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January & February 2010
magazine
A product of The Journal-Standard
Building on a new decade
environment
Getting it right Lena family undertakes organic project By Tony Carton • For ETC Magazine • Lena
Some folks know how to draw a line in the sand. While massive farm operations crisscross the land and feed the world, a growing number of folks choose to stop and step back to find their niche. They do things a little slower and they get it right. They draw that line and they will not step over it. The Howe family of Lena feels strongly about food production, and sustainability is the key word that makes it all work on their farm. They manage draft horses, milk an organic herd, cultivate organic crops on good ground and they do it with passion. etc ... 10
January February 2010
Getting started “I had looked at organic farming back when I was in college and when we heard that there was a three-year wait; dad said I couldn’t do it,” Bethany Howe said. “We trashed the idea for a while, but now, dad says it’s time to us to make some decisions so we’ve started getting serious about organics.” She said that working part-time in town was not her chosen career, so she went back to farming. “I told dad that I didn’t want to milk 90 or 100 cows and he suggested that I look into organic farming again,” Howe said. “There is a period of at least three years where you don’t use any chemicals on the ground to qualify for certification. That means no fertilizers or pesticides or any other chemicals, and since dad hadn’t used anything like that for years we knew we could save some of the start-up time.” She said that once they decided to try, they heard about a meeting in Monroe hosted by Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES). The group is an education-outreach organization working to promote sustainable and organic agriculture. “They educate people about going organic, so we attended that meeting and after that meeting we got really interested,” Howe said. “We attended another MOSES meeting up in La Crosse and when we got back from that one we knew that organic was what we wanted to do.” Howe said the family operates an organic dairy farm and
environment
“
The first thing you have to do is stop using chemicals, but then you also have to document that stoppage.
”
— Bethany Howe, organic farmer
they raise hay, corn, oats and sometimes soybeans on about 300 acres. Stacks and Stacks of paperwork Howe said the paperwork connected with organic farming is overwhelming. “The first thing you have to do is stop using chemicals, but then you also have to document that stoppage,” she said. “You have to document that you haven’t used chemicals for three years. You have to keep copies of all your receipts and you need to start using organic seeds, and all that is just the beginning.” She said she gets seed from American Organic in Warren and Cashton Farm Supply in Cashton, Wis. “We are having a problem finding an organic pasture mix right now,” Howe said. “We are putting in a mix to go with dad’s alfalfa because he doesn’t plant or use straight alfalfa. He likes to add a red or white clover and a couple grasses for the pastures.” She added that if an organic farmer simply cannot find a seed source they can use non-GMO seed, but the practice is not widely endorsed and leads to yet another stack of paperwork. “Dad says that using organic methods is how he started farming 50 years ago and he likes stepping back to doing things right,” Howe said. Working with an organic mentor She offered a few words of advice for folks thinking of entering the field of organic farming. “Find someone already in organic farming and become their best friend,” Howe said. “You need help and you can’t really do it yourself.” She said the family found a mentor in the Winslow area and several others in Stephenson County who helped get things underway, but they hit the mentor mother lode when they attended a MOSES meeting last year. “They have a full mentoring program,” Howe said. “We signed up for that and it helped immensely. We told their coordinators a little about our farm and what we wanted to do and they found organic farmers that were already in the program and were willing to answer our questions and help us get started. It really helped.” Photo on facing page: The Howe family currently milks a herd of about 100 cows and ships their Grade A milk for bottling as an organic product. (Submitted photo)
January February 2010
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21st Annual MOSES Organic Farming Conference Feb. 25-27 in LaCrosse, Wis. WHO: Organized by the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), the Organic Farming Conference (OFC) is now in its 21st year and the largest in the country. WHAT: More than 2,600 attendees come to the OFC attracted by the keynote sessions, 60 workshops and 140 exhibitors of products and services that serve the organic and sustainable farming community. WHEN: Feb. 25 to 27 WHERE: La Crosse Center, La Crosse, Wis. WHY: 60 conference workshops, the opportunity to network with other farmers and lots of organic food. Organic University: Thursday, Feb. 25, MOSES will hold the Organic University (OU), 10 intensive day-long courses for growers interested in an in-depth look at organic farming practices. Keynote speakers • Chuck Hassebrook, Executive Director of the Center for Rural Affairs (Feb. 26) • Dr. Margaret Mellon, Director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (Feb. 27) Organic Research Forum: Held in conjunction with the OFC, the second-ever Seed Swap: New to the conference this year will be a seed swap hosted by the Organic Seed Alliance. Information: http://www.mosesorganic.org
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enthusiast
Carthage, Mo., resident George Terry fiddles with one of the first cannons he ever crafted, this 2 1/2-foot long beauty that was made and displayed in his front yard on Cedar St. way back in 1976 to commemorate the county’s bicentential celebration. Since then, Jerry has crafted more than 200 cannons of various shapes and sizes. Every one of them he gives away to friends, family or to charities.
The Cannon Man
enthusiast crafts wooden models
I
story and photos By Kevin McClintock • GateHouse News Service
t all began with a toy. It was a rare cast-iron cannon, shaped identically to those that helped the North topple the South during the Civil War, and it was buried deep inside a trash heap. It was 1942, the world was at war, and toys were hard to come by for Carthage, Mo., resident George Terry, at the time just 7 and desperately in search of something that would serve as an outlet for his imagination. etc ... 12
January February 2010
enthusiast
ABOVE: Usually no George Terry hand-crafted cannon is alike, but these three are. Eventually there will be six of them, all made for his half-dozen grandchildren. They are made of wood from an originaly family homestead in northern Missouri when the famly moved to from Europe in 1841. LEFT: George Terry, former division vice president for Leggett & Platt, points out some of the cannons he’s made over the years, displayed inside a bookshelf he himself crafted. He’s inside his garage, which is describes as “The Cannon Shop” — his home away from home.
“That’s when my love for cannons really came about,” Terry said. “During World War II, of course, there were no toys. Most were made of metal and at that time all the metal was being sent to the military” to help aid the war effort. “When you went to (a dime store), there wasn’t much on the shelves.” So he and his friends improvised, often searching through trash heaps — remember, there was no trash pick-up service back then like there is today — for anything that could serve as a
toy. And that’s when he stumbled across the cannon. “It became my favorite toy, especially during Fourth of July, where I’d place the Chinese fire crackers inside the barrel and pretend it was going off.” The toy didn’t stand the test of time, sadly. After the war, when American-made fireworks were available, he placed a firecracker the size of a human finger inside that same cast-iron barrel and lit the fuse. “The barrel disappeared,” Terry said with a chuckle. “So that ended my favorite toy.” Fast-forward to 1976, during the county’s bicentennial celebration, and Terry crafted together a 2 1/2-foot cannon, complete with wheels, and set it out in his front lawn. It drew rave reviews and back slaps from neighbors and friends. Better yet, it still exists intact today, safe and sound up in an alcove above the living room. More importantly, Terry greatly enjoyed the experience. He had always dabbled in wood crafting, and joining his love of shaping wood into that childhood image of that beloved cast-iron Civil War cannon seemed the perfect marriage. Today, Terry has pieced together more than 120 wooden cannons. They aren’t carved from a single block of wood, however. Rather, each cannon piece is gingerly crafted and then pieced together to
form a whole, all with moving parts. He first carves out the cannon’s wheels, followed by the barrel, before each is joined together. The pieces are painted, sprayed with acrylic, waxed and buffed — a process that lasts roughly a week. And it’s all done in the adjacent garage, a place he’s lovingly dubbed “The Cannon Shop.” Best of all, Terry, former division vice president for Leggett & Platt, gives the cannons away as gifts to friends, family, civic and church groups or to charities. In fact, he’s never sold a single cannon for a profit. The sole reason why he doesn’t take a year off to spit out 80 to 100 cannons to display at area arts and craft festivals, he said, “is because it would then become a job.” Giving them away, he continued, “gives me deep satisfaction. I come out here to the Cannon Shop to get happy – to relax.” Cannons have played integral roles in America’s growth as a nation. Probably the most famed American story involving cannons occurred during the Revolutionary War, between 1775 and 1776, when Henry Knox and his team of engineers used sledges to retrieve 60 tons of heavy artillery from the captured Fort Ticonderoga. Crossing forests and the frozen Hudson and Connecticut Rivers, the cannons were placed at Dorchester Heights, overlooking British-occupied Boston, which eventually led to a hasty redcoat retreat. A good majority of Terry’s cannons either resemble the 12pounder Napoleon cannon from the American Civil War or their smaller cousins commonly strapped down atop the hulls of American warships of that era. They were beautiful weapons, Terry said of the fuse-lit cannon. “We’re so cold-blooded,” he said, speaking of today’s lethal array of military weapons. “Even though cannons are awesome things, even though they took lives, they were truly works of art.”
January February 2010
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economy Decade in Review
A wild ride in personal f inance I By The Associated Press
t was a decade of living dangerously. With interest rates low and lending standards lower, credit became the currency of the decade. Exotic mortgage products helped housing prices more than double. Consumer spending shot up more than 48 percent – even while wages stagnated – as shoppers snapped up bigscreen TVs, gadgets like iPhones and fashion labels like Gucci and Jimmy Choo. The amount of debt consumers carried shot up 67 percent, peaking in June 2008 at $2.57 trillion. Likewise, businesses large and small borrowed money to finance a wave of mergers and expansion. Then, the crash. At the end of 2006, homeowners began defaulting on their mortgages at an alarming rate. The foreclosure rate broke record after record. Lenders failed by the dozen. In late 2009, more than 14 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or facing foreclosure. For Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, which bet too heavily on securities backed by risky mortgages, the losses were fatal. The ripple effects across banking and other industries, sparked a recession that led to massive etc ... 14
January February 2010
AP file photos
ABOVE: In this Aug. 14, 2008, photo, a sign is posted outside a foreclosed house in Antioch, Calif. BELOW: In this Oct. 2, 2008, photo, a newspaper headline is taped to a booth on the New York Stock Exchange floor.
job losses and drastic cutbacks in consumer spending. There are some signs of a recovery, but not of a quick rebound. Stocks have recovered a portion of their losses, but it will appear on most investor’s balance sheet as a lost decade – the first 10-year period investors saw a negative total return. Nearly 27 million people are unemployed or underemployed. Consumers have cut back on spending and started saving, but it will take years to dig out of the debt hole. Home prices have receded to 2003 levels, and further in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada. The decade that began with the view that the sky was the limit is ending with both investors and consumers feeling grounded. Here’s a look at some of the key moments in personal finance in the 2000s.
economy 2000 January AOL and Time Warner announce a $162 billion deal. Then the largest-ever corporate merger, it set off an era of megamergers that helped fuel the market as investors chased outsized gains. It would prove to be a last hurrah for the dot-com era before the bubble burst. February JetBlue takes to the skies as the discount airline joins Southwest Airlines in pressuring the major carriers to cut prices. By the second quarter of 2009, the cost of average domestic itinerary fares will drop by 11 percent, down to $301 from $339. March The Nasdaq composite index reaches an all-time high of 5,048 on March 10, as the dot-com bubble peaks. November Just nine months after raising $82.5 million in an IPO, Pets.com silences its popular spokesdog sock puppet. Management announces the Web site will shut down and rights to the puppet sold. Pets.com joined a legion of other casualties. Remember Flooz.com, Kozmo.com, Webvan. com?
