DAYS OF SUMMER * CRICKETS COMING * FACEBOOK PAGES * BILL'S COFFEE SHOP NEWSLETTER * Vol. 11 * July 30, 2010

MIDSUMMER OUTSIDE THE
COFFEESHOP WINDOWS

OUR Ojibwe calendar says July is the month of the "Halfway through the summer moon (aabita-niibino-giizis)." It's easy to sense this looking through the windows of
 the original Wild Bill's Coffeeshop on the university campus. On the one hand, the days are certainly a lot warmer than last month. But on the other, the days are are not quite
as long as they were last month. In the mornings, the sunlight comes in a few minutes later than last month, In the evenings, it leaves a little earlier, too.
 
Outside the north windows of the coffeeshop our little woods is now fully grown. So one has to look very carefully among the trees to get even a glimpse of the Iowa River in midsummer. 
This is quite different from winter when the trees are bare and the river is easily visible below us.
 
To get a good view of the river now one must walk down the hill behind North Hall. At this time of year, the Iowa River usually rolls lazily along through the
campus. But this year, with the continuing rains, the current continues running strong. During the afternoons, people are out sunning on the stretch of lawn between North Hall and the river.
  In the evenings, joggers and bicyclists go up and down the riverside path. One thinks of the river adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and Nat King
Cole singing about "those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer."
 

HERE AND THERE
CRICKET CHIRPS
Cicadas are still the loudest sounds on summer evenings here in Iowa City. But here and there, one can hear (or see) a cricket.
It is a sign that the summer is slowly slipping away. It won't be long now until the cicadas are gone and the sounds of crickets fill our evenings.

Some birds have already packed up and left for their winter homes. I saw flocks heading south last week over the Mississippi River. That river is one of the major freeways for birds in North America. It seems way too early for this, but it is a cycle which occurs every year. Of course, the major bird migrations are still three months away. But these early ones are a reminder that we are now on the long, slow descent into fall.

Perhaps you have noticed that the days are shorter now, too. By 9 pm now it is dark. Each day is two or three minutes shorter. This process began in June, but it was hardly noticeable for the first few weeks. But those minutes have piled up and more than an hour of daylight has gone.

SUMMERTIME IN
IOWA CITY...
...Outdoor concerts continue Friday evenings on the Ped Mall in downtown Iowa City. Music from 6:30 to 9:30 pm
  
...Outdoor movies are being presented each Saturday night on the Pentacrest. Movies are free and start about 8:30 pm.Entertainment before. Blankets and
picnics are welcome. 

...Have you checked out the Farmers Market yet this year? It's open Wednesday evenings, 6:30 to 7:30 pm and Saturday mornings, 7:30 to 11:30 am. You'll find
  the market on the ground floor of the parking garage across from city hall on Washington Sreet. Live music is part of the Wednesday evening market.
 

LOOKING FOR A
SUMMER READ?
Uptown Bill's has hundreds and hundreds of books for sale. Hardcover and paperback. Check out the selection at the new Uptown Bill's, 730 S. Dubuque. Open every day from 8 am starting next week.

QUOTES AT UPTOWN ON
ABILITIES AWARENESS
Have you noticed the quotations on the Uptown Bill's Facebook page? Every few days there's a new quote designed to raise our abilities awareness. Do you have one to contribute. You can post it on the Facebook page or send it via the Newsletter for us to post.

SUMMER BRINGS
MANY CHANGES
Wild Bill's Coffeeshop in North Hall is taking its summer vacation. The coffeeshop will reopen on Friday, July 20 at 8 am.
Uptown Bill's is moving to 730 S. Dubuque. The move is expected to be complete by Monday, Aug. 2. The coffeeshop and other businesses will reopen at that time.

CREATIVE WRITING
FOR SOCIAL WORK
A summer workshop on "Creative writing for social work" last week included visits to both Uptown Bill's and the original Wild Bill's Coffeeshop. For more details, look for a link to a newspaper story on the Facebook page for Friends of Bill's Coffeeshop.

