Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died serving our country. This is a great time to honor our veterans and famous Americans by visiting the monuments in Washington, DC. The Memorial Day weekend also marks the beginning of the busy summer season and the Washington, DC region celebrates with family friendly events and special services.
A free concert will be held on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The concert features the National Symphony Orchestra. Beginning at 2 p.m. the parade of Marching Bands and Veterans units from all 50 states steps off at the corner of Constitution Avenue and 7th Streets, NW and proceeds along Constitution Avenue, past the White House, ending at 17th Street. The National Memorial Day Parade is sponsored by the World War II Veterans Committee and includes patriotic floats and helium-filled balloons.
At 11 a.m. a wreath-laying ceremony and concert will be held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in honor of Memorial Day.
There are many more events scheduled all over the country. I wish I could be in Washington, DC to observe the parade and celebrations. Instead, I will be here, in my town that no longer has a parade like the old days, and remember my best friend ever - Veteran John D. Jackson, who died October 27, 2007, a WWII Army veteran. I miss him so much.
Son John, and my nephew, Jeffrey, are veterans. John is here, and Jeffrey lives in Youngstown, Ohio. Jeff served more than 18 years in the U.S. Navy. I salute them for their service and I hope they know how much I love them.
Many, many years ago, women fought Republicans on sufferage. Now we are fighting Republicans on our uterus' and our right to choose. When men grow a uterus, THEN they can say what to do with it! Republicans need to leave our health care and reproductive rights alone!
An Ohio Department of Transportation employee stopped at a farm and talked with an old farmer.
He told the farmer, 'I need to inspect your farm for a possible new road.'
The old farmer said, 'OK, but don't go in that field.'
The Highway employee said, 'I have the authority of the State of Ohio to go where I want. See this card? I am allowed to go wherever I wish on farm land.'
So the old farmer went about his farm chores. Just a few minutes later, he heard loud screams and saw the Department of Transportation employee running for the fence, close behind was the farmer's prize bull.
The bull was madder than a nest full of hornets and the bull was gaining on the employee at every step.
The old farmer called out, 'Show him your card, smart ass!'
One dark night outside a small town, a fire started inside the local chemical plant. Before long it exploded into flames and an alarm went out to fire departments from miles around. After fighting the fire for over an hour, the chemical company president approached the fire chief and said, "All of our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant. They must be saved! I will give $50,000 to the engine company that brings them out safely!"
As soon as the chief heard this, he ordered the firemen to strengthen their attack on the blaze. After two more hours of attacking the fire, the president of the company offered $100,000 to the engine company that could bring out the company's secret files.
From the distance a long siren was heard and another fire truck came into sight. It was a local volunteer fire company composed entirely of men over 65. To everyone's amazement the little fire engine raced through the Chemical plant gates and drove straight into the middle of the inferno. In the distance the other firemen watched as the old timers hopped off of their rig and began to fight the fire with an effort that they had never seen before.
After an hour of intense fighting the volunteer company had extinguished the fire and saved the secret formulas. Joyous, the chemical company president announced that he would double the reward to $200,000 and walked over to personally thank each of the volunteers. After thanking each of the old men individually, the president asked the group what they intended to do with the reward money.
The fire truck driver looked him right in the eye and said, "The first thing we're going to do is fix the dang brakes on that truck!"
I was reading a Facebook post and a Huffington Post news item a few minutes ago and the comment made by a high official of our United States Congress blew my mind. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor actually said - no disaster relief unless budget cuts are made.
My first thought was "idiot," then many other words came to mind to describe the person who could make such a vile comment...highfalutin, self-serving...for his pernicious remark about Joplin, Missouri residents (and flood victims along the Mississippi River). The Representatives from Missouri should be outraged and fire back at Eric Cantor for saying that no disaster relief would come from the government until budget cuts are agreed upon.
People in Joplin lost their homes, their possessions, almost everything they owned, and lives were lost, yet Cantor has the audacity to say they get no relief? FEMA is the disaster relief organization that goes in to help hurricane, tornado, or flood victims. How can Eric Cantor say that he won't agree to any disaster relief funds until other members in Congress agree to budget cuts to serve his oil corporation, pocket-lining financial buddies, while people are moved to shelters because they have lost everything but their lives and their faith? What a stupid move by Cantor.
Things are looking up, as I look UP at progress. Friday was a busy day around my home. A crew of three workers showed up at 8:45am and worked for almost 12 hours to install a well-needed roof on my house. Wear and tear and years of storms took a toll on my roof and it began leaking in the front, down through where my aluminum awning is attached to the facia board under the gutter.