2001 January President George W. Bush takes office. The passage of a $1.35 trillion tax cut program was an early success for the administration, but his domestic agenda would soon be eclipsed by 9/11. September The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 darken the New York Stock Exchange for four days, its longest closure since 1933. When trading reopens Sept. 17, the Dow Jones industrial average plunges 684.81 points. December On Dec. 2, Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, to that point the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Many employees in Enron’s 401(k) plan are heavily invested in company stock and see their retirement plans disappear.
2002 January The first euro notes and coins are issued in 12 European countries. The notes are worth about 90 cents. By 2009, the exchange rate will value the euro around $1.45. July On the heels of a number of major corporate scandals, including Enron, Tyco and WorldCom, the SarbanesOxley Act passes, setting new standards for corporate governance. October The dot-com bubble bear market reaches bottom, when the Dow Jones industrial average slips below 7,200.
Ap file
In this Jan. 1, 2002, photo, a customer hands over a new five euro bill to buy a ‘melange’, a traditional Viennese cup of coffee, in a cafe in downtown Vienna. The first euro notes and coins were issued in 12 European countries in January 2002.
2003 March Research in Motion tops 500,000 Blackberry subscribers shortly after the handheld device adds voice service along with e-mail. The introduction of the iPhone in 2007 will further spark demand for smart phones. In the first nine months of 2009, worldwide sales of smart phones will top $53 billion according to IDC, a market research firm. March Operation Iraqi Freedom begins on March 20. The cost to taxpayers will be projected to exceed $1 trillion by the time the conflict ends. September NYSE Chairman and CEO Richard Grasso resigns following the revelation of his $140 million compensation package, sparking concerns about excessive executive pay.
2004 February HBO airs the final episode of “Sex and the City,” which epitomized the decade’s swelling consumption of luxury fashion goods previously reserved for the wealthy, such as $600 Manolo Blahnik shoes.
January February 2010
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economy August Google goes public. Originally priced at $85, shares of the Internet search firm will trade near $600 by mid-December 2009. October The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since 1918. As attendance rises 10 percent in the decade to 73.4 million, the average ticket price for a Major League Baseball game will rise more than 60 percent to $27 by 2009.
2005 March “Mad Money” with Jim Cramer debuts on CNBC. With bobble-heads and “booyah” rants, Cramer becomes a mass-market personal finance guru. He will later suffer a public backlash for bad calls after the financial market meltdown. April Taxpayers move online as electronic filing of tax returns tops 50 percent for the first time. Some 68.5 million returns are submitted to the IRS via the Internet. April The first video is uploaded to the video sharing site YouTube.com. Just 18 months later Google will purchase the site for $1.76 billion. By decade’s end viral videos and Susan Boyle will be a part of life. YouTube remains mum on whether it’s profitable. September Quarterly direct-mail offers for credit cards peak at 2.22 million. Market researcher Mintel says nearly 8.2 million offers were sent out in the year. September The number of transactions made using debit cards overtakes those of credit cards. Debit card dollar volume will surpass credit in early 2009.
2006 January After more than 18 years, Alan Greenspan’s term on the Federal Reserve Board ends. Critics will later question whether his legacy of historic interest rate cuts led to the housing bubble. April Home values peak as the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index reaches its highest point. November The Nintendo Wii video game console goes on sale. By the end of 2009, more than 23 million are sold. U.S. sales of video games will hit $20 billion in 2009 according to NPD Group.
2007 January Countrywide Financial, the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, warns that homeowners are having trouble repaying loans.
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January February 2010
AP file
In this July 1, 2009 file photo, the entry for “staycation” is shown in an edition of the Collegiate Dictionary at the headquarters of the Merriam-Webster dictionary publisher in Springfield, Mass.
Within weeks, investment banks begin writing off millions in investments backed by risky mortgages-early signs of the global financial crisis to come. September In a sign the “green consumer” trend has taken hold, Wal-Mart launches a private label energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulb. One month later, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness about global warming. By 2009, Wal-Mart will have sold 145 million of its light bulbs. October The Dow Jones industrial average records its highest ever close, 14,164.53 on Oct. 9. A week after the market peaks, Fox Business Network debuts to challenge CNBC. October On Oct. 15, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling files for early retirement, becoming the first of an estimated 80 million baby boomers to qualify for Social Security benefits. December Las Vegas gambling receipts peak at $10.9 billion. By decade’s end, 37 states will have some kind of commercial or Indian-run casino. December The official start of a recession according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. It won’t be declared such until full year later. 2008 March Gold prices surge to more than $1,000 an ounce for the first time ever. March On March 16, Bear Stearns is sold to JPMorgan Chase for a fire-sale price of $2 a share, or $236 million, as the collapse of the subprime mortgage market brings down the fifth-largest Wall Street investment bank, foreshadowing the broader financial crisis.
economy March outstanding credit cards, once 425 Visa Inc. stock million, will drop to debuts on the New 325 million by late York Stock Exchange 2009. with the largest-ever IPO, raising $17.86 2009 billion. January July President Barack California lender Obama is sworn IndyMac Bank fails in. In his inaugural at an estimated cost address he notes: of $10.7 billion to “The state of the the Federal Deposit economy calls for Insurance Corp. A action, bold and total of 25 banks will swift, and we will fail by the end of the act-not only to year. Failures will create new jobs, skyrockets to more but to lay a new than 133 in 2009. foundation for July growth.” Oil reaches $150 Ap file February In this June 27, 2008, photo, a person pulls a gas pump from his vehicle after filling a barrel; gasoline The $757 billion his tank in Philadelphia. spikes to $4.11 a economic stimulus gallon. Gas prices package is signed become a topic of into law. debate on the presidential campaign trail. March July On March 9, major stock market indicators hit 12-year lows, “Dark Knight,” the second film in the reboot of the Batman with the Dow Jones industrial average sinking to 6,547. series, premieres. Movie-goers will ultimately shell out more Stocks then begin a months-long bull market that restores than $533 million, enabling the film to surpass “Star Wars” much, but far from all, of the wealth lost in the collapse. as No. 2 on the all-time list for domestic box office receipts. May September Seeking to protect consumers, landmark credit card reform On Sept. 15, the subprime mortgage crisis forces Lehman legislation is signed into law. According to consultant Brothers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, setting TowerGroup, banks use the nine months before the law forth a worldwide financial meltdown. takes effect to slash credit limits and raise interest rates on September 65 percent of all outstanding cards. On Sept. 29, the House rejects the government’s $700 July billion financial bailout plan, triggering the largest-ever drop In an effort to jump-start the economy and get gasin the Dow Jones industrial average, 777.68 points. guzzlers off the road, the government initially approves October $1 billion to provide rebates for new car purchases. Greater than anticipated demand leads Congress to approve an As part of the federal bailout of the financial system, FDIC insurance on bank deposits is increased from $100,000 per additional $2 billion. account to $250,000, until 2014. July November With families skipping travel during the summer season due to the economy, “staycation” a slang term for staying home Riding a record-setting wave of $748 million in campaign while on vacation, is among 100 new words added to the donations, with more than 45 percent of the donations of Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. $500 or less, and made by individuals, Barack Obama is elected the first African-American U.S. president. October December As investors left skittish by 2008’s market collapse continue to seek relative security, bond fund Pimco Total Return, the Bernard Madoff is arrested by the FBI after confessing world’s largest mutual fund, tops $186 billion in assets. to his sons that his investment firm is a Ponzi scheme. Investigators later tally the real losses for his investors at November more than $21 billion. After wavering back and forth for two weeks, on Nov. 5, the December Dow settles into a two-month run above the 10,000 mark. The following morning, the Commerce Department says the Revolving debt held by U.S. consumers, mostly on unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent in October. credit cards, tops out at $988.2 billion. The number of
January February 2010
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enduring
Navy destroyer breaks record
AP File
In this May 26, 2009, photo an Arleigh-Burke-class destroyer is worked on at Bath Iron Works, in Bath, Maine. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer has outlasted every other battleship, cruiser, destroyer or frigate program in U.S. history.
