John E. Weare

The Butte Bakery has stayed true to its name since opening four years ago over Heritage Days in a smallish room at Tawny Katen's insurance agency in the 300 block of Box Butte Avenue. Demand for its tasty treats meant expansion to a storefront up the street. Then, this summer, owner Whitney Baldwin moved south to the former home of The Printer with space for the bakery and a commercial kitchen.

Watch the sidewalks of Alliance in October. I would not predict they'll be everywhere, but expect a few dozen roughly oblong green blobs on the sidewalks. Improperly stuffed bean bags? No. An early promotion for St. Paddy's Day? Nope. Rather, the colorful 55-60 gallon sacks will be a literal nod to a new way to be “green”.

Cutline: Recycling Assistant Keith Cameron takes a couple bags out of Keep Chadron Beautiful's enclosed trailer Thursday, Aug. 27. Keep Alliance Beautiful processes recyclables from the monthly collection event in Chadron. The two Keep America Beautiful affiliates continue to partner to offer recycling in Northwest Nebraska.

Keep Alliance Beautiful keeps track of the volume, by weight, of material processed and shipped from our facility. Of course some of what we receive is trash and leaves via the City garbage truck. Other items find their way back into the community to be reused.

“Go Big Blue!” shout the cheerleaders and student section as the crowd rises during home football games. Look for Bulldog blue downtown too this autumn as Keep Alliance Beautiful and the City of Alliance debut a set of new recycling receptacles.

He stood in the shade on the north side of the building then outside the south door, a sentry keeping watch for many months. A brief taste of electricity allowed movement. Only once did he venture inside then returned to his post finding no quarter there. Finally a pair of steel arms lifted the aging baler onto a trailer bound for a new home.

St. Agnes Academy students face off during the recycling relay at the ARC's health and wellness day.

Keep Alliance Beautiful took part in last night's homecoming parade. I pulled a float with three of our newest recycling center crew members on board: Recycling Coordinator Matt Martin and recycling assistants Reno Whirlwind Horse with his son and Tino Caudell with his three children. My son rounded out the group. Former executive director Kathy Worley and Education Coordinator Emma Steffy each painted “KAB” on either side to fit the Rio theme. Shop supervisor Josh Fairley suggested we take part and it was a fun way to start the fourth quarter of 2026.

Cutline: Local fourth graders create photograms at Dobby's Frontier Town, one of several activities KAB Education Coordinator Emma Steffy has been a part of recently.

Halloween and All Saints Day are just around the corner. Blink and The Holidays – Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, in my definition – will be here and gone. Find a reason to slow down and possibly adopt new habits next month on America Recycles Day, Nov. 15.