Latest news with #TheBarn
CBS News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Wondering what that massive stone truck is on McKnight Road? It's a heartwarming tribute
Sometimes you see something in your daily travels and your brain thinks, "What the heck is that?" That's exactly what a lot of drivers along McKnight Road are likely thinking when they pass a sculpture that now appears on the side of the road. Especially at night, when there is no way that you could miss it. "It's supposed to be full-size, a full-size truck," said David Colosimo. Colosimo is the owner of Barn Landscaping, and he said that the sculpture is made entirely of stone. "Everything on there is the stone that we sell," he said. It isn't just about promoting the business. The driver's door says that it's a tribute to his father, Bobby. "It seemed like the perfect thing to do for him, and so we made a full-size, one-to-one, scale truck in his honor, a nice memorial up there," said Joe Izzy. It's a memorial because Bobby got sick and died unexpectedly last October. Long-time friend and colleague Izzy said there is only one way to describe Bobb Colosimo. "He was larger than life," he said. Bobby Colosimo cherished his family and friends, but he was also a businessman. He once owned parking lots near Three Rivers Stadium, and his 40 Daroco truckers were everywhere, paving, plowing, and hauling. Then there is Barn Landscaping on the terraced hillside at Babcock and McKnight. "He always wanted to do something very special on McKnight Road for the community, something spectacular," Izzy recalled. Izzay said in the wave of mourning after Bobby's passing, the idea of the stone truck was born, and they pulled it off a rock that Peter built. "The deck on the trucks, 23-foot, like our block truck, the cab is the same height, the width, the tires, 44-inch tires on there," Izzy said. "That's what you see on a tractor-trailer." At night, its running lights illuminate the Ross Township corner and can be changed to match the season or the occasion. "He would probably stand on McKnight Road," Izzy said. "Didn't care about the traffic, and just look at it. I know he's somewhere looking at it right now, but you know, this would be the top for him." Over-the-top is a great description of Bobby Colosimo. He actually floated the idea of a full-size Flintstones car for the spot. While it's not quite finished, they have a sign for The Barn that will soon be mounted in the truck sculpture's bed. As for his family, they love it. They are all still very shaken by his passing, but his wife Robin loves the tribute. When my family moved to Pittsburgh, Robin and Bobby were our next-door neighbors, and this truck is a perfect reflection of Bobby.
Times
16-05-2025
- General
- Times
Soak in the views: a Perth farmhouse is on sale for £450,000
When the Perthshire native Julie Campbell and her Spanish husband, José González, bought part of a derelict farm steading on a hillside north of Pitlochry back in 2009, it contained just one thing: a beautiful, beaten-up, old Victorian rolltop cast-iron bathtub. As they undertook an architect-designed conversion of the steading to turn it into what is today — the sublime, four-bedroom semi-detached countryside home they call simply The Barn — it seemed a shame to throw the old bath away. So it was shifted into the front garden, where it stands ornamentally on a raised deck, against a backdrop of a lush green hillside. It has been put to a multitude of uses ever since. 'I was going to make it into a pond,' Campbell
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Youth group street art unveiled at Tadcaster Albion AFC
Graffiti-style street art celebrating a North Yorkshire town has been created by a youth group with the help of a Spanish visual from The Barn, a youth and community centre in Tadcaster, sprayed their unique tags on the installation which is located on the outside wall of Tadcaster Albion mural, made in collaboration with artist Eduard Sacrest, aka RICE, is one of three installations around the Yorkshire town as part of the ongoing NowThen! cultural programme."This was an opportunity for the kids to express themselves through art and the creativity and what came out of their minds was impressive," he said. 'Real impact' Now Then! is delivering arts events and activities to the centres of Selby, Tadcaster and Sherburn-in-Elmet between April 2024 and March programme has been given a Place Partnership award from the Arts Council England through the National Lottery and aims to help regenerate the Davies, executive producer at art charity Arcade, the programme delivery partner with The Barn, said: "I think it's a really meaningful project for Tadcaster."It's had a real impact - showing young people that art is for everybody and that you can create beautiful things in the location that you live." The football-themed mural outside the club is one of three that Mr Sacrest has worked on with groups at The Barn - the other two are located in the community centre itself and at Tadcaster Tadcaster Albion artwork was made in collaboration with The Barn and The Brewers youth group which explores positive themes around football, identity and Sacrest is originally from Barcelona and was selected by a panel of teens at the community centre to be the artist-in-residence for the duration of the then helped the group design the artwork to "represent their imagination and experience". Noah, 14, was involved in the entire process - from selection to artwork creation - and described the experience as "really interesting".He added: "It feels really good to have a voice, especially about stuff as personal as the community we live in."The tagging of the mural at the football ground marks the end of the project but Mr Sacrest said he would be back in Tadcaster for the NowThen! summer festival."It is not a goodbye yet - I'll be back to do another mural and I will see everyone again, to create something together," he said. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
11-04-2025
- BBC News
Britain's tastiest town: Where Michelin chefs and gingerbread queens reign