C
By DAVID SHARP • Associated Press Writer
ruising through the darkness in rough seas, the USS Ross encountered a rogue wave that smashed into the destroyer’s bow, sending a shudder along the entire ship that knocked sleeping crew out of their bunks and damaged the sonar housing. As alarms sounded, sleepy sailors scrambled to shore up the leak. “We cracked the hull and kept on going like it was nothing,” retired sailor Jonathan Staeblein, of Maryland, recalled. In fact, the 510-foot (155-meter) destroyer was never out of service for repairs during any deployment in the three years he served aboard as an electronic warfare technician. Arleigh Burke-class destroyers such as the USS Ross and USS Cole, which survived a terrorist suicide bombing in Yemen, have proven to be durable workhorses in the U.S. Navy. Over the 22 years since construction of the first one began at Bath Iron Works, the ship has steamed into the record book: The destroyer’s production run has outlasted every other battleship, cruiser, destroyer and frigate in U.S. Navy history. The only warship in production for longer was the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, said Norman Polmar, a naval historian, author and analyst. Thanks to a decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Arleigh Burke destroyer production will continue for at least a
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January February 2010
few more years. The defense budget signed by President Barack Obama in December includes money for the first of at least three more ships. There’s talk of many more being built. At Bath Iron Works, along the banks of the Kennebec River, there are three of the ships in various stages of production. “They’re fast and they move. And they’re a lot of fun to drive,” said Lt. Cmdr. Robert J. Brooks, executive officer of USS Wayne E. Meyer, a Bath-built destroyer commissioned in October. Retired Rear Adm. Michael K. Mahon, the Navy’s former deputy director of surface warfare, said the ships run no risk of being outdated any time soon. “It’s the envy of the world,” said Mahon. “Every surface warship officer in every navy in the world would love to command an Arleigh Burke.” The original warship was conceived during the Cold War, when Bath Iron Works was abuzz with shipbuilders pounding, grinding, welding, plumbing and wiring ships at a furious pace to meet President Ronald Reagan’s audacious goal of a 600ship Navy. Shipbuilders toiled long hours working elbow-toelbow in a haze created by welders inside steel hull segments that were sweltering in the summer and cold in the winter. The number of Bath shipbuilders peaked at 12,000 by the time the USS Arleigh Burke was commissioned on July 4, 1991. Some Bath shipbuilders have spent virtually their entire
enduring careers doing nothing by making Arleigh Burke destroyers. Gil Rines, a welder, joined Bath Iron Works as construction was beginning on the first ship. Since then, he has raised two children and become a grandfather. The shipyard changed hands and is now owned by General Dynamics. The number of shipbuilders has dropped to 5,500. But one thing remained a constant: The shipyard kept churning out Arleigh Burke destroyers, more than 30 of them. The same ships are also built at Northrop Grumman’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, which has churned out more than 20. “It’s a great ship. That’s why the Navy stuck with it,” said Rines, a third-generation shipbuilder. The 9,500-ton ships can easily top 30 knots while simultaneously waging war with enemy ships, submarines, missiles and aircraft. Their combat system, called Aegis, uses powerful computers and a phased-array radar to track more than 100 targets — the exact number is classified. They’re also the only surface warships in the Navy’s arsenal that can be sealed off to withstand a biological, chemical and nuclear attack. The latest improvements are software upgrades and SM-3 missiles that allow the Aegis system to be used for ballistic missile defense. An Aegis-equipped cruiser built by Bath Iron Works shot down a failed satellite in 2008. Several Aegis destroyers and cruisers are now equipped with the upgraded system. The Navy originally envisioned building 29 of the ships, but has since extended the line to 62 ships through 2011. With the continued production, there will be at least three more, keeping shipbuilders in Maine and Mississippi busy while the Navy decides whether to build more Burkes, or to build something else. The Navy’s decision is partly budget-driven. Burkes are less costly to build than the next-generation stealth destroyer, which the Navy and defense contractors spent 10 years designing. Burkes currently cost about $1.2 billion apiece; the stealthy, and much larger, DDG-1000 Zumwalt will cost more than double that. In the end, the Navy decided to truncate production to just three Zumwalts. Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, gives credit to the Navy for scaling back the costly Zumwalts and focusing on the tried-and-true Burkes. The DDG-51 Arleigh Burke, he said, is now in a rare class of military systems that’s so durable and versatile that it continues for generations, like the C-130 Hercules cargo transport, an airplane that first went into production in 1957. “The fact that the Navy can’t come up with something better than the DDG-51 isn’t necessarily bad news,” he said. “It may be commentary on how good the DDG-51 is.”
AP file
In this May 15, 2009, photo, welder Gil Rines poses at Bath Iron Works’ Harding Plant, in Brunswick, Maine. Rines has worked on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers for more than 20 years. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer has outlasted every other battleship, cruiser, destroyer or frigate program in U.S. history.
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exhibit
monroe art center presents Paintings by Stoughton, Wis., artist Derek Hambly, and sculptures by St. Charles artist Guy Bellaver, will be on display at Monroe Arts Center Frehner Gallery in the exhibit titled “Positive Matter,” through Jan. 31. For information contact the Monroe Arts Center at (608) 325-5700 or online at www. monroeartscenter. com. Submited photos
Art in Positive Matter MONROE, Wis. — Through Jan. 31, the Monroe Art Center Frehner Gallery presents Positive Matter by artists Derek Hambly and Guy Bellaver. This two-man exhibit will reflect the vision of well-known abstract artist Derek Hambly of Stoughton, Wis., who paints powerful abstract symbols in oil and acrylic, and Guy Bellaver of St. Charles, who creates abstract sculptures in bronze or painted steel. Hambly was born in Melbourne, Australia, graduated in 1967 from Caulfield College in Melbourne, and moved to the midwest in 1999. The symbols Hambly uses in his powerful abstract paintings were derived from the landscape work he had done in his early years, beginning in 1976, as a painter. He has shown his work nationally and currently is represented by galleries in New Orleans, Boston, Madison, Wis., Atlanta and the Yunnan Province of China. When asked how he’s arrived at the elegant, symbolic designs, Hambly states, “My work now has a maturity. It is derived strictly from my past work and my own development, and a study of my own creative abilities. I’m now in a place of control over my creativity.
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January February 2010
I’ve worked towards this goal through complexity, and am now finding it through simplicity.” Guy Bellaver of St. Charles works in many sculptural mediums, but most recently, in bronze or painted steel. His work ranges from “tabletop” scale to monumental pieces over eighteen feet tall. Through his fascination with positive/ negative space, his sculptures attempt to stretch the physics of the medium that he is working in to occupy those spaces. His work has been displayed in civic, corporate, residential, and university settings throughout the United States. After his discharge from the United States Army, Bellaver earned a B.A. in Economics from St. Vincent College. He has worked as a sculptor since 1976. This exhibit has been made possible by Monroe Arts Center Corporate UnderwriterThe Swiss Colony; Season Media UnderwritersMonroe Publishing, LLC and Big Radio; with additional support from Michael & Shelley Muranyi, Deb Thompson, Lee & Chris Knuteson, and Barb Woodriff & Pete Guenther.
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Travel Club Trip Destinations for 2010 Feb. 18 April 15 May 10-14 May 19 June 9 June 20-25 July 14 Aug 12 Sept. 20-26
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AP file photo
This Sept. 26, 1999, photo shows the renovated passion festival theatre of Oberammergau is seen during the opening ceremony. The traditional religious passion festival of Oberammergau is shown in a period of ten years and expects some 500,000 thousands visitors from all over the World.
Travel 2010 Shanghai, Vancouver, Mexico, Orlando By The Associated Press
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orecasts for 2010 predict that more people will be traveling, but the numbers remain well below what they were before the recession. Still, for people who can afford to get away, interesting events will be drawing visitors to destinations around the world, from Shanghai to South Africa to Orlando. And here is a surprise: Mexico is turning up on some top 10 lists for 2010, despite the swine flu epidemic and worries over drug violence.
January ď ´ February 2010
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Ap file photos
ABOVE: This June 13, 2009, photo shows Soccer City Stadium under construction with the Johannesburg skyline in the background, on the outskirts of Soweto, South Africa. FIFA is concerned that some of the stadiums being built in South Africa for next year’s World Cup will remain idle afterward unless organizers take steps to guarantee future use. A 90,000seat stadium in Durban and another 68,000seater in Cape Town are taking shape a year ahead of the first World Cup to be held in Africa. Impressively designed, they will stage the semifinals as well as games earlier in the 64-game competition. The final of the 2010 World Cup will be at the new 94,000-seat Soccer City Stadium. TOP RIGHT: This July 2005 photo shows a leopard growling in the Shamwari Game Reserve near Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
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ESTINATIONS: Several destinations will be in the tourism spotlight in 2010 thanks to headline-grabbing events, including the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Feb. 12-28; the FIFA World Cup soccer games in South Africa, for a month beginning June 11; and the Shanghai World Expo, May 1-Oct. 31, a 21st century world’s fair that organizers hope will attract as many as 70 million visitors. Another destination that will get attention in 2010 is Oberammergau, Germany, where the oldest continually acted Passion play in Europe has been performed by the locals roughly every 10 years since the 1600s. The show will be staged May through October, and is typically seen by a half-million people. Spain is expecting more pilgrims traveling the Camino de Santiago, an ancient route to Galicia, where the cathedral is said to house the remains of St. James the Apostle. Typically the route draws more visitors when the saint’s Feast Day, July 25, falls on a Sunday, as it will in 2010. Closer to home, Universal Orlando opens the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure this spring. For theme park fans keeping an eye on new attractions for 2010, “the Harry Potter project at Universal is in a category of its own in terms of scope,” said David Mandt, spokesman for the
ABOVE: This Oct. 19, 2009, file photo shows an aerial view of the Green Point Soccer stadium that will host a number of the 2010 Soccer World cup games, in Cape Town, South Africa. Thousands of people are expected to visit the Western Cape province during the 2010 Soccer World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010. LEFT: This May 17, 2000, file photo shows Jesus performer Anton Burkhart fixed to a huge wooden cross in this scene during the rehearsal of the renown Passion Play in Oberammergau. More than 2000 citizens of this Bavarian village participate in the century-old play of the suffering of Christ, staged every ten years and dating back to 1634. The village had taken a vow then to escape the plague that had threatened the population.
International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. The marquee attraction will be a high-tech ride called “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” that will take guests through scenes and rooms from the blockbuster Potter movies. Universal Hollywood also has news for 2010. Its King Kong attraction, which burned down in 2008, is swinging back onto the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot tram tour next summer. The new 3D attraction, King King 360, will transport visitors to Skull Island where they will witness “the eighth wonder of the world” tussling with dinosaurs and other critters. Disneyland’s California Adventure Park also is debuting a big new attraction in 2010 called World of Color. This unique nighttime water show uses a kaleidoscope of color, powerful fountains and audio and visual effects to take viewers on a journey through animated Disney classics like “The Lion King,” ‘’Toy Story” and many others. Disney also will be offering a free day’s admission to parks on both coasts to 1 million guests who complete a day of volunteer work in the new year. The “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program will provide certified volunteers with a one-day ticket to any park at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, or Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida. Disney is partnering with HandsOn Network, a clearinghouse for volunteer
January February 2010
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explore This Aug. 17, 2007, photo shows a man walking past a general layout of the future venue of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo in Pudong, a new development area of Shanghai. AP
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AP
This Nov. 4, 2009, photo shows people stopping to look at a tall set of Olympic rings after being illuminated in the harbor outside the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, B.C.
opportunities, to connect people with projects and to certify that the work was done. Finally, never mind that worries about swine flu and drug violence led to a 12.5 percent decline in air travel to Mexico by U.S. citizens for the first nine months of 2009 compared with 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Lonely Planet’s U.S. staff ’s top 10 list for 2010 declares that “H1N1 is so 2009,” and puts Mexico as the No. 4 destination for the new year, adding that it is “still a good bargain, easy to get to for most Americans.” Yahoo’s list of most popular cities for 2009, based on consumer interest and activity, includes Cancun and Cabo San Lucas. And Mexico City was on Frommer’s top destinations list for the new year. George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog.com, says if flying to Mexico is too expensive, just drive to a port and take a “crazy cheap” cruise to Cancun. “Get the vaccine and don’t tangle with any drug lords,” he added. But if even a cruise is beyond your budget, you can still be a trendy traveler by hopping in your car and driving to the nearest national park. Visits to national parks in 2009 were up 4.13 percent over 2008 — 286.2 million compared to 274.8 million — and that is without even counting attendance for the entire month of December. The inauguration of President Barack Obama helped draw visitors to park sites in Washington, but millions of Americans traveled to parks elsewhere, too, recognizing them as perfect destinations for a recession vacation.