RESPECT, DIGNITY,
CALMING PEACE
The unitive social focal point of Friday nights is not the music, although good entertainment ( 'Experience community and inspiration,' Newsletter, July 25 issue). It's the respect, dignity, calming peace and justice that the evening brings to the attendees.  Keep up the great work.
     -- James McAuley

I feel the same way since our neighborhood was able to support an every-Sunday Farmers' Market along 29th Street in Minneapolis (one block N. of Lake Street) from Lyndale through Dupont.  A great mix of artisans, farmers, bakers, food vendors, growers, shoppers; all along one street for one glorious day a week.  Gives me hope and inspiration.
     -- Diana Boegemann

EXECUTIVE ORDER TO
STRENGTHEN HIRING
A new executive order from President Barack Obama is designed to strengthen the federal government's commitment to hiring individuals with disabilities. Look for a link with details on the Facebook page for Uptown Bill's.

SPREADING THE WORD
ABOUT NEWSLETTER
Know someone who might like to receive this Newsletter? Send us their name and email address. We'll send a sample issue and an invitation to subscribe. Thank you.

DRINKING TOO
MUCH COFFEE?

You know you're drinking too much coffee when:

+ You think CPR stands for "coffee provides resuscitation."

+ You name your cats cream and sugar

+ You're offended when people use the word brew to refer to beer

LOOKING BACK IN THE
BILL'S NEWSLETTER

Seven years ago (2003): Another Mother for Peace has come back to life. Donna Reed
and other mothers originally founded this group to oppose the Vietnam War.

Eight years ago (2002): Here and there a song of fall can be heard around campus

Nine years ago (2001): Barry Morrow, Bill Sackter's friend and screenwriter
for the Bill movies, returns to Bill's Coffeeshop this week.

Ten years ago (2000): Hull House had a coffeeshop, too.
_______________________________________________________________

Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter is a virtual extension of Wild Bill's Coffeeshop, Uptown Bill's and other projects created in the spirit of Bill Sackter. Now in its 11th year, the Newsletter is written by Tom Gilsenan, director of Uptown Bill's and a former manager of the original coffeeshop. A selection of back issues cane be found at the Coffee and Community Weblog: http://coffeeandcommunity,blogspot.com.

Wild Bill's Coffeeshop is a project of the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa. Located in North Hall, it has been a part of campus lfie in Iowa City for more than 35 years. The coffeeshop is currently closed for summer vacation. It will reopen Friday, Aug. 20 at 8 am.

Uptown Bill's has moved to 730 S. Dubuque. Besides a coffeeshop, it also includes a bookstore and other businesses. Stop in and see the new place. Call (319) 339-0401 for more information.

COMMUNITY & INSPIRATION * UPTOWN BILL'S MOVING * TALK BACK * Bill's Coffeshop Newsletter * Vol. 11 * July 25, 2010

EXPERIENCE COMMUNITY,

ALSO INSPIRATION

It's very hard to describe a sense of community. But one can sure feel it on
 Friday evenings in downtown Iowa City. For three hours, the people of the city
seem connected to each other in a way which just doesn't happen at any other
time during the week.

What draws people downtown on Friday evenings during the summer is the outdoor
 concert series on the Ped Mall. There is truly a cross section of the city on
hand for the music. The crowd on one recent Friday ranged from a homeless man
to a city council member, and from a midle-aged downtown merchant to a young
 skateboarder dressed all in black.

The crowd also draws an assortment of community activists, people circulating 
petitions and people promoting various causes. This swirl of community begins 
around 6:30 pm and continues until the concerts conclude at 9:30.
 
These Friday evenings are a community treasure because they bring so many
different people together for a few hours. But they can also be an inspiration
for community-building.