I called the awning installer, because it was my first thought that it might need some silicone to seal some cracks/leaks. Mother had the awning installed a couple years after she bought the house, and she still had the receipt in the "house" file. She never threw anything like that away. She was not a hoarder, but when it came to receipts, instruction manuals for anything and everything around the house, or repairs or additions, she kept every receipt.
The owner of the company and his helper came out to inspect it right away. When the helper got up on the roof to check out the top of the awning, he saw the two bad spots where the wood was rotted and soft and causing the water to run down onto the awning and come through the slats. He said I needed a new roof. What bad news! I can't afford a new roof.
Forty years ago, my mother bought this house and moved back home to Fayette County from Cleveland where my father's business had been. Forty years ago, the manufacturing process for roofing shingles was about a twenty-year life span. Twenty years after the initial purchase of this house, (when it was only two years old) a second layer of roofing shingles was applied to the roof. Now I needed a two-layer tear-off, new shingles and some new plywood in spots. Woe is me!
My father passed along to me some good business sense many years ago. I called three different companies, after checking reputations and better business bureau references, for free estimates. One independent local guy was way too high, even when offered a second repair project here as incentive for a low bid. A Wilmington company was lower and sounded good, but I awaited the third option. A Columbus company sent their salesman here and we had a long talk. The company advertises on television and I just love the dogs in their ad.
After two attempts, he finally undercut the Wilmington bid by more than $200, guaranteed one-day service, and 40-year dimensional shingles. Forty years? That's the age of the house, and I know I won't be around that long to see if they last the full forty! The salesman said the manufacturing process has gotten much better over the years, and they manufacture their own shingles in their plant in Columbus. Great - local Ohio business (buy American)!
He measured 20 square and a simple one-peak roof, no additional vents needed. I accepted his bid and waited to be scheduled. Of course, two solid weeks of rain made that almost impossible. Finally, last Friday would be a warm sunny day according to both weather shows I kept watching. I called and said, "Schedule me Friday for sure!" After out-waiting the rain, I would get the leaks stopped.
The three guys worked until noon when the foreman realized his paperwork was wrong and he had only brought enough shingles for 14 square. Typo at the office! The foreman had to leave, drive back to Columbus to the shop and get more materials. The other two guys stayed and kept working as much as they could. I called the office to let them know about the mixup, because I did not want to be penalized for something I didn't do. When I got my call back from the office, it had been investigated and, indeed, it was their fault and they would make things right.
When the foreman returned, work sped up. The gal at the company said the crew would return on Saturday morning to complete the job, if it was not finished on time. After all, they guaranteed a one-day job, but no one counted on the three-hour drive delay and additional materials needed.
From inside the house, it sounded like a thousand feet up there stomping around. They worked fast and furious to finish before dark. I was less than confident until I went outside to look UP about an hour before dark. They were almost finished and I was shocked. One of the workers started the cleanup, because they guaranteed a complete cleanup of the yard for all debris. By the time it was dark, they were finished, the yard was clean, their vehicles were on the street, and the driveway was broomed clean.
I thanked them and was able to give a sigh of relief. No getting up early Saturday morning - I can sleep in! I now have a new roof and a monthly bill to go with it. During the next rain, predicted for Sunday, hopefully I can prove that the new roof worked and no more leaks on the porch.
The strange yellowish ball in the sky yesterday was a sight to behold. Better known as the SUN, it shown bright and warmed the air. It was a beautiful day to be outside, such a change from all the rain. My front porch has been quiet, but adorned with sticks and debris as Mama built herself a nest on the porch light next to the front door. Birds usually build nests in the corners of my aluminum awning over the porch, but this one got creative.
I watched as the little pieces she brought formed a perfect round nest atop the floodlight. At least when the light was turned on, it must have been warm up there. Mama sat on her eggs as long as the porch was quiet. I waited eagerly to see what would hatch. As I went in and out of the house, I never saw Mama because she would fly away well before I opened the outer door.
Yesterday was a day of pure excitement for me. I have BABIES! I had been in and out several times yesterday, but this one particular time was different. I got in the habit of looking up at the nest after it was built, but this time was exciting. I saw the heads and open mouths of three little baby birds just waiting for Mama to feed them. I was so excited, I yelled, "I got babies!" The neighbor heard me. I immediately reached for my cellphone to take a picture so I wouldn't miss the moment. See the one little head just above the nest in the photo.