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CONOMICS: Domestic leisure travel is expected to increase 2 percent in 2010, with an increase in leisure travel spending of nearly 5 percent, according to the U.S. Travel Association. IBISWorld, an industry research firm, forecasts an increase in tourism revenues for 2010 of just 1.2 percent. Even with this small recovery, numbers for 2010 will be lower than they were in 2008. The USTA said travel expenditures in the United States are expected to total $712 billion in 2009, then rise to $745.2 billion in 2010 — still lower than the $772.9 billion in expenditures in 2008. The World Travel & Tourism Council predicted that the industry worldwide would show a 5.5 percent decline for 2009 from 2008 once all the data are counted. For 2010, the organization’s president, Jean-Claude Baumgarten, said travel and tourism activity “is likely to be flat at best.” The lodging forecast for 2010 from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows a small increase in the number of average daily rooms sold, up 2.5 percent to 2.68 million rooms in 2010, compared to 2.61 million in 2009. That is the lowest number since 2003. “The industry is not rebounding,” said Scott Berman, hospitality and leisure leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He said he expects the hotel industry will see some of its older, undercapitalized and physically obsolete properties closing as a result. The good news for consumers is that PricewaterhouseCoopers also is forecasting lower average daily rates ($95.79 in 2010 compared to $97.51 in 2009), due partly to increased competition from a larger supply of hotel rooms: 4.78 million rooms available in 2010 compared with 4.74 million in 2009. Berman also said he thinks business travel has “hit the bottom” and that corporate group bookings are “picking up across the board, including in luxury properties.” On airfares, Hobica, of AirfareWatchdog.com, says that if the economy picks up, “My guess is we’re going to see a lot of firming up of airfares,” especially since many airlines have cut capacity, he said. “We are not going to see the desperate fare sales as much as in the past,” he added. If you are hoping to snag an airfare deal, though, Hobica says it is crucial that you sign up for frequent flyer programs, e-mail alerts and Twitter feeds. “That was the big trend of 2009, with airlines using different marketing channels to go directly to the consumer with promotion codes and offers,” Hobica said.
enjoy
solution on Page 41
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expertise
Feeding finicky felines
Lori Kilchermann photo
By Jim Hillibish • GateHouse News Service
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am not what you would call a cat person. I tolerate them; they ignore me. As my new T-shirt proclaims, I’m a “Dogfather.” I’ve never spent enough time with cats to penetrate the wall they erect around themselves. I hear stories about funny, evocative, loving cats, but I never have witnessed this. Anyway, this is a cooking column, and I’m sure by now some of you are worried there may be some cat stew in here. Nope. This week, we’re feeding the finicky felines. Unlike dogs, which would eat the kitchen linoleum if they could get it up, cats are highly selective. Hence the strange ads where they’re served in crystal, on pillows, no less. It’s not that cats hate food — they’d just like to kill their own, thank you. Cat owners can face food bills for their felines approaching human ones. There’s a lot of human guilt in those ads, and it’s paying off, $1.40 a serving. A cat, for no apparent reason, will suddenly reject his food. They’re telling you something here — get busy already. I’m suggesting you can make your own cat food inexpensively that also addresses common cat problems, such as lack of vitamins or faltering appetite. Cats even more than dogs are what they eat. However, changing their diets can be tricky. Here’s where home cooking soars, even if it goes against our habit for opening expensive flat cans. If your cat’s coat is dull and lifeless, he needs more vitamins. Try this to add calcium, carbohydrate plus iron and protein: VITAMIN-RICH CAT FOOD 1/3 cup cottage cheese 2 tablespoons Bisquick 1 tablespoon chopped liver, cooked 1 tablespoon corn oil
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1 dash iodized salt Mix together and allow to cool. Makes 1-2 cat servings. Show cats often get brewer’s yeast supplements, which improve their coats and help eliminate “hot spot” skin troubles. The problem is getting your cat to eat the pills. Here’s a trainer’s trick: MACKEREL MUNCHIES 1/2 cup canned mackerel, drained 1 cup whole-grain bread crumbs 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 egg, beaten 1/2 teaspoon brewer’s yeast Mash the mackerel and combine with the remaining ingredients. Mix well and drop 1/4 teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Cats can suddenly turn sour on even the most expensive of foods. What they’re doing is rebelling against the richness. They typically want simple yet tasty food: FINICKY FELINE FOOD 1 cup cooked chicken 1/4 cup broccoli, steamed 1/4 cup carrots, finely diced, steamed Chicken broth to moisten Mix meat and vegetables with enough broth to bind them and serve. No chicken? Vary recipe with cooked fish instead of chicken and add cooked rice and other vegetables.
exploration
Planet-hunting U.S. telescope unearths hot mysteries By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
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ASA’s new planet-hunting telescope has found two mystery objects that are too hot to be planets and too small to be stars. The Kepler Telescope, launched in March, discovered the two new heavenly bodies, each circling its own star. Telescope chief scientist Bill Borucki of NASA said the objects are thousands of degrees hotter than the stars they circle. That means they probably aren’t planets. They are bigger and hotter than planets in our solar system, including dwarf planets. “The universe keeps making strange things stranger than we can think of in our imagination,” said Jon Morse, head of astrophysics for NASA. The new discoveries don’t quite fit into any definition of known astronomical objects, and so far don’t have a classification of their own. Details about the mystery objects were presented Monday at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington. For now, NASA researcher Jason Rowe, who found the objects, said he calls them “hot companions.” How hot? Try 26,000 degrees Fahrenheit (14,425 Celsius). That is hot enough to melt lead or iron. There are two leading theories for what the objects might be and those theories cover both ends of the cosmic life cycle: n Rowe suggests they are newly born planets. New planets have extremely high temperatures, and in this case Rowe speculates they might be only about 200 million years old. n Ronald Gilliland of the Space Telescope Science Institute says they could be white dwarf stars that are dying and stripping off their outer shells and shrinking.
AP
In this Oct. 21, 2009, photo provided by NASA, the first of three solid rocket boosters are loaded onto the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation of a launch of NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is positioned next to the rocket’s first stage in the pad’s mobile service tower. NASA’s latest space telescope will scan the sky in search of never-before-seen asteroids, comets, stars and galaxies, with one of its main tasks to catalog objects posing a danger to Earth. The sky-mapping WISE, or Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, is scheduled to launch no earlier than before dawn Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast aboard a Delta 2 rocket.
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World’s tal est skyscraper The Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on the official opening of the building Jan. 4. The Burj Dubai is more than 2,625 feet tall and has more than 160 stories, the most of any building in the world and has an observation deck on its 124th floor with 360degree views of the entire city. The Burj Dubai is home to the world’s first Armani Hotel, luxury offices and residences and will ultimately contain a community of up to 12,000 people.
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The Burj Dubai unveiled Jan. 4 in United Arab Emirates By The Associated Press
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, opened the world’s tallest skyscraper Monday, and in a surprise move renamed the gleaming glass-and-metal tower Burj Khalifa in a nod to the leader of neighboring Abu Dhabi — the oil-rich sheikdom which came to its rescue during the financial meltdown. A lavish presentation witnessed by Dubai’s ruler and thousands of onlookers at the base of the tower said the building was 828 meters, or 2717 feet, tall. Dubai is opening the tower in the midst of a deep financial crisis. Its oil rich neighbor Abu Dhabi has pumped billions of dollars in bailout funds into the emirate as it struggles to pay its debts. Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the ruler of Abu Dhabi and serves as the president of the United Arab Emirates, the federation of seven small emirates, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Analysts have questioned what Dubai might need to offer in exchange for the financial support it has received from Abu Dhabi, which controls nearly all of the UAE’s oil wealth. Abu Dhabi provided direct and indirect injections totaling $25 billion last year as Dubai’s debt problems deepened. Dubai’s hereditary ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in recent months has increasingly underscored the close relationship between the two emirates. Sheik Mohammed serves as vice president and prime minister of the UAE federation. The developer of the newly opened tower said it
explore cost about $1.5 billion to build the tapering metal-and-glass spire billed as a “vertical city” of luxury apartments and offices. It boasts four swimming pools, a private library and a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani. The Burj’s developers say they are confident in the safety of the tower, which is more than twice the height of New York’s Empire State Building’s roof. Greg Sang, Emaar’s director of projects, said the Burj has “refuge floors” at 25 to 30 story intervals that are more fire resistant and have separate air supplies in case of emergency. And its reinforced concrete structure, he said, makes it stronger than steel-frame skyscrapers. “It’s a lot more robust,” he said. “A plane won’t be able to slice through the Burj like it did through the steel columns of the World Trade Center.” Dubai was little more than a sleepy fishing village a generation ago but it boomed into the Middle East’s commercial hub over the past two decades on the back of business-friendly trading policies, relative security, and vast amounts of overseas investment. Then property prices in parts of sheikdom collapsed by nearly half over the past year. Now Dubai is mired in debt and many buildings sit largely empty — the result of overbuilding during a property bubble that has since burst. Despite the past year of hardships, the tower’s developer and other officials were in a festive mood, trying to bring the world’s focus on Dubai’s future potential rather than past mistakes. “Crises come and go. And cities move on,” Mohammed Alabbar, chairman of the tower’s developer Emaar Properties, told reporters before the inauguration. “You have to move on. Because if you stop taking decisions, you stop growing.” Dubai, which has little oil of its own, relied on cheap loans to pump up its international clout during the frenzied boom years. But like many overextended homeowners, the emirate and its state-backed companies borrowed too heavily and then struggled to keep up with payments as the financial crisis intensified and credit markets froze up. Meanwhile, speculators who had fueled Dubai’s property bubble disappeared along with the easy money, revealing a glut of brand-new but empty homes and crippling many of the emirate’s property developers The sheikdom shocked global markets late last year when it unexpectedly announced plans to reorganize its main state-run conglomerate Dubai World and sought new terms in repaying some $26 billion in debt. It got some succor from a $10 billion bailout provided by its richer neighbor and UAE capital Abu Dhabi last month. That was on top of $15 billion in emergency funds provided by Abu Dhabi-based financiers earlier in the year. Burj developer Emaar is itself partly owned by the Dubai government, but is not part of struggling Dubai World, which has investments ranging from Dubai’s manmade islands and seaports to luxury retailer Barneys New York and the oceanliner Queen Elizabeth 2. At a reported height of 2,684 feet, the Burj Dubai long ago vanquished its nearest rival, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan. The building boasts the most stories and highest occupied floor of any building in the world, and ranks as the world’s tallest structure, beating out a television mast in North Dakota. The tower is more than 50 stories higher than Chicago’s Willis Tower, the tallest building in the U.S. formerly known as the Sears Tower.