Wouldn't it be great if this brief experience on one evening could be extended
 to other days of the week? Yes, there are a lot of obstacles. For example,
there are divisions among people in our city based on where we live and how
much money we earn. Plus, there is the gulf between the city and the
 university.

But if we can keep in mind the experience of Friday evenings, perhaps these
obstacles will not seem so large. If you haven't yet experienced this sense of
community, there are still several Friday concerts left. Your comments are
 welcome.
  -- Tom Gilsenan

BILL'S WAS ONCE A
 KINDERGARTEN ROOM
Wild Bill's Coffeeshop is located in an old kindergarten classroom. North Hall,
where the coffeeshop resides, was originally built as a K-12 school. It was the
training school for student teachers at the University of Iowa.
 
The third floor, where the coffeeshop is now, was the elementary school; the
second floor a high school. The university closed its training school in the
early 1970s; the School of Social Work moved in shortly after that. (Also in
 North Hall are the Center for the Book, art education, and many general
assignment classrooms.)

Though the K-12 school is long gone, there are still plenty of reminders of its
presence. Above the outside doors on the third floor are the words "elementary
 school." Above the second floor doors are the words "high school." In one third
floor classroom, the blackboard is at a level for first graders and has the
numbers one to 100 etched into it.

Room 321, now the coffeeshop, was the kindergarten. The "cubbies" for those
 little students still are here, though the doors are gone. Look on the floor near the
windows and you can see the "reading circle."

Many people have come back to visit their old school over the years. (The
 coffeeshop has even hosted a few reunions.) It's great fun to be around for the
reminiscing.

One afternoon two women stopped by the coffeeshop to look at their old school.
At first, it appeared to me that they were lost. They looked up, they looked
 around, the pointed, they whispered and they sighed.

"May I help you," I asked them. "Are you looking for..."

"Oh, no, we're not looking for anything," the older of the two women replied.
  This was my grade school. I wanted to show my daughter." She went on to tell a
few stories about attending school here more than 45 years ago. "We had so many
young teachers," she said. "It was wonderful."
  
WHAT ABOUT 
THE COFFEE
Wild Bill's Coffeeshop gets its coffee from Jumpy Monkey, a Sioux City coffee company which employs 
individuals with disabilities. You can find out more at the Jumpy Monket website: www,jumpymonkey.com.  The company also has a Facebook page. 
Uptown Bill's gets its coffee from Cafe del Sol, an Iowa City coffee roasting company. Cafe del Sol has even 
created a Bill's Coffeeshop blend. You can find out more at the company website: www.cafedelsolroasting.com. 
  

SNACKERS IS
ONE PLACE
Several readers suggested Snackers 2 as a coffeeshop to visit on your travels this summer. Located in downtown Muscatine, it's operated by Goodwill Industries. For more information, check this website: http://goodwillheartland.org/Snack_2.htm

MORE IDEAS FOR
COFFEESHOPS
Looking for Bill-friendly coffeeshops (Newsletter, July 16)? Craig Mosher wrote to let us know about Java John's in Decorah. He reports that it"s a "great new coffeeshop that serves its community." Decorah is also home to Magpie, a coffeeshop which readers have mentioned in the past. Another reader suggested a coffeeshop in Washington, DC: Finally, check out Em and Jerri's Coffee Co. in Independence, Iowa. Like Bill's, it employs individuals with disabilities. You can find a link to a recent Des Moines Register article on Em and Jerri's on the Facebook page for Friends of Bill's Coffeeshop.

ANOTHER MEMORY
OF COLORED OLEO
A reminiscence about "colored oleo" in the last issue of the Bill's Newsletter ("Encounters with Iowa," July 16) brought back memories for Dana Courtney. She also remembers the white margarine "with a little packet of real orange looking stuff" on top. She and her grandmother kneaded the orange stuff into the white margarine to give it the color of butter. "I thought it was strange that my grandmother had this margarine when we had real butter at my house."

