Fifty years after Buddy Holly's visit to Appleton was canceled, that non-event is the LEAD STORY in our local newspaper. Little tidbits like this are what I love about living in a small town. It's also why I read the Wall Street Journal and other source for my news. The non-events they report are much more current - like the non-event of the Government fixing the economy. Right!

Three wonderful places in the Valley have closed. Club West, the tennis facility and gym on Shady Lane in Menasha, is currently closed and has been for a while. Some of its many fans are hoping that it will re-open under new ownership. Terrific place, but maybe not the best location.

On the north side of town, the River Valley Food Company, with its terrific menu and unusual flooring, is no longer. So much work and love went into that place! They will be missed. Part of the problem: no advertising. Word of mouth only works if you get mouths in the door in the first place.

Bela Bakery and Cafe near Kohl's on the southeast side of town (Darboy area) is also closed. Tough location and no advertising that I could see.

Where should people advertise? Radio, Fox Cities magazine, and several other places. I'm even going to start suggesting that restaurants look to the Appleton pages soon to be launched at AppletonRocks.com (taking traffic from my Appleton page now at JeffLindsay.com - currently about 8,000 hits a month just on the main Appleton page, plus more on the related pages). If nothing else, make sure you get reviewed there!

A Fox Valley company, Neenah Paper, has the remarkable honor of being the source of the special paper used for the invitations printed for the inauguration today of President Barack Obama. Here is part of the Neenah Paper press release on their inauguration honor:

Paper has always played an important role in history. A World Series ticket, a playbill from an award-winning Broadway show, or a newspaper heralding a significant event like NASA’s first moonwalk have had special meaning for many. But on a larger scale, paper also provides a historical glimpse into our nation’s highest office.

Paper will once again provide generations to come with a peek into what’s important to Americans today as the presidential inaugural invitations are received this month.

One of Neenah Paper’s finest eco-friendly papers was selected for the invitation to the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. More than 1 million inaugural invitations have been engraved and printed on CLASSIC CREST® Paper from Neenah Paper. Neenah has also provided the paper for the last three presidents’ inaugurations.

“Think of how much more we know about the birth of our nation thanks to the archived letters and papers of people like John and Abigail Adams,” says Byron Racki, senior director of Fine Paper Marketing for Neenah. “Their communication was thoughtful and meaningful, creating a window into the world as it was then.

“What will this invitation say about Barack Obama’s presidency when it’s found in an attic or tucked in a book decades if not hundreds of years from now?” Racki wonders. “We believe the choice of an environmental paper will remind future generations of our nation’s protection of the earth, and will be seen in keeping with our new president’s green sensibilities.”

Neenah Paper has a long history of providing paper for government documents. In 1873, the company’s paper mill in Neenah, Wis., began manufacturing paper used for government documents such as bonds, deeds and certificates as well as personal letters. Today, more than 135 years later, Neenah Paper continues to manufacture more sustainable and recycled premium papers while reducing its environmental footprint.

The paper used for the inauguration invitation is CLASSIC CREST® Paper in Recycled 100 Natural White. FSC Certified, made Carbon Neutral, and 100 percent post consumer fiber, it is part of the first generation of recycled and sustainable papers used for printing significant, permanent documents—an important milestone in the evolution of papermaking.

Kudos to Neenah Paper!

The Post-Crescent's "Shifting Gears" column, about people making career changes, recently featured a good friend of mine, Joe Thompson, now with Praxilient, a local consulting firm. Congratulations to Joe and Praxilient!

By Thursday Appleton will face arctic cold coming from the north, with temperatures way below zero degrees. This can be a very dangerous time, especially if your driving somewhere and your car breaks down. Here's a smart survival tip: have a candle and a large empty can or bottle in your car. By lighting a candle and keeping it safely contained in the can or bottle, you generate enough heat to really make a difference. If you aren't a short ways from help, it usually isn't wise to try walking anywhere in the cold. Stay put in your car until help can come.

Any of you notice the Dec. 22 story, PCB truck route runs through De Pere? It describes changes in the truck route for hauling all the dirt dredged up from the river bottom to get rid of some of the PCBs that have been sitting there for decades. It's hard to see evidence of ongoing harm from those PCBs sitting deep in the mud of a river, but it's easy to see, smell, and hear the various forms of pollution being created to remove them. Worth the cost? I'm not sure - and I'm not sure the cost-benefit analysis was fairly considered when the decision was made.

Dredging of 3.8 million cubic yards of sediment from the lower Fox River is scheduled to start in May as part of the $600 million river cleanup project. The target is the massive amount of polychlorinated biphenyls, the waste product from years of carbonless paper production by several paper mills.

Georgia-Pacific Corp., NCR Corp., and Appleton Papers Inc., now owned by Arjo Wiggins, dumped PCBs into the river through the production of carbonless paper. PCBs were banned in 1977 and have been linked to cancer in humans and deformities in wildlife.

It is the largest river PCB cleanup project in the country.

The nine-year project is estimated to include about 168,000 truck trips for the 37 miles from the processing plant to the landfill. Officials say about 85 truckloads a day will travel between 6 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays, and 6 a.m. to noon Saturdays. The trucking will occur from April through October, depending on the weather.

168,000 truck trips, 37 miles each way - that's well over a million gallons of fuel being burned. Go down to the river or Little Lake Butte des Morts and smell the diesel fumes being generated 24 hours a day (during summer and fall) by the noisy equipment that sucks up the bottom of the river/lake and pipes it to acres dedicated to draining and packaging the waste. Acres of landfill will be consumed. On top of that, the deljavascript:void(0)icate life at the bottom of the river and lake is disrupted. It's an assault on the environment in the name of cleansing the environment. Has the need to remove buried PCBs really been established? Is it worth a billion dollars and hundreds of lost jobs in this painful economic downturn?

Maybe. Just asking. . . .

One thing is for sure: the lake and river were a lot prettier when the fume-spewing barges weren't there.

Can you identify where this photo was taken? I took it last week while driving through Appleton. This is Photo #1 of the Fox Valley 2009 Mystery Photo Series. First person to name the location (business name or address) gets a point. Prizes will be given later for those with the most points.

Someone asked me if I had photos of the angels that line Appleton's streets during the winter holidays. Here are a couple views:

Lovers of Greek food will be happy to learn of a tasty and inexpensive addition to Appleton's restaurant scene. The Greek Kafé offers relatively fast Greek food served with disposable plates and utensils. Eat in or carry out your gyros, souvlaki, spanikopita, dolmades, falafels, or other Greek dishes. I just loved my dolmades plate. Very moist and delicious. The gyros are also very good. The falafels, on the other hand, are a bit too dry - at least compared to the Arab versions that I have enjoyed when traveling in Europe or on a trip to Israel long ago.

Most meals (main course plus pita bread, rice, and salad) are around $8. Gyros are $5.50 (small) or $6.50 (large). The avgolemono (lemon) soup is wonderful.

Fabulous place for an informal, quick meal on a budget.

The Greek Kafe is nestled in a strip mall just a few yards south of Ginger Rootz at 2920 N Ballard Road in Appleton.

Phone: (920) 574-3143.

I've had a lot of feedback since I claimed that Siroccos may have the best Mediterranean food in the Valley. Most people agree that this place is a "WOW!" - and those who have gained street cred in the culinary world are generally especially enthusiastic. If your goal is to ingest as many calories as possible for a few bucks, do not go there. If your goal is to scintillate your taste buds and expand your culinary horizons, make reservations ASAP.