AP photos
ABOVE: A cameraman films as a man watches the Sheik Zayed highway towers on the screen at the observation deck of the tower, at the Top, of Burj Dubai on Level 124 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 4. BELOW: A girl looks at the world’s tallest building’s towering profile on the Dubai horizon.
January February 2010
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explore etc... is published six times a year by The Journal-Standard, a GateHouse Media newspaper, located at 27 S. State Ave., Freeport, Ill. Distribution To arrange for copies to be distributed at your business, call (815) 232-0114 or (800) 325-6397, ext. 114 Subscriptions Mail subscriptions are available outside our circulation area for $25 per year. Call (815) 232-0114 or (800) 325-6397,ext. 114 Publisher Steve Trosley (815) 232- 0121 Advertising Manager Ann Young (815) 232-0162 Advertising Staff Dutch Bamberg (815) 232-0134 Linda Conder (815) 232-0150 Mike Cowan (815) 232-0177 Leah Dixon (815) 232-0171 Colleen Groves (815) 232-0191 Editor & Designer Lori Kilchermann (815) 232-0168 lkilchermann@ journalstandard.com
Inside
Couple’s business thrives in Stockton ....... page 5
world’s tallest skyscraper opens to the public ......... page 28
Hot spots to travel in 2010 ...................... page 22
farmer finds her niche with organics ....... page 10 January February 2010
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entertainment
Museum owner hopes to add to
Roy Rogers collection The Associated Press
James Henager hasn’t forgotten the day 50 years ago he saw cowboy Roy Rogers in person, not just on TV singing “Happy Trails to You.” It was in 1959 at Roberts Stadium and Henager, a shy 8-year-old, was in one of the first 10 rows of excited youngsters who turned out to see a traveling road show with songs and skits featuring the “King of the Cowboys” and his “Queen of the West” wife, Dale Evans. They were accompanied by sidekick Pat Brady and his jeep, “Nellybelle,” Roy’s dog, Bullet, and their horses, including Trigger Jr. and Buttermilk. Henager had his Roy Rogers Riders Club membership card and his parents bought a souvenir program. He still displays the fan club card and program at Henager’s Memories & Nostalgia, a nonprofit museum he opened in 1996 in tiny Buckskin, Ind., 20 miles north of Evansville. He’s the curator and has a board of directors. The museum’s array of historical and pop culture artifacts include several hundred pieces, including photographs, record covers and movies donated by the Rogers family in recent years. “Millions of kids who grew up back then loved Roy Rogers. He was an icon who treated people with kindness and made himself accessible,” said Henager, expressing concern that the Dec. 12 closing of the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Mo., could result in the couple’s mementos disappearing into private collections. The Branson museum’s collection ranges from the jeep “Nellybelle,” costumes and gun collections to scrapbooks, pictures from the early days of Rogers’ musical group the Sons of the Pioneers and the mounted figure of Trigger, rearing up on hind legs. The museum’s Web site at www.royrogers.com refers to
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AP Photo/USPS
This undated handout image provided by the U.S. Postal Service shows the four 44-cent postage stamps honoring cowboys of the silver screen. Top row, from left are, Roy Rogers and Tom Mix. In bottom row are William S. Hart and Gene Autry. Singing cowboy and, later, baseball executive Gene Autry will be part of a fourstamp set honoring cowboys of the silver screen. Joining him are William S. Hart, Tom Mix and Roy Rogers.
upcoming auctions, including an auction and antique show in Mesa, Ariz., in January. However, Dustin Rogers, grandson of Roy and Dale, said reaction to a possible auction is premature. “We’re not sure everything’s going to auction,” he said, indicating there’s a chance the collection might go to another museum or even a new museum. “We’ll know more after the first of the year.” But just in case, Henager has started a grass-roots “Save a Child’s Hero” campaign, hoping Roy Rogers’ fans will buy something if an auction takes place “and donate it back to our museum so we can have a permanent exhibit” and “help keep Roy’s and Dale’s history alive.” After Rogers and Evans died in 1998 and 2001, respectively, their children and grandchildren moved the nonprofit museum from Victorville, Calif., to Branson in 2003. The goal was to reach more fans, but the number of visitors dwindled while expenses rose. Dustin Rogers and his father, Roy “Dusty” Rogers Jr., will continue to perform cowboy and western music at another Branson venue.
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the city of spas In these photos taken on Aug. 12, 2009, the Neo-Baroque building at Szechenyi Bath and Spa surrounds the outdoor pools.
Visiting bathhouses in Budapest story and photos by CAREY J. WILLIAMS • Associated Press Writer • BUDAPEST, Hungary
Sometimes called the “city of spas,” Budapest is home to more than a dozen thermal spas. The bathhouses make perfect destinations for weary tourists, sore backpackers and families – as well as hung-over concert-goers. I visited two of Budapest’s biggest and most visited baths, Szechenyi and Gellert last summer. They were filled with 20-somethings wearing bracelets from the annual Sziget festival, a seven-day music event that’s one of the biggest in Europe. Many of my fellow spa-goers looked like they could have used some of the healing powers the therapeutic waters have to offer. A week of partying can have that effect on your facial expressions. The Szechenyi baths are located in City Park. The NeoBaroque building is beautiful inside and out. The three outside pools are decorated with various statues of water gods and marine life. Many of the statues have hot water shooting out, creating popular spots for hot water massages. Visitors have their choice of 18 pools, five swimming pools and 13 thermal baths. The water temperatures range from 68 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The inside is huge and made up of many different rooms,
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making it easy to get lost. In addition to hot and cold pools, there are sauna and steam rooms at various temperatures. There was even a pool with medicinal mineral water. Bathhouses with indoor pools are open year-round, of course, but Szechenyi also has one huge hot pool outside that remains open all winter, with clouds of steam rising into the cold air. Several outdoor pools outside of Budapest also operate in the winter, including those in Harkany, Heviz, Visegrad, Egerszalok and Hajduszoboszlo. The Gellert Baths have many of the same features as Szechenyi. The baths are in the Hotel Gellert, on the opposite side of the Danube River. Gellert is on the Buda side of town, while Szechenyi is in Pest. The Gellert’s facility is beautiful, if somewhat touristy. It features outdoor pools, including a wave pool and eight indoor thermal baths. But be prepared for a wait in the locker room on busy days. There were some 20 people waiting for their lockers to be opened or locked and only one attendant on the day I visited. Later, we headed to the Kiraly baths, which has alternate days for men and women. I had read a brief description of Kiraly in a travel article and had seen a beautiful framed photo of the bathhouse, which dates to the 16th century, hanging on a wall in our hostel. But the outside of the building, with chipped green paint and graffiti, was nothing like the beautiful exteriors of the Szechenyi and Gellert baths. I had my swimsuit with me. My buddy and traveling companion, Ryan Johnson, went to the counter to purchase a swimsuit for himself and entry tickets for both of us.
explore In these photos taken on Aug. 12, 2009, visitors are relaxing in one of the many indoor thermal baths at the Szechenyi Bath and Spa.
If You Go... BUDAPEST BATHHOUSES:
http://www.spasbudapest.com/tartalom.php. Entry prices vary from spa to spa. Gellert was $18.40 (3,500 forints) for entry and locker rental. Szechenyi was $16.30 (3,100 forints). Kiraly was $13.60 (2,500 forints). “Oh boy, Williams,” he said. “This uncomfortable in a mixed-gender is going to be interesting.” spa. We decided to leave after a We were given white-cotton half-hour. loincloths to wear. We headed to the Unfortunately, Kiraly was the changing rooms and I couldn’t hold only spa we visited that didn’t offer in my laughter trying to figure out a refund if you left the facility prior how to wear this tiny garment. In to two hours. the other spas, we and all the other At Gellert and Szechenyi, we’d guests had worn swimsuits. We later reluctantly pried ourselves out saw a couple of others at Kiraly before the two hours were up in wearing swimsuits, too; something order to get some money back. The had been lost in translation when refund system is electronic, so even we were handed the loincloths. if you stay a minute over two hours, The main sauna room was dimly you miss the refund. At Gellert, we lit by the sunlight coming through were slowed down by the wait in the small openings in the domed locker room and didn’t make it in cupola. After submerging in the time, but at Szechenyi, we got back main spa, I realized the loincloths 300 forints. In this photo taken on Aug. 13, 2009, the Bela left nothing to the imagination: It sounded like a lot of money, Kun Memorial is displayed in Memento Park, They were completely see-through even in a country where we were along with other Communist era statues. when wet. withdrawing local currency from We also soon realized the ATM machines by the thousands. bathhouse was a gay hangout. Later we did the math, and realized We’re not in that target audience, but it was no big deal. that the 300 forints we had torn ourselves away from those Then we observed some behavior that would have made me wonderful spas in order to get back was worth all of $1.57.
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Barrel of wine bargains in 2010
expertise
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AP File Photo
In this Aug. 12, 2009, file photo, Eric Titus looks over clusters of Sauvignon Blanc grapes that will be picked in about two weeks at Titus Vineyards in St. Helena, Calif. The chilly economic climate is casting a shadow over this year’s wine harvest, with some predicting expensive grapes will be a tough sell in a market that has developed a parsimonious palate.
Michelle locke • The Associated Press • Napa, Calif.
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intners and analysts predict that 2010 will be a very good year for wine lovers. “Everybody is looking for a deal and I think that mentality is going to persist. We still have the 2005 and the 2006 vintages in the pipeline and that’s a lot of wine,” says Eric Titus, partner in Titus Vineyards in the Napa Valley. He also expects 2010 to be a better year for premium wine.
