February 2001
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deb@lightpatch.com
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Festivals for Travelers, Sites of the Month, Special Feature, Quotes, Opinions, Rants, Praises. |
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February 2001
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deb@lightpatch.com
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Festivals for Travelers, Sites of the Month, Special Feature, Quotes, Opinions, Rants, Praises. |
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Special Quote "Liberty is the only thing you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others." --William Allen White |
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The Artsy Site Of The Month: National Art Gallery of Malaysia Take a virtual tour or see what's in the special exhibits.
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New! Handy Site Of The Month: The On-Line Books Page Books on anger management, the coast of Maine, Bible history, world health issues and many more, about 13,000 books in all.
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Web Page Design Site Of The Month: eFront: Webmasters Programming, graphics, link verification help and more.
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Seasonal Site Of The Month: Groundhog Job Shadow Day Web Site Mentoring on a large-scale. But you don't have to wait for a whole corporation to move on this. Choose a young person and teach them what you do for a day and why it means they need to pay attention in math class.
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Just Fun Site Of The Month: LineDanceFun Some of you conservative people do not dance. Do you exercise? If you do, good for you. If you do not, this is a lot more heavenly than dying from the types of cardiovascular disease hastened by inactivity.
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Downright Serious Site Of The Month: Salaries of Teachers Were we wondering why more young people feel they cannot afford to go into teaching.
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Historical Site Of The Month: History Channel TV Listings for Black History Month. Wonderful topics will be presented, including the story of black cowboys (on February 26).
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Much more than a card shop. Click on the logo to see for yourself!
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Think you know it all? Prove it at Frenzi.com. And if you don't know something you can get some answers there. |
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For February Travelers |
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February 2-3, 2001
Winter Wings Weekend
Lake Chicot State Park on Highway 257,
Lake Village, Arkansas. |
Field trips and lake tours to view area bald eagles and many
kinds of waterfowl.
More information: Call 870-265-5480.
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February 3-4, 2001
Upper Skagit Bald Eagle Festival
Firehall on Alfred Street (and other venues),
Rockport, Washington. |
Although viewing and photographing eagles is the highlight
of this event, many other activities go on during the weekend,
including A Taste of the North Cascades (presented by local
restaurants), concerts, art displays, pancake breakfast and
food concessions. Visitors are encouraged to dress warmly and
come equipped with binoculars or use telephoto lenses
for cameras.
More information: Call 360-853-7009.
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February 3-5, 2001
Laskianinen
Palo Community,
Aurora, Minnesota. |
Based on Finnish sliding festivals, this event features crafts,
sports, a marketplace, ethnic foods, skating and plenty of
sliding down the hill.
More information: Call 218-638-2551.
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February 3 through March 25, 2001
Arizona Renaissance Festival
Festival Village at Highways 60/89,
(east of) Apache Junction, Arizona. |
The 30-acre festival area is open on weekends, and features
jousting demonstrations, working artisans, archery and other
games, festival foods (there will be wine and beer for those
of you who like to be forewarned), and stages of entertainment.
There are also many strolling entertainers who wander the
grounds during the festival hours, adding to the fun.
Ticket information: Call 520-463-2600.
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February 16-18, 2001
California Duck Days
Veterans Center at 203 E. 14th Street,
Davis, California. |
In its eighth year, this event will feature over 40 field trips,
plus workshops, an expo hall, activities for kids, bird dog
demonstrations, art at the Davis Art Center, and more.
More information: Call 800-425-5001 or 530-758-1286.
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February 16-25, 2001
Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival
46-350 Arabia Street,
Indio, California. |
Adults pay a general admission of about six dollars (seniors
and children get in for even less) for a lot of fun at this
festival/fair. There are the usual carnival rides and games,
plus a parade, agricultural exhibits, ostrick and camel races,
the Arabian Nights outdoor musical pageant, a demolition derby,
a monster trucks competition and much more.
More information: Call 800-811-FAIR or 760-863-8247.
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February 23-25, 2001
Newport Seafood & Wine Festival
Newport Marina Exhibit Hall,
Newport, Oregon. |
This is not a good family event because you must be 21 or older
to attend, but if you fit into that category and you are a fan
of seafood and wine, you might enjoy the festival. There will
also be arts and crafts on exhibit. There is an admission
charge.
More information: Call 541-265-8801.
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February 24-25, 2001
Naples National Art Festival
Cambier Park & 8th Street south,
Naples, Florida. |
Approximately 250 arts and crafts workers will display
and sell their work at this event, now in its 22nd year. An
optional donation of two dollars is requested to assist the
Naples Art Association's vonLiebig Art Center. Food and
beverages will be available for purchase.
More information: Call 941-262-6517.