BIG MOVE IS
UNDERWAY
Uptown Bill's is on the move this week. The small mall is moving from its current location to 730 S. Dubuque. The new home is on top of Public Access TV. Visit the Uptown Bill's page on Facebook for a link to an Iowa City Press Citizen story about the move.

CHECK US OUT
ON FACEBOOK
Find out more about Wild Bill's Coffeeshop at the Facebook page for Friends of Bill's Coffeeshop. You'll also find an Uptown Bill's Small page on Facebook.

 THIS WEEK'S SHOT
OF COFFEE QUOTES
What to name a Christian coffeeshop? That was the question posed awhile ago
 in a Word Lab chat room. Here are some of the replies:

Caffeine and a Prayer + Jesuccino + Cloud 9 + Holy Grounds + Heavenly Brew + Born Again Brews + FrappaJericho + Jehovah Java + Higher Grounds +
Beanier Than Thou + Fiat Latte (Let there be latte)

And this one: Canaan Coffeeshop -- Turning wine into coffee since Jesus was in
sandals.
 
TALKING BACK IS
ENCOURAGED
Your ideas and comments are welcome. You can respond to this Newsletter simply by clicking reply. 
Or write to Tom Gilsenan at tomgilsenan@gmail.com. You can also visit us on Facebook. Or check out 
  the Coffee and Community weblog at: http://coffeeandcommunity.blogspot.com

OOKING BACK IN THE
BILL'S NEWSLETTER
Nine years ago: Al is the name of the coffeeshop freezer. What should we name
 our new refrigerator? (2001)

Eight years ago: Ed Gaines has moved into the new Bill Sackter house on B St.
Ed has been associated with Bill's Coffeeshop for nearly 30 years.
(2002)
_______________________________________
  

Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter is a virtual extension of the Bill's Coffeeshops and related projects. Published since 2000, it is written by Tom Gilsenan, a former manager of the original coffeeshop. He returned to Iowa City this month to become the new director of Uptown Bill's. You can write to Tom at tomgilsenan@gmail.com or inc are of Uptown Bill's, 730 S. Dubuque, Iowa City, IA 52240.

Wild Bill's Coffeeshop is a project of the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa. It has been a part of campus life in Iowa City for more than 35 years. Located in North Hall, the coffeeshop is open 8 am to 3 weeekdays during the summer session.

Uptown Bill's is the crosstown cousin of the original coffeeshop. Established in 2001, it includes a bookstore, performance venue and other businesses in addition to a coffeeshop. Uptown Bill's is moving to 730 S. Dubuque on Aug. 1. It's open every day from 8 am. For more information, call (319) 339-0401.

ADA, oleo and awesome feeling

FEDERAL COURT SAYS ADA

DOES COVER WEBSITES

A federal judge in California has ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does include the Internet websites. The ruling came in a class action suit against Target Corp. Plaintiffs in the case went to court to get Target to make its website accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Target argued that there is no law which requires accessible websites. The judge says there is, citing the ADA, which is 20 years old next week. For more about this case, check the Facebook page for Friends of Bill's Coffeeshop

COLUMN OFTEN BEGIN
WITH CONVERSATION
WHEN I sit down to write this column, I am often writing
to someone in particular. Or I am continuing a conversation I had with someone.

For example, I have written several columns about urban planning ("When zoning
hurts diversity' and  "Vision for downtown" are two examples.)
These emerged from conversations with Julie Spears, an MSW grad
who now lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and Lisa Bender, an MSW grad who lives in
Cedar Rapids..

I have listened to both talk about the opportunities for collaboration between
social work and urban planning. But too often, these are missed opportunities
both in the classroom and in our communities. These columns were an extension of
these conversations with Julie and Lisa combined with my own background in urban
studies.

I've written a several columns on diversity and human rights. Often when I
write such a column, I am thinking of my conversations with Ray Roybal, a
community activist and good friend. He has as much passion and drive now as he
did when I first met him during the 1960s. Like a number of my friends Ray and
I met planning a demonstration. We have talked many hours about a more just
and peaceful world.