Today was even more special. I was working on the porch and sat down in my chair. I guess Mama didn't notice me sitting so still as she unexpectedly appeared with food in her beak and four little heads popped up with open mouths. I thought there were three, but I saw all FOUR little baby heads. Gee, and I thought I was excited about triplets! When Mama saw me, she fed the one baby and flew off so quickly. She had a hungry brood so my dog and I left the porch so she could feed. I finally SAW Mama for the first time - beautiful robin. It won't be long before the babies will be ready to fly and the nest will be empty.
I had a bench on the porch, but decided to move it out to the yard. I pulled it along until it was where I wanted it, and I sat down with my camera in hand. Mama was back and forth twice as she realized she had some free "porch time" to herself. I want the babies to be healthy and get fed, so I'm giving her some peace and quiet now. I watched as she returned and sat atop the awning, checking out the area. There is a slat missing from the awning due to being ripped off in a storm a couple weeks ago, and Mama comes down through the small opening and right into the nest. (Next week the missing awning piece will be repaired, since it was found in the yard after the storm.)
I had been to the store today and replenished my tub of bird seed. It was about time I filled the two bird feeders that hang from my front yard tree. I love to watch all the starlings, sparrows, and an occasional robin who come to eat and chirp.
I will enjoy each of the next few days watching them grow and peek their heads over the top of the nest; because soon I will be an EMPTY NESTER once again.
Ohio's Governor has an approval rating of 30%. Thousands protest his actions in various cities, but he doesn't care. He doesn't care what the people think. He's only out for his own priorities.
Ohio has some gordian issues and one man is making the nodus worse. His highfalutin ways are becoming clarion to many voters. A jorum of people have seen the volteface since last November's election. His bailiwick is not people and his pedigree should have been seen last year.
It is with great perspicaciousness that I have seen his lack of aegisness and pugnacious ways toward working people. He is a cynic of the worst kind and his diktat is only due to self-greed toward the casino issue. The people voted in this state, but he does not listen to the will of the people. We can only sitzfleisch so much with the miasma he has created in Ohio.
His parity of distain and caitiff ways to make us helots to his agenda is only making us reticent to accept his gasconade voice and lacuna between his ears. These are not taradiddles that flow from his mouth, they are mountainous vile of the worst kind. Many have become very shirty with his draconian attitude and we must join STAND UP FOR OHIO and WE ARE OHIO to defeat the greedy dog ersatz of a Governor.
I now can give a new meaning to "piece meal" eating. When you go to a restaurant, you expect to get what your entree order all at once.
As a kid, I was taught to eat "around the plate" to get a taste of everything, not just eat one thing at a time. However, the restaurant I visited a few weeks ago made my teachings impossible.
I was visiting my nephew and we went to a nearby eatery. I ordered the chicken breast with hash browns, a side salad and rolls. When the waitress delivered our drinks, I received my salad. It's normal to eat a salad first, so far so good. When the entrees were brought to the table, I looked at mine inquisitively. There was no chicken breast, instead toasted bread with a slice of tomato inside. I told the waitress that I ordered chicken and she said yes you did, I'll get it corrected. However, she didn't take my plate away, and just told me to ignore the bread, because they would just throw it away anyway. Therefore, I ate my hash browns alone since my salad was finished.
When the waitress stopped by to ask how things were a few minutes later, I mentioned that I had not received the rolls that went with my dinner yet. When I finished my hash browns, she brought me two rolls and butter. So, as I was waiting for my chicken, I ate the rolls, alone.
Finally, after my nephew had finished his meal (served all at once) and my three courses were complete, my sole chicken breast arrived on a small plate. I had to laugh, but I then ate it, alone. My nephew was none too pleased with the service.
When the waitress brought the chicken to me, she stated that she would "comp" my meal for the terrible mix-up. Well, at least that's nice of them. Then she brought the bill. Since we were ready to leave, we headed for the register. The bill was handed to the cashier and she said the total amount due. I said, "The waitress said my meal was to be 'comp-ed' due to a mix-up in my order." The cashier replied, "No, she just gave you 10% off."