Home to three Michelin-starred restaurants and a royal gingerbread legacy, the unassuming Lancashire town of Ormskirk is fast becoming the UK's most delicious destination. When it comes to UK destinations for a gourmet weekend away, there's a new name on the lips of serious foodies. Forget the metropolitan streets of Chelsea, Mayfair or even Edinburgh. Britain's latest gastronomic hotspot is in the rural hinterlands of deepest Lancashire. Holidaymakers journeying to this historic county in north-west England – a key location in the English and Industrial revolutions – would have traditionally been heading for Blackpool, the classic British seaside resort whose best-known epicurean delight is Blackpool Rock, a tooth-shatteringly tough cylindrical stick of boiled sugar and glucose syrup. But, for those with more refined palates – or more delicate dental work – the tastiest rewards are to be found in Ormskirk, a bustling market town that was once a Viking settlement, and in Aughton, the small village next door. It's in this small village where Mark Birchall serves as chef patron of Moor Hall, a produce-driven restaurant within the grounds of a Grade II-listed, 16th-Century manor house. And at this year's Michelin awards, he was the only chef in Britain and Ireland to have been awarded a third Michelin star. As such, he has become one of only 10 chefs in the country (and fewer than 150 in the entire world) to hold the three-star accolade, a designation signalling that, according to the tyre company's inspectors, a restaurant is worth making a dedicated journey for. No stranger to recognition, Moor Hall was voted Best Restaurant in England in the 2023 National Restaurant Awards, and also possesses a green Michelin star for the sustainable cooking practices used to create its 18-course tasting menu. Additionally, Birchall's "neighbourhood restaurant", The Barn (offering more casual dining at a lower price point), is a mere 30 second stroll around the lake from Moor Hall and possesses a Michelin star of its very own too. As if that weren't enough, less than 10 minutes' walk away is Chef Tim Allen's restaurant sō-lō which has a Michelin star as well, bringing the total to a rather stellar six in the space of less than half a mile. So what makes the food so special in this part of Lancashire, I ask Birchall as he forages for micro herbs and other ingredients on Moor Hall's six-acre country estate, dotted with secluded luxury garden rooms where diners can stay. "Aughton and Ormskirk have a deep-rooted connection to the land, and that plays a massive part in why the food here is so special," he tells me. "The landscape, the soil, the weather – it all contributes to the quality of the produce. We're lucky to have incredibly fertile, well-draining soil, which means the fruit and vegetables – particularly leafy greens, brassicas and root veg – even the grass that feeds the livestock, are all packed with flavour." Indeed, the West Lancashire coastal plain between Preston and Southport is often referred to as "the salad bowl of England". According to the National Farmers Union, England's north-west region accounts for 15% of the country's food production, leading them to call it "Britain's farming powerhouse". "The climate, too, plays its role," Birchall continues. "We get just the right balance – enough rain to keep things abundant, but not so much that it drowns the land. That allows for a longer growing season, and when you combine that with generations of skilled farmers who understand how to work with the land, you get outstanding ingredients. It's that connection between produce and place that really sets the region apart." Allen agrees with Birchall, with whom he consulted before opening sō-lō. He has seen an influx of foodies not just from London (which is a little more than two hours away by train) but from right across the globe. "We get people coming from America, Mexico, Norway, Finland, even Singapore," Allen tells me. "But also, because we're located midway between Liverpool and Manchester – whose football teams (Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United) are massive – you get a lot of people travelling for the football. And many of them, it turns out, quite like eating Michelin-starred food." Perhaps unsurprisingly, these discerning fans eschew the plastic platefuls of pie and chips usually consumed on the terraces to partake of Allen's altogether more elevated offerings; dishes made with ingredients such as Louet Fessier oyster emulsion, Oscietra caviar and salt-baked celeriac (which he employs somebody to grow purely for sō-lō's seven-course tasting menu). But this part of Lancashire offers more than the ultra-modern cordon bleu cuisine of Moor Hall and sō-lō; travellers in search of the area's deepest culinary roots may find them at the famous Omskirk Market. Held on Thursdays and Saturdays, it is one of the country's oldest (King Edward I granted it a Royal Charter in 1286) and is where you can sample the town's original claim to culinary fame: gingerbread. As far back as 1732, recipes for the spicy baked treat were being passed down through generations of Ormskirkers. Sellers – almost exclusively women identified by their white shawls and aprons – would tout fresh gingerbread to passengers on the stagecoaches that stopped at the inns along Aughton Street on their way from Liverpool to Preston. When Ormskirk railway station opened in 1849, the women switched to targeting train passengers. More like this:• The English wine that's rivalling Champagne• Is the future of French cheese at stake?