So when I write a column about tolerance or interracial
understanding, I often think of it as a letter to Ray. That was the case with
"Old 'ethnic notions' return," , a column about the "Lure of the West"
exhibit at the University Art Museum. It was also the case with a column
titled "Little diversity in a week's worth of newspaper photos."

I believe each of us has columns inside us, topics we can write about with
clarity and wisdom. What can be hard is figuring out how to get those columns
out of us and onto paper.

I thought that if I told you how my columns emerge, it
might be helpful to you in figuring out how to get yours out, too.  And perhaps
you might have one to send. We'll be
checking our mailbox. Good luck.

  -- Tom Gilsenan

TAKING A ROAD TRIP SOON?
TRY THESE COFFEESHOPS

Summer is now half over. But it's not too late for a Midwest
road trip over a coming weekend. Here are a few coffeeshops to check out as you
travel:

Hard Times Cafe, 1821 Riverside, Minneapolis. Worker-owned cooperative located
in the Cedar-Riverside district neat University of Minnesota. Founded in 1992.
Open just short of 24 hours every day.

Red Rooster, 202 S. Main St., Aberdeen. Dan Cleberg and his sister, Kileen,
opened this place in 1996. Be sure to check out the hot sauce display. Live
music several nights a week. Closed Sundays.

Blue Strawberry, 118 Second St SE, Cedar Rapids. Open every day. Music at least
two nights a week.

Java Joe's, 214 4th St., downtown Des Moines. Open every day. Great place to go on
Saturdays after a visit to the Farmers Market. Check out the live music schedule.

We picked these coffeeshops because they have a community spirit similar to
Bill's. Do you know of a coffeeshop or two with this same spirit? Let us know;
we'll pass the word along to Newsletter readers.

SENSE OF COMMUNITY:
AN AWESOME FEELING
Editor's note: Sarah Wannamacher was a volunteer in Bill's Coffeeshop
in 2005. This is an excerpt from a paper she wrote about her
experience.

BY SARAH WANNEMACHER

"Wild Bill's is a place where anyone can come and be safe. It is a place of
social service. A place where people can sit and talk and be listened to, or a
place to laugh and cry.

"It is a community. You have regulars that come and get the same thing at the
same time. But then you also have those who are new or only stop by once in
awhile.

"Many people look at it as just a coffeeshop. But it is something more than
that. It is a place where human interaction and learning takes place. Many
teachers meet their students there; there are creative readings; a place where
university organizations meet. It is similar to a community center.

"The environment at Wild Bill's is a place where one can be accepted, a place
where one can be oneself and not feel isolated by disabilities. It gives
individuals with disabilities a healthy and inviting social life.

"Individuals with disabilities are not the only clients. I believe I was a
client of Wild Bill's, too, and the same with everyone else who came into the
coffeeshop. The sense of community makes everyone a client. It is an awesome
feeling."

ENCOUNTERS WITH IOWA:
ONE VERY SHORT STORY
I first visited Iowa as part of a smuggling ring. When I was growing up in
Minnesota, you couldn't buy yellow margarine. Margarine was sold in the state,
but it was white instead of yellow. The state legislature had forbidden the
sale of such "colored oleo" to protect the dairy industry.

So Minnesota residents who wanted yellow margarine drove to Iowa to get it. In
my neighborhood, people would take turns making the excursion to Iowa to buy
entire cases of margarine for themselves and others. My parents took me along
on more than one of these adventures in "oleo smuggling."

Iowans encouraged this activity. Markets in towns just inside Iowa had entire coolers
full of margarine waiting for Minnesotans. Eventually, the Minnesota legislature
eliminated the ban. But it was too late for those of us who had spent our
youth as "oleo smugglers." We're still waiting for an amnesty
     -- Tom Gilsenan

HELP SPREAD

THE WORD

Know someone who would enjoy receiving the Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter. Let us know and we'll send a sample issue along with an invitation to subscribe. Or you could send a recent issue to someone you think might be interested. Thank you.

