The local Scott Joplin Ragtime festival started yesterday. Joplin wrote his famous "Maple Leaf Rag" at the Maple Leaf bar on Main street. The bar, now long gone, is a small park dedicated to Joplin. He published his "Maple Leaf Rag" at a music publisher downtown at what became a music store and is now a coffee bar. Several downtown streets are closed off and large, open tents are set up in the streets, each one furnished with a piano, and there are some indoor venues. Ragtime pianists come to perform from all over the world, and people from all over the world come to watch. The pianists are phenomenal. At least one lady visited from Ireland. Who knew Ragtime was that popular in Europe? I thought about visiting but parking is virtually nonexistent. I did get to listen to a couple of musicians on the way through town, but there was absolutely no place to park. John