January February 2010
“There’s cautious optimism.” No question 2009 was a tough year, especially for people making wines priced at $20 a bottle and over. Wine Institute President Robert P. Koch’s This photo taken Dec. 1, prediction for 2009, shows a bottle and of Turn 4 cabernet 2010? “Hopefully, glass sauvignon wine at the Bennett Lane winery in more sales.” Calistoga, Calif.
expertise
Some top trends to watch for in 2010: VINTAGE VALUES In 2009 consumers boasted about how much they’d saved on – not spent on – a bottle of wine, and that’s expected to continue. With premium grape prices plunging this year as demand for high-end wines withered, a lot of fruit went for rock bottom prices and Titus and others expect to see premium Napa Valley grapes showing up under new names as growers who couldn’t sell all their fruit release their own bottlings or high-end wineries sell their surplus under alternate labels.
WINE SHOP WONDERS Sales of high-end wines have stalled, which means some big names are going to be going for cut-rate prices. Titus expects that will cause some excitement among collectors. “There’ll be a certain amount of gloating over that,” he says with a laugh. Previously impossible-to-find wines, the kind people signed up on waiting lists to buy, are expected to continue to be more available.
WIRED WINE You’ll hear it on the grapevine, and on the Facebook update and the Twitter feed as wineries discover the marketing potential of social media. “More folks are going to jump into this,” says Judd Finkelstein of the Judd’s Hill winery in Napa, who has been posting short, humorous videos on the Web, “Judd’s Enormous Wine Show.” “Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, all that good stuff. It helps me not only get my winery some notice, but lets people see who I am, the person behind the wine. I feel that’s become much more important.”
RED, WHITE AND GREEN Koch predicts the trend of sustainable wine growing practices will grow. In January, the San Francisco-based Institute plans to roll out a third-party certification program.
WINERY WOES What’s good for consumers isn’t so great for producers. “There’s a lot of pain out there,” says wine consultant Jon Fredrikson. “People are struggling; most will get by.” How fast and how far the market will come back is “the big question,” he says. “Are we going back to the heyday? I’m not so sure it’s going to happen quickly.”
QUALITY QUAFFING Critics are giving good reviews to the ’07 vintage, coming on the market now. “It’s becoming more and more of a dream market,” says Fredrikson. “You’ve got fabulous quality being offered at discount prices. You’ve still got wines from around the world pouring in, many at discounts. I think we’re going to see a spurt in consumption, because at some point people are just going to cave and start buying these wines.”
January February 2010
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At 95, Peter Mondavi reflects on life in wine
expertise
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AP Photo
This photo taken Nov. 4, 2009, shows Peter Mondavi Sr. smelling a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon inside the original Redwood Cellar at the Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, Calif. At 95, Peter Mondavi looks back on a life in wine that stretches from Prohibition to this last, chaotic, year of Great Recession. He’s seen the Napa Valley bloom from sleepy farm country to world-class destination, watched an industry once made up of modest family operations go global. But one thing hasn’t changed. He’s still working at his family’s winery, a white-haired survivor of boom, bust, corporate takeovers and a spectacular wine country feud.
P
Michelle locke • The Associated Press • st. helena, Calif.
eter Mondavi went to work in the wine industry during Prohibition when he was just 12, nailing together boxes for his dad’s business shipping California grapes to home winemakers back east. Eight decades later, the hammer’s gone, but he’s still on the job at his family’s Charles Krug Winery, a survivor of boom and bust with a unique perspective on a year when the bottom dropped out of the market for luxury wines. “Everything went too wild,” he says of recent years when grape prices shot up and wine prices followed. “It just went too wild.” Though he’s not as well known as older brother Robert, founder of the Robert Mondavi Winery, Peter Mondavi is an influential figure in the industry. As a college student during the Depression, he started working on cold fermentation techniques that would later elevate his family’s white wines – he laughs as he remembers the early days of throwing chunks of ice into cooling towers on hot days. He also pioneered the use of French oak barrels in the 1960s. Having that kind of experience is a plus right now, says Robert Smiley, director of wine industry programs in the Graduate School of Management at the
January February 2010
University of California, Davis. “You know what to do and what’s worked in the past, but more importantly you have brand equity. People know the Charles Krug label,” he says. This also is a time when it’s good to have more than one brand. Charles Krug, located at the top of the Napa Valley, took a high-low approach years ago, selling premium Napa Valley wines under the Charles Krug label and putting more moderately priced grapes into the second line, CK Mondavi, a strategy that paid big benefits as recession-harried consumers traded down to cheaper wines in 2009. At 95, a birthday milestone he celebrated quietly in November, Mondavi has turned over day-to-day responsibilities to his sons, Marc and Peter Jr. But he still has definite opinions about winemaking. He’s not a fan of the big wines of 15 or even 16 percent alcohol – “It’s like a wine cocktail.” As for the boutique wineries that have sprung up, making very small amounts of very expensive wines, he thinks they do “a terrific job,” but can’t help but smile at some of the extremes of the ultra-premium wine world. “A $1,500 bottle of wine?” he says, shaking his head
expertise
AP photos
ABOVE: This photo taken Nov. 4, 2009, shows Peter Mondavi Sr. looking at a bottle of 1944 Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon, the first his family produced, while standing in a vineyard at the winery in St. Helena, Calif. Mondavi celebrated his 95th birthday in November, 2009, and this year is the 150th anniversary of Charles Krug Winery, the oldest in the Napa Valley.
and laughing. Back when Mondavi began his career, $1,500 would buy you a lot more than a bottle. Family patriarch Cesare Mondavi brought the family to California in the ‘20s and worked in the wine business for two decades before buying Charles Krug in 1943. Cost of the 147-acre property: $75,000. Today a single acre of prime Napa Valley land can sell for double that. Krug, founded in 1861 by Prussian immigrant Charles Krug, was the Napa Valley’s first commercial winery and plans are under way to celebrate the 150th anniversary. Renovations are nearly complete at the original winery – a gracious stone building that still has one of the original, towering redwood tanks on display. Back in the ’40s those tanks were in full use. After the Mondavis bought Charles Krug, they went to work reviving the business. World War II was followed by a downturn that led the family to think about selling one of the labels, but they hung on. “Thank God we didn’t sell anything, especially the CK,” Mondavi says now with a laugh. In 2009, sales of CK Mondavi – featuring varietals such as chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon for $6 to $8 a bottle – were up 14 percent as of the fiscal year ending in August, says Marc Mondavi, who oversees that side of the business. Higher priced wines have struggled everywhere and even though the Charles Krug brands are reasonable by Napa standards, starting at $18, the family has been able to maintain, but not improve sales, says Peter Mondavi Jr. As amicable partners in the family business, Peter Jr. and Marc Mondavi have pulled off something their father and
uncle couldn’t. Peter and Robert Mondavi clashed frequently over the latter’s ambitious plans for the winery. Matters came to a head with a fist fight. “When it was all over, there were no apologies and no handshake,” Robert Mondavi wrote in his autobiography, “Harvests of Joy.” A bitter court battle ended with Robert founding his namesake winery in 1966, going on to become a famous champion of Napa Valley wines. Peter Mondavi ran Charles Krug. Over time, the brothers reconciled, something that was commemorated in 2005 when they made wine together for the 25th anniversary of the Napa wine auction. By that time, the Robert Mondavi Corp. had been sold to New York-based Constellation Brands, derailed by intense competition and a wine glut. Charles Krug remains in family hands, with no plans to change that. “When you go public you have stockholders and when you have stockholders they want money,” says Mondavi. “They want to know that they’re part-owner of a winery, but they want the money. If you don’t keep them happy ... the romance goes out the window.” Looking at the present troubles, Mondavi isn’t expecting a quick turnaround. “Let’s face it. Sales are not there. The economy’s not there. I say until the unemployment is resolved they’re going to have troubles.” The truth is, a family winery doesn’t make for a big profitable investment, says Mondavi. But it is a livelihood. “This wine picture – for us it’s because we love it,” he says.
January February 2010
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enjoy road signs
solution on Page 43
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January ď ´ February 2010
Destination: Landmarks
explore The Alamo, San Antonio
When seeing the best of America, don’t miss these places By Melissa Erickson • GateHouse News Service
Gettysurg Battlefield, Gettsyburg, Pa.
Built in 1724, the Alamo recalls the most important battle of the Texas Revolution. The building is near San Antonio’s famous Riverwalk, and “Fall at the Alamo” includes reenactments that take visitors back to a time when Texas was an independent country. Population: 935,933. Average cost of meal: $15-$25. Hotel: $150 per night. Best time to go: Visit during
the week of March 6 and be on hand to view a number of commemorative events. Off the beaten path: Walk or drive the Mission Trail, a route that starts at the Alamo and winds nine miles along the San Antonio River, passing four historic missions. Main attraction: The tourist heart of San Antonio emerged around the Alamo. Visit at night for a striking view of this fabulous historic treasure.
Mount Rushmore, near Keystone, S.D.
This battlefield honors the Union and Confederate soldiers who fought and died in the battle that marks the turning point of the Civil War. From the Gettysburg Address to the Devil’s Den, history comes to life here. Population: 7,500. Average cost of meal: $10-$15. Hotel: $130 per night. Best time to go: In the spring when the native pink redwoods and white dogwoods are in bloom.
Off the beaten path: Take the Scenic Valley Tour, a 36-mile drive through Adams County to see the Sachs Bridge, which played a significant part in the Confederate invasion and retreat. Main attraction: Do not miss Confederate Avenue, from which the Army of North Virginia started their charge across the fields. Also check out Emmitsburg Road toward the heights on Cemetery Ridge where the Union Army was encamped.
This monumental granite sculpture is the gateway to the West and embodies America’s foundation, preservation and expansion with 60-foot carvings of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln in South Dakota’s Black Hills. Population: Just more than 300 residents live in Keystone, S.D., serving the millions who visit each year. Average cost of meal: $10 per person at Mount Rushmore or in Keystone.
Hotel: $160 per night. Best time to go: Visit just after Labor Day (September/ October) and you’ll miss the crowds. Off the beaten path: Don’t miss the Crazy Horse monument, a striking representation of a historic American Indian figure. Main attraction: Of course, you have to see the epic monument itself. But take a hike through Badlands National Park and check out the breathtaking buttes.
January February 2010
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essentials
The power of vitamin
D
V
By Dr. David C. Dodson • GateHouse News Service
itamin D has come a long way in a short time. When I was a medical student in the 1970s, all that was known about this nutrient was that it helped to absorb dietary calcium. It was necessary for forming bones, and lack of the vitamin gave rise to the bone diseases of rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Both conditions cause bones to hurt, bend and break. We now know that every cell in our bodies contains receptors for vitamin D and that vitamin D modifies the activity of about 10,000 genes, or about one third of the human genome. Vitamin D, it seems, does an enormous amount of work in our bodies.