AN EXTRA LARGE CUP
OF COFFEE QUOTES

The perfect cup of coffee wipes clear the windows of perception to sparkling,
glassy brilliance -- Chris Kilham
 
Coffee: Bean there, done that -- sign in T'Spoons Coffeeshop, Iowa City

Plastic gun. Ingenious. More coffee, please -- The Phantom

Coffee which makes the politician wise, and see through all things with his
 half-shut eyes -- Alexander Pope

Dialogue from an episode of Twin Peaks:
Harry: What do you recommend for a hangover?
Annie: Teetotaling and prayer
Cooper: Good answer
Harry: I'll try some coffee
  

POWER OF FLOWERS * CONCERTS TUESDAY, JULY 13 * 20 YEARS FOR ADA * LOSS AT UPTOWN BILL'S * BILL'S COFFEESHOP NEWSLETTER * Vol. 11 * July 9, 2010

Bread feeds the body, but flowers feed the soul --  Quote from the Quran/Koran

*     *     *     *     *

THERE IS nothing like a flower to brighten, even shake up, an ordinary day. Each week recently I have bought two flowers at the farmers market and then carried them home. Wow, what reactions I get. There are smiles, nods and other sounds of approval. And people who wonder where the flowers are going. "I'd like to know who's getting those," one woman said to me last week.

The flowers are for our apartment. My roommate and I each have a vase. One flower goes in each vase. So far, I have been getting lilies. Who knows what flowers will be next. But I am sure the reaction will be the same.

Gisela Konopka taught me the importance of flowers in our daily lives. She was a social worker -- and the mother of adolescent group work. When I was teaching high school, she would frequently call and tell me to stop and pick up flowers. In the summer, I would pick them from her yard. In the winter, I would take them from the flowers she had indoors. 

Like so many things, it took me a long time to appreciate the impact of flowers. In fact, it's been over 10 years since I last got flowers from Gisa. But eventually the message sunk in: You don't need a special event to have flowers.

When planning the move to Iowa City, I made a list of 10 things I wanted to do. Some were major: Trying to live without a car. Some were moderate: Reducing the paper files I carry with me. And one was small: Have flowers.

But it turns out that "having flowers" is a really big thing. It's not only great in the place where I live, it's also a delight to nearly everyone who sees me walking through downtown with the flowers. 

*     *     *     *     *

I'M NOT really a fan of roses. They're okay, of course, but I prefer other flowers, especially wildflowers. Right now, it is lilies that enchant me. I can look over from where I am writing and see a reddish purple lily in a vase on the bookshelf. Across the apartment, another lily sits on my roommate's table. 

*     *     *     *     *

IF I were to send you a rose, it would be yellow and red, picked from my favorite rosebush. It's along the fence at the home in San Jose where I once lived. It was a modest house on North 12th Street, a bungalow one might say. It's just north of downtown, in a neighborhood full of Italian roots. We lived around the corner from the Del Monte pickle factory. Trucks full of garlic and dill would roll through the neighborhoods in late summer and fall.

What made this one rosebush so special? It was not the color, though the red and yellow combination was attractive. Rather, it was the scent which made this rosebush special.

Each morning when it was in bloom I would stop and, yes, smell the roses. On the mornings after a rain, the sweet scent from this rosebush filled the air in our entire yard.

Remember, of course, that in California roses bloom their best in the winter. It seems an impossible feat for those who have grown up in the Midwest. How could this be, one wonders. 

*     *     *     *     *

During my years as a newspaper reporter, I met a number of people whose lives revolved around flowers. The Stockings, for example, fashioned a rose nursery on old orchard land. And in the middle they planted redwood trees, a delightful respite on a summer day.

There was the rose man at Stanford, who took care of rosebushes at the university's front entrance for more than half a century. For years, he had to carry water to the bushes. He has died, but the roses remain. 