The woman standing next to the cashier, I quickly learned, was the new 'manager on duty' just reporting for work a few minutes earlier. She had overheard the conversation. I reluctantly handed the cashier the money for my meal, not leaving a tip, and walked out. My nephew, however, was not giving up that easy. After I left to go outside, he spoke to the new 'manager on duty' about the whole thing. She went back to the kitchen and spoke with the manager whom she was replacing on shift. The kitchen manager said he knew about the 'disaster' as he called it, and I was to get my meal free. The woman manager returned and refunded my meal cost to my nephew with her apologies.
When my nephew got to my truck, he told me what happened. I thanked him and he said he just didn't like me being treated that way. No customer should be treated that way! Go for the WHOLE meal, not PIECE meal.
Today is National Chocolate Chip Day, a whole day to celebrate little chocolate morsels.
It is said that chocolate chips were created in 1937 by Ruth Graves Wakefield when she chopped up some chocolate and baked the pieces in a batch of cookies. The cookies became extremely popular, and in 1939 Nestle began producing Toll House Chocolate Chips and the rest is history.
Today is the day for everyone to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies and share them with your friends and family, if you can pry them out of the fingers of the chocoholics!
The chocolate chip cookie can be either chewy or crispy, depending upon the recipe and how you place them on the cookie sheet. Rounds of cookie dough will produce thicker and chewier cookies, while flattened rounds of dough will spread into think flat crisps of buttery dough studded with chocolate chips. If you prefer larger cookies, drop golf-ball sized cookies onto baking sheets and bake a few minutes longer.
One of the keys to making superior cookies is to make up the dough a day and a half ahead, cover and refrigerate. This gives the baked cookie a richer, fuller flavor.
(From my cousin Jennie:) A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.
What food might this contain?" the mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning:
There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him,
"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow and said,
"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap .. alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house - like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.
Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well; she died.
So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember - when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.
REMEMBER...
EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON. One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a FRIEND.
Do you have triskaidekaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia? These are a combination of old superstitions, the first being the fear of the number 13, the second being the fear of Friday the 13th.
Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on a Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most, three times a year. Any month's 13th day will fall on a Friday if the month starts on a Sunday.
Many buildings and skyscrapers do not have a 13th floor. Throughout most of recorded history, the number 13 has been seen as an unlucky number. Historically, and perhaps a bit oddly in today's world, Friday has been viewed as an unlucky day of the week.
In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, twelve gods of Olympus, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s. It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian scripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
It's just another day to me, normally. There will only be one this year, and on that one day this year - the 13th - I got selected and called for JURY DUTY. I hope my luck runs 'good.'
Happy Birthday to Israel Isidore Baline born on May 11, 1888. Better known as songwriter Irving Berlin, his first world famous hit was "Alexander's Ragtime Band". He wrote over 1500 songs in his 60 year career. One of my favorites was played by Liberace and I can listen to it over and over and not get tired of it.
A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him. The waitress asks them for their orders. The man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke," and turns to the ostrich, "What's yours?" "I'll have the same," says the ostrich.
A short time later the waitress returns with the order. "That will be $9.40 please." The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out the exact change for payment.
The next day, the man and the ostrich come again and the man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke." The ostrich says, "I'll have the same."
Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.
This becomes routine until the two enter again. "The usual?" asks the waitress.
"No, this is Friday night, so I will have a steak, baked potato and a salad," says the man. "Same," says the ostrich.
Shortly after the waitress brings the order and says, "That will be $32.62." Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and places it on the table.
The waitress cannot hold back her curiosity any longer. "Excuse me, sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change in your pocket every time?"
"Well," says the man, "several years ago I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it, a Genie appeared and offered me two wishes. My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money would always be there."
"That's brilliant!" says the waitress. "Most people would ask for a million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want for as long as you live!"
"That's right... Whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there," says the man.
The waitress asks, "So, what's with the ostrich?"
The man sighs, pauses and answers, "My second wish was for a tall chick with a big ass and long legs who agrees with everything I say...
I read an article recently that got me thinking; here's a short summary.
*About 60 billionaires met in Tucson, Arizona last week to discuss how to give away their money. Among the attendees were Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates, Tashia and John Morgridge of Cisco Systems, George Kaiser of BOK Financial Corp in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Jean and Steve Case, founders of America Online.
Buffett and Gates had challenged other billionaires to sign a pledge to give away half their fortunes. "Being a philanthropist, in many ways, can be a rather lonely job," one of the attendees said. The billionaires met in several sessions to discuss how to improve education, the environment, and other causes. They want to make an impact with their giving, and one wants to give his money to charity.*
CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME - IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
Then I read some of the comments that readers posted:
1. It’s never going to get any better, don’t look for it, be happy with what you’ve got.
2. Because the owners of this country don't want that. I'm talking about the real owners now, the BIG Wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians. They are irrelevant. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice! You have OWNERS! They OWN YOU. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought, and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies, so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the b@lls.