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February 25-26, 2001
River City Mardi Gras
Downtown area,
Paducah, Kentucky. |
There will be a Mardi Gras parade, food, a masquerade
ball and activites for children. Proceeds from this
event benefit local charities plus Ronald McDonald House.
More information: 888-443-2048.
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January 26-28, 2001
Ice Sculpture Festival
downtown,
Downers Grove, Illinois. |
This year's theme is "Castles and Crowns", with
carvers competing for three thousand dollars in prizes.
There will be performances of Sleeping Beauty, trolley
rides, face painting and children's entertainment. Some
activities have a fee.
More information: Call 800-934-0615.
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January 26-February 4, 2001
St. Paul Winter Carnival
Rice Park (and other venues),
St. Paul, Minnesota. |
Grande Parade, snow shoeing and skiing, antique show,
teen party, Royal ball, ice carving, cat show, curling
events, broomball tournament, cabaret, orchid show,
art exhibits, snow sculpture displays, bridge tournament,
jigsaw puzzle contest, much more.
More information: Call 651-223-4700 or 800-488-4023.
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January 26-March 4, 2001
Mid-Winter Festival of Music
First English Lutheran Church & Mccullough Theatre,
Austin, Texas. |
The season opens with the opera "King Arthr".
Each weekend there are concerts with early musical
instruments, voice and piano works and more. Events are
ticketed. You can also earn tickets by volunteering (call 512-371-7753).
Tickets: Call 512-371-0099.
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| It's always best to call ahead to verify festival information. | |
Looking for information on travel agents and other travel assistance?
Want to find the search engines that focus on travel needs?
Need to know what to do about extra insurance on a trip?
Are you trying to find out how to convert currency?
You can get information on all these plus sign-up for a bi-monthly magazine at Travigator II
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American Spice has...
No-sugar added Amish Meadow Apple Butter Click on the Great American Spice icon to order! |
Buy great spices at great prices
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| The issue of freedom (including religious freedom) in the United
States is something born of past persecution and fear of future tyranny. We were the
poster child for the rebellion of the Western world, juvenile delinquents if you will.
And juvenile delinquents do not play by the rules of established society. We took our
leave of Great Britain with speeches, assemblies, printing presses and even firepower.
If you think gangs are a problem today, you should have seen the passion with which
those people fought for their freedoms. |
| But human nature being what it is, new persecution came
anyway, and so did new generations, and new battlegrounds, with the North and South divided
in other issues of freedom.
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| We seem to serve an odd purpose in this country. By our very
proclamation of "freedom!" we become an arena for both subtle discrimination and for
open, hateful bloodshed. The rest of Earth's inhabitants look on and imagine a land flowing
with milk and honey where dreams come true and all can be free to either make a fortune or sit on
a park bench and have no responsibilities at all.
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| We often attribute a quote to Patrick Henry that goes something
like this: "Give me liberty or give me death". But it is also my understanding that
this same Patrick Henry wanted to pass a bill in his home state of Virginia that called for a
tax supporting all Christian churches in the state. People could have chosen which church would
receive this tax payment. So was Patrick Henry for religious freedom in America? I believe it was his intention to be, but only based on a definition of the confines of his understanding of what religion was. I doubt he ever met a Muslim or even knew what one was. Buddhists? I cannot say what he thought of them, if he even knew they existed. Patrick Henry was operating from a belief base of what he knew, which was Christianity. Were his intentions good? I believe they probably were, but if this tax bill had been enacted, it might have led to all sorts of denominational conflict and persecution. What would Patrick Henry have done when a citizen chose to pay his tax to the equivalent of today's Church of Satan? Native Americans had no "church" in which to place their tax. Oh, but were they even citizens? Women, who could not vote or own property at that time surely would have had no freedom to send tax money to a church. Indeed, women were basically property themselves, as were slaves. And to whom could an atheist pay his tax?
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| Patrick Henry used his narrow little frontier to define the
idea of religious freedom. If we could wake him from his grave right this moment he would be very
surprised at the diversity of religion in America. Would he still want to see that tax bill enacted
in Virginia if he knew citizens (including women, Native Americans and blacks) might send their
share to something other than a Baptist or Methodist Church? I guess we will never know.
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| President Bush would like to see more Federal assistance for the work that
churches do in the community (such as feeding the hungry and providing shelter for the homeless). He
wants to do a good thing. Take a look at a story
on what U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black said about laws which aid "all religions", and the
subsequent cases which have attempted to lower the wall of separation of church and state.
