The Territorial Capital Museum in Lecompton is new featuring 120 Christmas trees with vintage ornaments.

No, W. H. Beatty Mercantile Company is not opening in 715 High Street despite that name appearing in white lettering high on the building’s storefront. The building is still the home of Shirt Shack and Amy Wright’s property management office.

The facade lettering was uncovered when the building’s owners, Amy and Alan Wright, stripped off the old paint on the building’s brick front as part of restoring it. The lettering near the top, which is somewhat hard to read after a century of weather, identifies the store as W.H. Beatty Mer. Co. Vertical lettering elsewhere alerted long-ago shoppers that available inside the store were “dry goods,” “carpet,” “shoes” and “clothing.” Right above the storefront’s entrance “men’s furnishings” is written horizontally.

Alan Wright said he didn’t know the lettering was there when he and his wife started the project, but wasn’t completely surprised either because similar advertising was found buried under plaster of the west wall of the neighboring RG Fiber building when it was renovated last year. The Wrights were thrilled to uncover the lettering and coated the old advertising to protect it from the elements.

The facade has been tuck-pointed and the metal cornice on its roof line repainted. The project is nearing completion, with the installation of smaller windows above the large ground-floor window the biggest detail remaining.

Wright said he worked from old photographs and traces of the original facade to plan the improvements.

“It’s not a historically correct restoration, but it’s an improvement on what was there,” he said.

It is not the first time Wright has had a hand in returning a downtown Baldwin City facade to its past splendor. His partners in the project to save and restore the two-story brick building on the northwest corner of Sixth and High streets credited him with the elaborate Victorian design of that building’s facade.

Wright said he was hopeful the latest renovations would prompt other downtown property owners to consider period-correct restorations of storefronts. There is money available to help with those efforts through the city’s facade upgrade and mural grants and Baldwin City Economic Development Corporation’s beautification program, he said.

Mirna Yanet Cabrera is establishing a community enhancement of a much different kind in Eudora.

The choir instructor at Haskell Indian Nations University with a master’s and doctorate in music from the University of Kansas, Cabrera plays piano at the St. Paul United Church of Christ in Eudora. From conversations there, she conceived of the idea of forming a Eudora community choir. Her hunch was that there were enough Eudora residents with experience in high school college choirs or bands who would be interested in performing in the community.

Her hunch was right, Cabrera said. There is now a choir of 20 singers rehearsing weekly from 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. Wednesdays at St. Paul, 738 Church St. She would like as many as 50, she said, adding those with interest don’t need to be shy if they lack formal music training as she will work with them if they don’t know how to read music. There’s no membership fee, but performers will have to buy their own score for planned performances, she said.

Cabrera foresees the choir performing twice a year, and a Dec. 17 holiday performance is planned at St.Paul. It will include pieces from Handel’s “Messiah” and Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” she said.

It’s tempting to say it is hard to see the exhibits for the trees at Lecompton’s Territorial Capital Museum, but the tress are part of the museum experience through the end of the year. Displayed in the museum at 640 East Woodson St. are 120 trees decorated with antique and vintage ornaments. On display are such distinctive pieces as tinseled scrap paper ornaments from the 1880s, metal shortage ornaments from the World War II era and glass-spun ornaments from the 1960s.

The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged.

A Community Blood Center blood drive is scheduled from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday in the commons area of Eudora High School, 2203 Church St.

The Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce’s November luncheon will be from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Lumberyard Arts Center, 718 High St. Baldwin City community development director Ed Courton
will give a presentation at the luncheon on neighborhood revitalization areas.

The monthly Baldwin City Senior Mix gathering will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Ives Chapel United Methodist Church, 1018 Miami St. Debra McCullough will present information on senior activities the Baldwin City Recreation Commission offers. The program is “On the Road Again.” All seniors in the Baldwin City area are welcome.

The Eudora Parks and Recreation Department will have an open house to present the results of a recent survey on parks and recreation facilities and programs from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Community Center, 1630 Elm St.

The Eudora High School fall musical “Footloose” will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday and 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, at the the EHS Performing Arts Centers. Tickets are $5 per person.