And there was the woman who drove out into the countryside looking for "heritage roses" -- varieties which were gone except for those places where they grew wild. She would carefully take a cutting from these roses and bring it back to her home. Her backyard was a giant living museum for these heritage roses. 

*     *     *     *     *

SOMETIMES I think that buying flowers is an extravagance, not something essential. It is not an easy thought for me to overcome. But then I remember the day when my friend Michele Jurich called to tell me she'd given flowers to a friend -- not for a birthday, not for an anniversary, not for a graduation. She gave them to celebrate nothing in particular and everything in general. What a grand idea. What a brave thing to do.

Once, a few years ago, a friend sent flowers to me for no particular reason. Oh, that was nice. And the flowers not only enriched my day, but those around me as well. What could be more essential  to life than that.

*     *     *     *     *

A GREAT LOSS AT

UPTOWN BILL'S

John Coolidge, longtime custodian at Uptown Bill's, died earlier this week. A memorial service is planned Sunday, Aug. 15, 1:30 pm at Uptown Bill's. You can find out more about John's life and work on the Facebook page for Uptown Bill's Small Mall. Look for the column "Just Dale: A large head" by Dale Haskins. 

BEHIND THE SCENES

OF NEW BILL FILM

Go behind the scenes. Learn more about the filming of "A Friend Indeed: The Bill Sackter Story." You'll find a link to this web page on the Facebook page for Friends of Bill's Coffeeshop. 

TWENTY YEARS

FOR THE ADA

It was back in July 1990 that the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. Lots of celebrations are planned this month to mark the 20th anniversary. One is Saturday, July 24, 1-4 pm on the Ped Mall in Iowa City. US Senator Tom Harkin, an author of the ADA, will be among the speakers. For a link to other events in Iowa, visit the Facebook page for Friends of Bill's Coffeeshop.

GREAT MUSIC

NEXT TUESDAY

Looking for a great evening with marvelous musicians? Then plan to come to Uptown Bill's next Tuesday, July 13 at 8 pm. First, Leah Arnold will play. She played at Uptown Bill's a year ago and is back again with a wonderful set of acoustic music. (She recently moved to Iowa City; this is her first performance here since arriving a month ago.)

She will be followed by Christopher Bell. From Upstate NY, Christopher Bell is a chamber music influenced, Folk/Alt-Country multi-instrumentalist. He blends guitar and banjo with plucked and bowed viola, looped and sampled live. His Full Length "I'll Be Home" and his new EP have both been released on Silent Home Records.

Chris is on tour this summer and will be in Iowa City between gigs in Aberdeen and Des Moines. No cover, but we will pass the hat. Go to the Facebook page for Uptown Bill's Small Mall to find out more about this event.

EARLIER THAT
SAME DAY
Chris Bell and Leah Arnold will also play at Noon on Tuesday, July 13 at the original Wild Bill's Coffeeshop, 321 North Hall. Bring your lunch or pick up something at the coffeeshop.

MOVING AT END

OF THE MONTH

Uptown Bill's is moving to a new location at the end of July. It will be relocated to 730 S. Dubuque, on top of Public Access TV. 

________________________

Wild Bill's Coffeeshop is a project of the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa. It has been a part of campus life in Iowa City for more than 35 years. Located in North Hall, the coffeeshop is open weekdays from 8 am to 3 pm.

Uptown Bill's Small Mall is a crosstown cousin to the original coffeeshop. It includes a bookstore, performance venue and other businesses in addition to a coffeeshop. Located at 401 S. Gilbert, Uptown Bill's is open every day from 8 am. For more information, call (319) 339-0401. 

Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter is a virtual extension of the coffeeshops and the spirit of Bill Sackter. Published since 2000, the Newsletter is written by Tom Gilsenan, a former manager of the original coffeeshop and now the director of Uptown Bill's. You can reach me at tomgilsenan@gmail.com.