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| Who gets to decide what the "good to the community" will be when
it comes to giving churches assistance for their good works? It is very difficult to plan for all the
contingencies that can arise. What about churches whose beliefs we might not agree with, but which are
doing good works in the community? Will they always be guaranteed their fair share of help? If a church
gives out religious literature with a bowl of soup, do they lose their funding? If a church decides to
give rides home to intoxicated people (so they will not be driving drunk) and on the way home a discussion
comes up on reincarnation, does that disqualify the funding of the rides program? Can church members give
out blankets with the church logo or doctrine printed on the blankets? Or can they pass out plain blankets
but wear t-shirts screenprinted with church doctines? Should a church now keep two sets of books, one for
community service and one for "other"? And even at that, will it not take complicated bookkeeping
to prove the electricity for the fellowship hall is used for twelve hours a week for soup kitchen use, and
then it goes back to church use for the evangelistic series two hours a night on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays?
A lot of church treasurers are volunteers, and all this complicated bookkeeping might mean a church will need
to hire a full-time bookkeeper or accountant to keep all this straight. Can they use the Federal assistance
funds to pay that salary? Or maybe they would be allowed to use the funds to pay only a portion of that salary. (You
get the idea.)
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| Why begin the trek down such a path at all? No matter how one looks at it,
this means our tax dollars, which are secular in nature, will now be used to fund activities of religious
organizations. Do we want to keep the wall of separation of church and state as firm and tall as we can, knock it down completely, or shave off a thin layer at a time? Please let President Bush, your congressional representatives and your senators know how you feel.
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We're pleased to host the work of artisan
Joan Garnand
on our little patch of light on the web.
Joan's creations are finally finding their way
out of her Tennessee community and into the
hearts of admirers everywhere. Check out Joan's zucchini/squash casserole recipe. This busy lady also began her TV stint this past spring, and is sharing her cake decorating and candy-making skills on a local Chattanooga station.
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We learned about latitude and longitude in school, but did we
connect those coordinates to real places? This site seeks to
give more meaning to it all with the Degree Confluence Project..
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Potato Salad is part of American picnics and summer parties. We all have our favorite
recipe for it (most of the good ones include a pinch of this or a dash of that--I like a bit
of sweet pickle relish, but some cooks prefer dill pickles or no pickles at all). If
you'd like to try something new, visit Potato Salad Recipes,
which includes variations using everything from blueberries to basil.
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Here is how to know if a cow has Mad Cow Disease. But seriously, folks, if you have concerns about the increasing dangers in animal foods these days, you might want to consider using seitan products. Back in the good old days I made my own a few times, using regular wheat flours, which meant rinsing and rinsing and rinsing to get rid of the starch. Now you can buy ready-to-use gluten flour mixes which let you mix the seitan and just pop it into a broth. Then you cut or grind it and use it instead of meat (you get chewy texture and substance, but it will not taste like filet mignon. Of course, they have not yet discovered any Mad Seitan Disease, so it does have its advantages!) Harvest Direct is one place where you can read about and learn where to buy seitan mix |
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Late last summer I attended a Dahlia show in a local mall, and was stunned at the wide variety and beauty of these flowering plants. The Illustrated Guide to Growing and Showing Dahlias from Your Garden will give you a sense of the rich colors and variations in size and style. If you go to their Dahlia photo gallery and then click on the Buyer's Guide you can see photos of blooms.
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Can you weld with the best of them? Have you rebuilt your own vacuum cleaner when you got tired of waiting for someone else to do it? Could you find just the right part if they turned you loose in a junkyard? If you have ever engineered your own contraption to do what you needed to get done, you may be wanted for an upcoming episode of Junkyard Wars. You will need two more team mates, but you can sometimes find those through the show's staff. This wacky show began in Great Britain, but is gaining popularity with viewers in the U.S. They have built catapults, watercraft, rocket-launched ostrich eggs, and all sorts of other machines. Your team competes against another 3-person team, and a guest judge is brought in each week to comment and determine who the winners are.
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Men and women: did you get "volunteered" to head the bake sale fund raiser this year for your child's school or organization? Get some great tips from Baker Boulanger's Bake Sale Primer.
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Registration for Learn.com is quick and free! You can also write your own courses and if your course is chosen to be published for public viewing, you can earn too.
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Rubber stamp collectors! Did you send for yours yet?
Anne-Made Designs has a 258-page catalog.
(if you are new to stamping, I should tell you
This will get you a full catalog and supplements, |
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Click on the All Advantage logo to get paid for surfing the Web! 
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Send your $8.50 to: Anne-Made Designs Anne Olney PO Box 697-D Erwin TN 37650 You can tell Anne I sent you, but she'll give you prompt, professional service anyway--it's just her style.
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If you want to use any for your non-commercial page, please do.
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Deb's Monthly Review is copyrighted! Do be a dear and ask before you lift whole portions of the Special Review or something. Remember! Those of us who publish on the web are not saying our work is in the public domain. When in doubt about your use of someone else's writings or graphics, ask! If you want to use graphics or text on a commercial page, contact me first, please, and we'll work something out.
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