Sudoku To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
Once it was thought that vitamin C helped prevent everything from the common cold to cancer. That notion was largely eminence-based: The eminent Linus Pauling, winner of two Nobel prizes (chemistry in 1954, for discovering the molecular structure of vitamin C and a peace prize in 1962) widely promoted this idea. Today, good evidence supports the idea that vitamin D not only boosts the immune system – helping to prevent colds and flu – but also helps regulate blood pressure and blood sugar, protect from many of the most common forms of cancer, and even possibly to help fight depression. And it still helps to make bones and muscles stronger, probably accounting for its proven role in helping prevent falls in the elderly, an often devastating and sometimes deadly problem. Indeed, a recent study showed that lower vitamin D levels are associated with higher death rates in the elderly. Many surveys have documented the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency
Basic Black shows its Stripes!
solution on Page 43
Inside, a bold black and white zebra-striped lining takes our classic Microfiber Collection for a walk on the wild side. Outside, sophisticated plaid quilting conceals its animal magnetism!
2 W. Main St., Historic Downtown Freeport, IL 815-233-5626 • Mon-Fri 9-5, Saturday 9-3
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January February 2010
essentials in people who live in more northern locations and in people with darker skin. Indeed, pale skin allows the body to make more vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, the reason why vitamin D is sometimes called the sunshine vitamin. Our skin makes vitamin D when it’s exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun. Unfortunately, north of Atlanta, the ultraviolet light is filtered out by the atmosphere during the winter, and, as a result, vitamin D levels tend to drop as one heads north. The deficiency increases in people with dark skin, which protects from the sun’s harmful effects such as wrinkles and skin cancer, but at the same time reduces our skin’s production of vitamin D. Few foods naturally contain vitamin D, although it’s added to some foods including milk and some brands of orange juice. Other sources include small fish eaten whole, such as anchovies and sardines, and cod liver oil. I’m a major advocate for vitamin D supplements. While moderate sun exposure certainly can and does boost vitamin D levels, it does so at the cost of aging the skin, which means not only wrinkles but also the possibility of skin cancer. So while moderation in all things may be a reasonable policy with regard to sun exposure, it’s easier and safer, especially at northern latitudes, to take a vitamin D supplement. It is inexpensive and an excellent investment in your health. How much is enough? This should be determined in
consultation with your doctor and based upon your body’s actual vitamin D level, which can be measured by a simple blood test. Because vitamin D is fat soluble, it builds up in our body’s fat stores, and one can overdose on it. But doses as high as 10,000 units daily have been shown to be safe, and typical recommended doses range from roughly 1,000 to 4,000 units daily. So overdose is unlikely. For pennies per day, this substance can help reduce falls and fractures in the elderly, prevent colds and flu, help control blood pressure and glucose levels (diabetes), and may help prevent some of the most common forms of cancer such as lung, breast, colon and prostate. African Americans suffer higher rates of such illnesses as high blood pressure, cancer and diabetes – all conditions associated with vitamin D deficiency. As vitamin D can help reduce the incidence and severity of many conditions and disease, it could therefore help control health care costs – a major national concern. With all of its potential benefits, vitamin D is certainly worth a closer look. For more information, read the American Public Health Association’s policy statement on vitamin D at www.apha.org. David C. Dodson, M.D., a primary care physician with the Marino Center for Integrative Health in Wellesley, Mass., is chairman of the Committee on Men’s Health and a member of the Committee on Nutrition and Physical Activity of the Massachusetts Medical Society.
crossword Solution
solution on Page 43
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essentials
Silver Alert
Department on Aging to assist with new law to locate missing and endangered seniors
A
new law took effect Jan. 1 that beefs up the state’s system to help locate elderly people who go missing in Illinois. The Endangered Missing Person Advisory Program will have police agencies send out alerts when senior citizens or high-risk adults with disabilities go missing. The Endangered Missing Person Advisory will provide a regional system that will allow for the rapid dissemination of information regarding a missing person who is believed to be a highrisk missing person. These new efforts are similar to an Amber Alert which is used when children are believed to have been abducted and in danger. The Endangered Missing Person Advisory Program, commonly referred to as a “Silver Alert,” aims to assist in locating older adults (with Alzheimer’s, some other form of dementia and illness) by giving these endangered missing seniors high priority in reporting, investigation and public notification. “A delayed search can result in the loss of precious time to locate a missing person,” said Charles D. Johnson, IDoA Director. “But starting in January, we will work to implement a system to help locate missing endangered seniors and make recommendations to help families and caregivers know what to do when an older adult with dementia or other illness goes missing.” The Illinois Department on Aging
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January February 2010
(IDoA), in coordination with the Illinois State Police, will develop and implement a community outreach program to promote awareness among the State’s healthcare facilities, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other senior centers. The guidelines and procedures shall ensure that specific health information about the missing person is not made public through the alert or otherwise. Unfortunately, cases of seniors wandering from home, getting disoriented or losing their way while driving are all too common. This new law will improve coordination to help locate missing seniors before they meet harm. State Police will determine whether the missing person is endangered or considered “high risk.” High-risk means a missing person whose whereabouts are not currently known and whose circumstances indicate that the person may be at risk of injury or death. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of missing loved ones,” said Illinois State Police Director Jonathan Monken. “The State Police will continue to work diligently with our communities, law enforcement, and legislative partners to bring missing persons home and protect them from harm.” For more information about program services to assist older adults in Illinois and their caregivers, call the IDoA Senior HelpLine at (800) 252-8966 or for TTY (hearing impaired use only) call (888) 206-1327.
enjoy
Puzzle Solutions Sudoku Solution
Figger It Solution
word search Solution
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
~Edith Lovejoy Pierce January February 2010
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envision
Felt food Making toy food for toddlers can be easy
R
By ROSE HANSON • For The Associated Press
e becca Haacke started making play food out of felt for her children because she was tired of cleaning out their toy box during recalls of leadcontaminated toys. The 29-year-old from Orem, Utah, first made a whole stuffed apple, then sewed a ham sandwich with a felt lunch AP Photos sack. This photo taken Oct. 6 shows play food items made of cloth stored She is one of a number of mothers who, worried about in a play refrigerator made of wood at the home of Deena Niemat in plastic toys’ safety and environmental impact, have created Nashville, Tenn. Niemat made the food items and bought the wood furniture so her daughter will avoid contact with plastics. interest in homemade play food. “It’s not a run-of-the-mill, China-made toy,” Haacke said. “I cheese sauce and jalapenos,” she said. get tired of my kids playing with plastic all the time.” Felt food can be inexpensive, depending on the type of Miranda Kuskie, 25, of Nampa, Idaho, went on a felt fabric used. Many people choose acrylic “eco-felt” that’s made food sewing spree for her 3-year-old son because she was from recycled plastic, while others prefer more expensive unimpressed by the play food for sale and concerned about wool felt without plastic in it. Some use old wool sweaters, contaminated plastic. She likes that her children can pile up while pricey felt made from bamboo can be found on the separate strands of felt spaghetti instead of a plastic blob of Internet. noodles. At American Felt & Craft, an Internet store, a piece of wool “They like to stick all the noodles in the pot and stir it up. felt about the size of a sheet of notebook paper costs about And they can’t really do that with the plastic food,” she said. $5. A sheet of wool/rayon blend costs People with little or no sewing 75 cents. Recycled plastic felt costs even experience can make felt food; there less. A sheet of red felt would make a are fabric versions of strawberries, bunch of strawberries. hamburgers and cupcakes that can be Andie Clark, 30, of Peoria, Ariz., cosewn by hand with one or two basic founded American Felt & Craft earlier stitches. this year to sell goods for felt crafts. Crafter Deena Neimat, 29, of The company daily ships about a dozen Nashville, Tenn., said it’s satisfying to orders of $50 to $100 each. Ready-towhip up a fabric carrot in 15 minutes assemble kits, especially the shrimp stiror a milk carton in about an hour, then fry, are top sellers. watch her daughter play with them. Some crafters form groups to swap “It’s really just a night sitting in front pieces of felt food, with each person of the TV sewing. It’s not like you have to making multiples of one item so everyone set aside hard-core work time,” she said. ends up with a variety. Trading felt food The items are durable and wash up is also popular on Web sites such as easily, and many people expect them to Craftster.org, where people share ideas become heirlooms. for projects. Kuskie, who has provided some After the apple and ham sandwich, instructions on her blog, Keeper of the Haacke starting making any food she Cheerios, said people who make felt food could think of: sushi, a salad set, a crab find themselves examining dinner for a bake dinner, caramel apples. And she close look at food colors and for ideas on turned her hobby into a business, at constructing fabric versions. She made Bugbitesplayfood.etsy.com. She has had her 9-year-old daughter a baking set that about 225 sales since she started selling included bags of flour and sugar, pies, fabric burritos, cinnamon rolls, banana cakes, and a wooden spoon with a little Rebecca Haacke, who makes felt play food splits and other items last year. and sells it online, working in her home blob of felt glued on to look like cookie Haacke advises beginners to start with office in Orem, Utah. Parents are resorting dough. to making toys for their children to avoid something simple, such as cookies or “I’ve made everything from carrots plastics. pancakes. and bananas with peels to chips with
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January February 2010
Deena Niemat and her daughter, Cyra, 2, setting a table using play food made of cloth at their home in Nashville, Tenn. AP
Iced Sugar Cookie Supplies: Scissors Cream felt Pink felt Cream thread Pink thread Needle Stuffing
Directions: Cut out two cream felt circles 2.5 inches wide. Cut out one pink felt circle 2 inches wide, scalloping the edges. Attaching the icing: Pull out an arm’s length of pink thread. Thread the needle, and double up the thread so it is two strands thick. Tie a knot at the end of the two strands. Starting on the underside, bring the needle up through the top layer of cookie felt and the pink icing felt. Bring the needle back down through the cookie felt, and continue on with this whipstitch. When you reach the beginning point, tie off the thread under the cream felt so the knot is not visible. Attaching the two cookie layers: Thread the needle in the same manner with cream thread. Insert the needle between the two cream felt layers, and bring it up through the top layer, so the knot is hidden inside. You can use the same whipstitch to sew up the cookie. For those who know how to do a blanket stitch, that will give the cookie a more finished look. Continue stitching until you are about 2 inches from the starting point, and stop. Fill the cookie with stuffing. Then continue stitching to close up the hole. Tie off the thread with a knot and put the needle into the middle of the cookie to tuck the knot inside. Bring the needle back out of the cookie as any spot. Cut the string close so it will tuck back inside the cookie. Adapt details to make cookies of various shapes and toppings. Brown felt cut into bits could be sewn on as chocolate chips. Beads (for older children) or knots could be added as sprinkles.
