Marmalade.
An immediate feel-good sound, if not other-sensory recall, to the neighborhood.
Having lived on Main Street, in The Kensington Apartments across from the <sob> former Deseret Gym, 22 years ago, and having strongly considered purchasing what was then "our" first home for $54K in South Marmalade 20 years ago (Liberty Park area won out), I felt I knew the spot.
I have spent much of this weekend at The Marmalade. It is, as they say, not your father's Marmalade.
Today's marmalade? Not only vibrant in terms of real estate (I hear numerous tales of gentrification throughout the area), but in terms of diversity. There were times this weekend, when I felt like I was in a really big city--meaning here, the good, enviable parts of a big city.
Theodore Dan Focke V, or Dan, hails from a family line of separatists who broke off from Massachusetts to form Rhode Island. Hailing from Olympia, Wash., the guy started playing in bands at age 12 and is family friends with the Cobain legacy and many more garage types. Choosing The Marmalade when he came to Utah two years ago to work on an archaeology project for an environmental consulting company, Dan depicts the diversity of the area: "To the East, I have neighbors from East India, to the West, I have neighbors from Italy." On the corner? An Asian retailer. And across the street? Even some of those would-be protected class of blonde-haired, blue-eyed neighbors.
Also across the street? A quintessential apartment building on its way to, surely, becoming a condominium complex. Architect Harvey Boyd has presented a beautiful peach-colored apartment complex with lovely, well-maintained xeriscaping, and... GET THIS... a community garden for the tenants. Inspiring. I feel the zen of Boyd's welcoming trellis, signaling the entry to the building. Just about the only thing I give pause to is a 4' x 3' tree stump in the parkstrip of the property, a reminder of what surely was, at one time, a beautiful tree.
John is the first tenant I meet. Within seconds of his opening the door, he tells me he is gay and that gay rights are important to him. I tell him they are important to me, too, letting him know that my husband, the father of my chidren, is gay, and of my speaking involvement at the recent Kiss-In (the one held on Library Square--http://tinyurl.com/jjjHIPCity Make sure to watch from 2:36 on!)
The whole posture changes.
Ease comes on the face, and we talk.
We talk long and wonderful.
John praises his enlightened landlord, noting that, right off, he asked Boyd if the building were gay-friendly. Getting the green light, he has enjoyed the complex ever since. A paralegal, John was one of the early volunteers of the Utah AIDS Foundation. He actually remembers the award-winning (won the highest honor, a "Gold" Addy from the Utah Advertising Federation) marketing piece that my Dahlin Smith White colleague Jeff Olsen and I created--"Soirées À La Card" to promote a series of Utah AIDS Foundation fund raisers.
A play on the concept of ordering "à la carte," Jeff and I, for DSW's client, The Utah AIDS Foundation, created mini "à la card" postcards, portraying several individual fund-raising events sponsored by community supporters. Although John did not attend the soirée that I hosted--along with my ex Scott Carter and the long-split couple of John Thomas and Muffy Mead (now Muffy Ferro)--he remembered it! "Haiku Barbeque" was our themed event. We hosted 75 folks to an evening of sushi, yakitori, sake, and, my favorite--Karaoke! That Scott could sure cook! And, being a returned missionary from Japan? Well, he was lead chef, we--even the accomplished gourmet Muffy--were all sous!
DSW must have been in the air that day, because earlier, I knocked on doors that opened to a few former colleagues. (Q Editor Michael Aaron, who lives in The Marmalade, apparently is also a former DSW-er, but I really hardly know him now, and did not know of his DSW association at all, until illuminated by FaceBook last week!)
I immediately recognize Steve Cardon, eyes still bluer than ever, maybe more so, as set off by life's wisdom markers. A long-time cyclist and motorcyclist, Marmalade is his perfect neighborhood. (I have seen more motorcycles in The Marmalade than any other neighborhood in town!) Literally a block later, I spoke with Dennis. He did not become the Dennis Millard that I worked with in the high-flying ad agency until about 15 minutes into our discussion of the neighborhood, when I recognized him, then, quickly, with the prompting, he, me.
Dennis, while pleased with the continuing improvement in the neighborhood, continues to be concerned regarding safety and neighborhood preservation. Dennis is an interesting depiction of the state of our economy. Like me, he used to work at the swank DSW office in Triad Center (he as a graphic artist and creative director). Then, also like me, he had a healthy free-lance clientele. Today? He has shifted entirely to his fine art craft, doing extremely well selling to markets like West Palm Beach, Scottsdale, and Palm Springs. (Check Dennis out at www.dennismillard.com.) Having done well himself, Dennis takes a very free-market view of art and seems very bearish on government spending in the space. His son actually managed the campaign of current Salt Lake City Councilman Eric Jergensen, whose position I now seek.
While not exactly a DSW connection, Reece's wife works at Triad, hails from San Francisco (where DSW had a satellite office and a significant Bay Area high-tech clientele), and has a father-in-law who now works for Novell (where I cut my teeth in the high-tech space). An apartment-dwelling Marmalade family with a one-month-old (Lola!), theirs is a happy life, but one concerned about zoning changes to mixed-use in neighborhoods.
Anna, totally new to the area (just bought her home two weeks ago), is an interior designer looking to launch her business in The Marmalade. I tell her it seems to be a great audience for such an endeavor, and we talk--about entrepreneurship, about women in business, about Marmalade, and about GLASS! I tell her about my campaigns GREEN City GLASS Recycling Day, Sunday, Sept. 13, and some synergy happens: She is actually potentially interested in harvesting some of that glass, for various creative projects.
THIS is the kind of thing that can happen with neighborhood connectedness: Win-win, sustainable solutions. Why transport ANY glass to Denver (as is now happening through Salt Lake City Recycling), if we can find more in-area solutions than benefit citizens and businesses? Avenues business Momentum Recycling is already doing this, to a great extent--forming partnerships to recycle glass to be used in Terrazzo flooring and in Owens Corning fiberglass--as you can see through our GREEN City GLASS Recycling Day videos:
http://tinyurl.com/GreenCitySHORT
http://tinyurl.com/GreenCityLONGER
A home I encountered in The Marmalade was so very inviting that I was supremely interested in seeing the inside and in meeting the owners. The walkways? Instead of hardscape concrete, were woodchips! The front, tall-shrub-bordered garden and sitting area had a water feature recycling green-shaded water! Rosebushes and tall trees--one even with a rope-swing--adorned what might, otherwise, seem like a vacant parkstrip area. Minimal grass. Extensive smart design. A veritable forest, with a crabapple archway leading to the front door.
I was disappointed to not meet the tenants, but quickly moved on. JJJ never rests, these days.
When nightfall more than fell, and I had made my last visits, planted my remaining signs, and headed back to my car, it warmed the cockles of this here heart to see blue holiday lights illuminating the archway, man-made with nature-made perfection.
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