They [corporations and the rich] spend billions of dollars every year lobbying, to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I'll tell you what they don’t want:
They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. Thats against their interests.
They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table and think about how badly they’re getting screwed by a system that threw them overboard 30 years ago. They don’t want that!
You know what they want? They want obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly crappier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your Social Security money. They want your retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it. They’ll get it all from you sooner or later cause they own this place! Its a big club, and you ain’t in it! You, and I, are not in the big club.
By the way, ...they tell you what to believe...what to think and what to buy. The table has tilted folks. The game is rigged and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care! Good honest hard-working people; white collar, blue collar it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on. Good honest hard-working people continue, people of modest means, continue to elect these rich politicians who don’t care about you.
They don’t care about you at all. And nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. Thats what the owners count on - the fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the propaganda thats being fed to us everyday - because the owners of this country know the truth.
"Its called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it," George Carlin once said.
* * * * * * * * * *
Have you had enough of corrupt Governors like Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and John Kasich of Ohio, who are trying to take away people's rights like collective bargaining and destroy the middle class? Or Rick Perry of Texas who will sign a special sonogram abortion bill to affect the rights of women in his state? Or Rick Scott who has not yet signed a bestiality bill passed in Florida, or the "droopy drawers" bill which passed, stating that school children will not be allowed to show underwear or their butt crack?
WHAT HAPPENED TO WORKING ON JOBS BILLS GOVERNORS? Or are the stupid, mundane or destructive goals taking center stage?
FIGHT BACK - WAKE UP PEOPLE - VOTE OUT OR RECALL THESE GREEDY, IGNORANT GOVERNORS!
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. My mother taught me a lot over the years, things to avoid and those to remember. She died six years ago at the age of 89 and I miss her and think of her often. I live with physical reminders of her around me daily no matter what room of the house I go into.
After Easter Sunday, I purchased a lily at half price. I have been giving it light and water as needed daily. My former "green thumb" has since turned a different color so I have to take more care to nurture any plants I have in my home. I have expanded to three plants, as of now.
I've been watching this lily expand from two trumpets to three almost overnight. This morning, I noticed that a forth trumpet is half open and ready to blossom out. Watching nature can be fascinating sometimes.
May 6: International Tuba Day was founded in 1979 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since its inception, Tuba Day has been celebrated around the world, and in 35 U.S. states, including Ohio.
As listed in Chases Annual Events, International Tuba Day was created to recognize tubists in musical organizations around the world who have to go through the hassle of handling a tuba. What hassles do tubists have? Tuba players obviously have hassles due to the size and weight of their instruments, but what is actually more of a hassle for tuba players is the prevalence of stereotyped attitudes among people towards tubists and their role in a musical organization.
Unfortunately, many non-tuba players think of the tuba as just being one of those big, loud instruments that go "oompah" in the back of parades - having no real importance and being easy to play - they're just there to look nice. As for tuba players, many people view them in the old stereotyped way: they have no real musical talent, no personality, just big, fat bodies with puffy cheeks and powerful lungs.
Therefore, International Tuba Day was created for both tuba players and non-tuba players alike. If you don't play the tuba and feel as described above, International Tuba Day is your day to learn more about the significance of the tuba in our musical society. It's your day to see how the tuba is the backbone of the band with the capability of playing much more than just "oompah!"
Angels Awaiting Maternity Home was set up at the Health Fair Saturday at the Grace Community Church. We were sharing our mission with people and taking names of those who would like to volunteer with us. On the right is the director, Joann Leach; on the left is Marma Harper, the secretary; and in the middle is our story board of Dr. Frank X. Klamet, the man whose dream we are following.
CareFlight out of Dayton was in attendance to show off one of their medical helicopter transports.
Dora The Explorer and Friends took pictures with the kids.
The Columbus Zoo showed off a couple of cute animals.
A clown was making balloon characters for children. (I know a better looking and more cheerful looking clown!)
The event was busy, well-attended and informative. There were at least two doctors, a lawyer, various senior resources and health products represented, and lots of give-a-ways. There were activities for kids and hot dogs cooked on the grill outside. It was a good day outside - which means a day without rain (for a change)!
