reckless, unprecedented adventure if he’d known what I was planning.
Without asking permission, I survived the danger. I had set myself on a path—one unattempted by my peers but now made visible to them. It became a mission: to be the first, to open the way for others. And they followed—climbing to the uppermost branch, leaping and diving without fear of the height, the fall, or the impact with the water.
That lesson followed me into adulthood, where I now faced a decision: when do I eat the Reese's?
It was fully consumed in the next-to-last bite. I thought about biting it in two, placing a portion in each of the last two bites—but that felt like an easy way out, lacking the opportunity to define the flavors in singular moments.
Ultimately, the croissant is more than a pastry. It's a moment of indulgent strategy. Whether you dive in, dissect, or delay, the best way to eat it is the one that leaves you smiling—and hopefully not wiping frosting out of your beard.
The Green Grape Report
Food Review by Gary Gardiner
Kroger - Maxtown Road
Brand - Green grapes from Mexico.
Price - $1.49
Appearance - Bright color with few flaws.
Size - Larger than the last two weeks with a grape weighing an average of 5.6 grams. The average length measured from ten grapes is 26mm.
Crispiness - Fair. Very juicy but not as crisp as last week.
Taste - Slightly sweet.
PLU Code - 4498
The Review
This week’s Grape Report focuses solely on Kroger grapes, although it could have also covered the other grocery stores, as all of them likely source grapes from Mexico, specifically the Jalisco region. Jalisco is a state located in west-central Mexico, on the Pacific coast. It is best known for its coastal resort, Puerto Vallarta. The capital city is Guadalajara.
The Meijer and Kroger grapes were in identical plastic bags with black bands instead of the traditional light green color. The contrast made the grapes look more attractive on the shelf but not any sweeter than any of the others.
This week’s grapes are slightly larger and heavier than last week’s, probably due to being on the vine a week longer. Perhaps the following Grape Report will bring better news about sweetness and crispness as the season matures.
The grape triad, consisting of Meijer, Kroger, and Market District, varied widely in price, with Meijer at $2.99 a pound, with Market District and Kroger at $1.49.
The Westerville News is a reader-supported publication by Gary Gardiner, a lifelong journalist who believes hyper-local reporting is the future of news. This publication focuses exclusively on Westerville—its local news, influence on Central Ohio, and how surrounding areas shape the community.
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