• The surprising 'lesbian capital of the UK' "They would make their way along the platform, loudly knocking on all the carriage windows crying out 'Gingerbread! Who will buy my freshly baked gingerbread?'," explains Kathryn MacDonald of the Ormskirk and District Family History Society. "There were so many of them and they were such persuasive sellers that Ormskirk's gingerbread women became well known around the region. So when, in 1885, the Prince of Wales alighted here – he was going to a shooting party at nearby Lathom House – there was a welcome reception put on for him at the station and three of the gingerbread women were allowed to present the Prince with a gift of Ormskirk gingerbread. A few years later, when he became king (Edward VII), he'd stop the royal train at Ormskirk on his way up to Balmoral, and stock up with supplies for himself and the royal family. So, he obviously must have really liked our gingerbread!" The white-aproned women no longer ply their wares at the station, but one baker of Ormskirk gingerbread can still be found today in the town. Mr Thompson's Bakery is a family business run by Neil Thompson, his wife Janet and daughter Lilli who bake the treats in a converted shed in their back garden. "Back in 2010, we revived an ancient Ormskirk gingerbread recipe but made some tweaks, such as using less salt, to suit modern tastes," says Lilli, who mans their stall each week at Ormskirk's famous food market. The Thompsons' bakery, which has appeared in an episode of BBC TV's The Hairy Bikers Go West, is also carrying on the town's tradition of reeling in royalty with its legendary gingerbread. Janet reveals how she and Lilli were given the honour, when Princess Anne visited Ormskirk in 2022 to open a new facility at Edge Hill University, of including some of their gingerbread in a welcome hamper. "Has she come back since to stock up with supplies, like her great-grandfather Edward VII did?" I ask. "Not as far I know," she laughs, "but I'd like to think there's a secret stash of Ormskirk gingerbread somewhere in one of the larders of Buckingham Palace!" Each year the town hosts Ormskirk Gingerbread Festival which, this year, is scheduled to take place on 13 July. The family-friendly event allows locals and visitors to learn more about the town's culinary heritage, and some women dress up in white shawls and aprons to honour Ormskirk's most famous gingerbread hawkers. It's also an opportunity to celebrate this unassuming pocket of Lancashire that has quietly become a food lover's destination in its own right – no small achievement in a country where most culinary trends tend to point south. Whether you come for the royal gingerbread, the six Michelin stars or the rich farming roots that nourish it all, Ormskirk delivers the goods… and they're anything but half-baked. -- For more Travel stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gophers seek naming-rights deal for Williams Arena as the U financial needs grow
The Gophers athletics department is exploring a potential naming-rights deal for Williams Arena and the U will partner with Independent Sports & Entertainment in the process, the U said Thursday. This is part of the U's efforts to create more revenue streams with the incoming estimated annual expense of $20.5 million in revenue sharing to student-athletes. That's known as the 'House settlement' and it's expected to be finalized this month and start later this year. The naming-rights for the venue nicknamed The Barn 'is a tremendous opportunity for a company to align themselves with the University of Minnesota and with Gopher Athletics,' Director of Athletics Mark Coyle said in a statement. 'We look forward to working with ISE to find a naming rights partner that will help us continue to provide world-class experiences for our student-athletes.' For fiscal year 2024, the Gophers reported $151.1 million in total operating revenues and $152.5 million in total operating expenses. The goal for the U is a balanced budget, but it's unclear how the U will carve out funds for this big new expense. 'We've been making hard decisions within our athletics department in terms of some of the things we will do as we move forward to help cover that cost of $20.5 million,' Athletics Director Mark Coyle told reporters on March 14. 'We feel very confident that we will be at that revenue share number. … We feel like we will get there. We feel confident about that and feel like we will give our program the best chance to succeed.' A naming-rights deal the venue nicknamed 'The Barn' would help shrink the financial gap but not bridge it by itself. For example, the Gophers and 3M in 2017 entered into a 14-year, $11.2 million sponsorship agreement for naming rights to the home of men's hockey, Mariucci Arena. It's now known as 3M Arena at Mariucci. During the pandemic, the Gophers cut three men's sports — gymnastics, tennis and track and field — at the end of the 2020-21 academic year. Coyle said a budget shortfall and Title IX compliance were two reasons why cuts were necessary. The U currently has a combined 22 men's and women's sports and it's unclear if more individual sports teams might cease operations in the near future. ISE, according to its website, is an agency that works in management, sales, consulting and marketing, with services in strategic guidance, brand creation and global partnerships. They list a handful of clients, including ESPN, the College Football Playoff, the WNBA and college programs such as Mississippi, West Virginia, Vanderbilt and Washington State among others. Due to the revenue sharing demands, Coyle said in March that the U has set aside a plan to explore remodeling options for Williams Arena. A year ago, the Gophers tabbed Populous, an architectural design firm, to do a feasibility study into building a new venue or possible renovations of the existing arena, which first opened in 1928. When remodeled in 1950, the home of the men's and women's basketball teams was named Williams Arena after Dr. Henry L. Williams, a former Gophers football coach (1900-21) who did not have deep connections to U basketball. If the U secures a naming-rights parter, they plan to recognize within the stadium Williams Arena's nearly 100-year-old history and Dr. Williams, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Gophers men's basketball welcomes two new players Wednesday How Gophers coach Niko Medved will go into the NCAA transfer portal Two Gophers recruits back out of men's basketball program Niko Medved's path to Gophers included steering him off hockey rinks Another Gophers men's basketball player enters NCAA transfer portal