Step-by-step guide to making felt cookies
envision
On the Net: Miranda Kuskie’s blog: www.keeperofthecheerios.com www.americanfeltandcraft.com Rebecca Haacke’s blog: www.bugbitesplayfood.blogspot.com
January February 2010
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enrich
Worldwide trophy hunting land available in Stockton By Jim Kilchermann • jimkilchermann@yahoo.com • Stockton
N
ature lovers come in many shapes, sizes and backgrounds. Mullady Properties Inc. of Stockton understands this and excels in finding the proper fit between client and property. Perhaps this is why they have been chosen to be a part of the world-renowned Cabela’s Trophy Properties family. Patrick Mullady, a former national treasurer for Ducks Unlimited, is definitely an outdoors man. From hunting to horse racing, from polo to fishing and farming, he can relate to his clients’ wants and needs.
January February 2010
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enrich “Our approach to selling real estate is not what most would consider the norm,” Patrick said. “There is no trick to marketing – just good common sense, experience and excellent contacts.” Cabela’s Trophy Properties markets find sporting properties for sale worldwide. For people whose passions range from hunting and fishing to boating and equestrian sports, Cabela’s affiliated brokers can help them to find the property of their dreams. In Northern Illinois, shoppers are lucky to have Mullady properties Inc. From Lake Michigan and the 14 counties reaching to the Mississippi River, Patrick and his wife, Barbara, who has held her broker’s license since 2007, are in tune with the needs of their fellow outdoor lovers. For those who wish to venture a little further away from home, Mullady Properties can stretch its help and expertise to properties worldwide by placing their clientele in the capable hands of Cabela’s chosen brokers. These brokers serve across the United States, Canada, Africa, South America and just about any place sporting opportunities present themselves. Barbara likens the experienced representation to something that most everyone can relate to. “It’s kind of like having the Verizon man behind you,” she joked.
“We want to work where we live and why would we want to live anywhere else?” — Barbara Mullady, co-owner of Mullady Properties Inc. in Stockton
Top-notch Service
Being an outdoor enthusiast himself, Patrick understands the changing needs of sportsmen. Times are changing and the properties that support suitable sporting requirements are becoming more difficult to find. He is determined to locate properties which will offer top-notch results for his clients. In addition to properties that are for sale, he is also privy to properties which have the hunting/fishing rights offered for sale. This creates another avenue for the buyer to investigate. The commitment by Cabela’s to choose the cream of the crop to represent properties is second to none. Mullady Properties had to prove its expertise in the field of representing the Cabela’s name. Patrick is proud to represent Stockton and its neighboring areas to the world. Having spent much of his life hunting, fishing and exploring this area with his sons, it was a natural fit for him to choose this area for he and his wife to reside. Barbara is happy to have moved their business into their new location at 101 N. Main St., Stockton. “It has been a lot of very hard work, but this town is so nice and the people have made it well worth the effort,” she says. With a company like Cabela’s attached to
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January February 2010
Jim Kilchermann Photo
Barbara and Patrick Mullady operate their businesses, Mullady Properties Inc., and Stockton Floral and Gift from their downtown Stockton location on Main Street.
enrich From their office in Stockton, Barbara and Patrick Mullady of Mullady Properties Inc. can help buyers purchase a home nearby or find premier recreational properties around the globe.
To view Cabela’s recreational properties online visit www.cabelastrophyproperties.com.
their name, the Mullady’s could have chosen anywhere to locate their business. “We want to work where we live and why would we want to live anywhere else?” Barbara said. Both Patrick and Barbara are proud of their contribution to revitalize downtown Stockton. Barbara owns the Stockton Floral and Gift store and says the merging of the two businesses was a natural fit. The floral shop was out-growing its old location at 127 and 129 S. Main St. When the opportunity to acquire the 5,200 square-foot Queen Ann building at 101 N. Main St. presented itself, the move was on. With real estate laws and regulations requiring a real estate office to have its own separate entrance, the work began to remove one wall from the interior of the building and build a new wall to separate the two businesses. The Mulladys give much deserved credit for the work to their new building to Rich Curtis, a local businessman. Mullady properties might be the perfect stop for those who wish to get an extraspecial gift for their favorite outdoorsman. Cabela’s Trophy Properties offer the second-to-none quality in representation of the properties sportsmen are looking for and Patrick offers the knowledge and insight to help guide buyers through the search process. Available properties can be found at www. cabelastrophyproperties.com. The Cabela’s Trophy Properties Web site also features information about Patrick and Barbara, as well as Mullady Properties. They also welcome visitors at their office at 101 N. Main St., Stockton, or call (815) 947-3576.
Jim Kilchermann Photo
January February 2010
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enjoy
This photo released by Lincoln shows the 2010 Lincoln MKT.
B
AP
By The associated Press
uyers looking for a memorable and luxurious new crossover sport utility vehicle that can seat up to seven people won’t have to look beyond the 2010 Lincoln MKT. This new, 17.3-foot-long, five-door Lincoln grabs attention with its big, grinning grille, boat tail-styled back end and somewhat hearse-like side appearance. Bottom line: They love the look or hate it, but either way, the MKT makes a memorable impression. With a starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $44,995 for a front-wheel drive model with base 268-horsepower, naturally aspirated V-6, the MKT is a late entrant in the premium crossover segment. etc ... 8
January February 2010
enjoy The 2010 Audi Q7 has a starting cam, Duratec V-6, either. retail price, including destination It supplied good power but charge, of $47,725 for a base model nothing sporty or racy, as peak with 280-horsepower V-6 and torque of 267 foot-pounds came standard all-wheel drive. on by 4,250 rpm. The 2010 Volvo XC90 starts at Mated to a six-speed $38,550 with 235-horsepower automatic, engine power was six-cylinder engine and frontdelivered smoothly and moved BASE PRICE: $44,200 for base model. wheel drive, while the 2010 Acura the MKT adequately. MDX has a starting retail price of But there was always a AS TESTED: $48,995. $41,800 for a 300-horsepower, Vpalpable sense of the large size TYPE: Front-engine, front-wheel drive, sev6 model with standard all-wheel of this SUV and how hefty it is, en-passenger, large, crossover sport utility drive. at more than 4,600 pounds. vehicle. The lowest-priced MKT with Still, there’s no V-8 offered for all-wheel drive starts at $46,990. the MKT. ENGINE: 3.7-liter, double overhead cam, DuThe MKT is based on the Instead, Lincoln officials are ratec V-6. platform of the Ford Flex, which promoting the MKT<s uplevel is a boxy crossover SUV that engine — a 3.5-liter EcoBoost MILEAGE: 17 mpg (city), 23 mpg (highway). debuted in calendar 2008 and V-6 that’s turbocharged and has TOP SPEED: 123 mph. now has a starting retail price of new, direct injection technology $29,325. to deliver a V-8-like 355 horses LENGTH: 207.6 inches. But all the sheet metal outside and 350 foot-pounds of torque is new on the MKT as Lincoln starting at a low 1,500 rpm. An WHEELBASE: 117.9 inches. designers seek to establish a MKT with the EcoBoost engine modern, striking image for Ford’s is pricier, however, at $49,995. CURB WEIGHT: 4,680 pounds. long-running luxury brand. Even without the newer The interior is all Lincoln, too, engine, the test MKT delivered BUILT AT: Oakville, Ontario, Canada. and establishes a nearly opulent noteworthy fuel mileage. OPTIONS: Rapid spec 102A package (includes environment. In mostly highway travel, I power, panorama moon roof, THX II premium Standard premium leathermanaged 20.8 miles per gallon, surround sound audio, blind spot monitor and trimmed seats tend more and with city travel added in, voice-activated navigation system) $4,000. toward cushioned than firm I still averaged 19.1 mpg. This, and supportive, and the rest of plus its 18.6-gallon gasoline DESTINATION CHARGE: $795. the standard equipment list is tank, helps account for the more extensive even on the base MKT, than 350-mile driving range of which was the test vehicle. the MKT. There were heated and cooled I appreciated that the rear front seats with 12-way, power tailgate went up and down with adjustments, Sirius satellite radio, three-zone climate the push of a button. control, push- button start, pretty ambient lighting, But the boat-tail design was problematic after a rain, adaptive high-intensity discharge headlights, power because I had to wait until all the water dripped off the liftgate, heated outside mirrors and four power points. tailgate before I could put things in the cargo area. The Even a reverse sensing system is standard on the MKT, design didn’t seem to include channels for the water to which is smart because it’s difficult to see what’s behind the drop over by the sides, away from people accessing the vehicle while it’s backing up. cargo area. Electronic stability control and side and curtain air bags The brakes in the test MKT worked well. But the brake are standard, too. pedal didn’t have a firm feel. It felt a bit mushy and didn’t Best of all, the interior is roomy, especially in the firstinspire confidence that the stopping power was going to be and second-row seats. All have more than 41 inches of adequate. legroom. I liked how the rocker panels were integrated into the Headroom is commendable, too, in the first two rows. doors and helped minimize door sill size, thus making it But it shrinks to just 33.5 inches in the third row. easier to get in and out of the vehicle. Even at 5-feet-4, I couldn’t sit back there comfortably. An attractive glass roof is standard on the MKT. But it’s The top of my head was jammed into the ceiling unless I a fixed roof unless a buyer pays for an optional version that turned my neck to one side. can be opened like a moon roof. On the test MKT, this was No matter where passengers sit in the MKT, the ride is part of the $4,000 Rapid spec package that included voicerefined and smooth. Passengers felt only mild vibrations activated navigation system and blind spot monitor. over rough roads during the test drive, and long highway Another intriguing option is a refrigerated console cruises were comfortable and fatigue-free. between two seats in the second row. Its priced at $895. The interior was quiet. I didn’t hear much of the traffic The second and third rows of seats can be folded flat for around me, including the diesel semis in the next lane. generous cargo space of 75.9 cubic feet. Even behind the I didn’t hear much from the 3.7-liter, double overhead third row, there’s a commendable 17.9 cubic feet.
2010 Lincoln MKT FWD
January February 2010
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