Tommy Contest Page 5
of the River Region
August 14, 2018 Published by PTK Corp.
The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read® To place an Ad, call: (334) 202-7285 TIDBITS® RIDES
LIPIZZANER HORSES by Janet Spencer Ride along with Tidbits as we learn about the rise and near extinction of a remarkable breed of dancing horses! A HORSE STORY • During the Renaissance, military leaders in Europe needed fast, light, maneuverable horses. The Spanish horse was created by breeding Berber and Arabian stallions with Iberian mares. The result was a horse that was sturdy, beautiful, and intelligent. • In 1562, Maximillian II brought the Spanish horse to Austria where he created a stud farm. In 1580, his brother, Archduke Charles, established another stud farm in the Italian (now Slovenian) town of Lipizza. • The type of horse which was bred in Lippiza was called the Lipizzan or the Lipizzaner. Kings, noblemen, and military leaders wanted the fire and spirit of the hot-blooded breeds, but didn’t like being dumped from the saddle by a horse that was hard to control. The Lipizzaner stallions fit this requirement perfectly with their calm demeanor. • The Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, was established in the 1500s and named after the Spanish horses which begat the Lipizzaner. The school is the oldest institution of its kind in the world, and its purpose has been to perpetuate the arts of classical horsemanship. • Today, the Spanish Riding School uses only Lipizzaner stallions, training them in the movements of high classical dressage. These graceful maneuvers and jumps were originally designed as equine military training to develop the horse’s strength, agility, balance, concentration, and focus on the rider’s commands. Over time, they have been transformed into a living art form of grace and precision, celebrating the ballet-like accomplishments of these remarkable horses. CLOSE CALLS • Yet, the development of this rare type of horse has been fraught with close calls that nearly wiped out the breed , mostly due to war. Consider: • In 1797 during the War of the First Coalition, the horses were evacuated from Lipizza as the fighting closed in. In 1805, (Continued next page)
Vol 7 Issue 33 paul@riverregiontidbits.com
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Tidbits® of the River Region (Front page continued)
1. Is the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old or New Testament or neither? 2. Who asked God, “Why is pain perpetual, and my wound incurable”? Moses, Jeremiah, Abraham, Noah 3. Where is “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” found? Ephesians, Colossians, Galatians, 1 Timothy 4. With what did the seraph touch the frightened Isaiah’s mouth? Unclean finger, Sod, Live coal, Holy water 5. From Proverbs 15, what does a soft answer turneth away? Harm, Wrath, Lust, Tears 6. How many angels rescued Lot and his family from Sodom? 2, 7, 13, Hundreds Visit Wilson Casey’s new Trivia Fan Site at www.patreon. com/triviaguy. (c) 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.
By Chris Richcreek 1. Who was the last major-league player before Washington’s Anthony Rendon in 2017 to have at least six hits, three home runs and 10 RBIs in a game? 2. Name the last White Sox player before Matt Davidson in 2017 to hit home runs in four consecutive games. 3. Who was the last QB/receiver tandem to throw TD passes to each other in an NFL game before Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles and Marqise Lee did it in 2016? 4. When was the last time before 2017-18 that Arizona State’s men’s basketball team started a season 9-0? 5. When was the last time before the 2017-18 season that the NHL had multiple 100-point players? 6. Which was the last Major League Soccer expansion team before Atlanta in 2017 to qualify for the playoffs in its debut season? 7. What horse was the first trained by D. Wayne Lukas to win the Kentucky Derby? (c) 2018 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
the horses were evacuated again when Napoleon invaded Austria. In 1809, the horses were evacuated three more times during the unsettled period that followed, resulting in the loss of many horses and the destruction of the written studbooks that documented bloodlines of horses prior to 1700. In 1915 the horses were evacuated from Lipizza due to World War I. Yet the greatest threat to the breed arrived with World War II. • During World War II, the high command of Nazi Germany collected the best breeding stock of Lipizzaners, Arabian horses, and Thoroughbreds, bringing them from all across Europe and transferring them to a stud farm in Hostau, Czechoslovakia, with the thought of breeding a better war horse. • Meanwhile, the Lipizzaner stallions that remained at the Spanish Riding School were evacuated to St. Martins, Austria in 1945, when bombing raids neared the city. The head of the School, Colonel Podhajsky, feared the horses were in danger. • The U.S. Army under the command of General George S. Patton was near St. Martins in the spring of 1945 and learned that the Lipizzaner stallions were in the area. Patton was a horseman, and coincidentally had competed in the 1936 Olympic Games in equestrian events along with Podhajsky. • Podhajsky put on an exhibition of the Spanish Riding School Lipizzaner stallions for Patton. As Patton watched, the horses and riders went through the precise, balletlike maneuvers they were famous for: a demonstration of controlled power and elegance set to music, which was beautiful to watch and difficult to execute. When the performance ended, Podhajsky asked for Patton’s help in protecting the horses from the Germans. Patton agreed, and stationed American soldiers all around the area to protect the horses as the war came to an end and the German forces fell back. • Patton, an expert horseman, described the exhibition in his diary, calling it “extremely interesting and magnificently performed.” He said, “It struck me as rather strange that, in the midst of a world at war, some twenty young and middleaged men in great physical condition…had spent their entire time teaching a group of horses to wiggle their butts and raise their feet in consonance with certain signals from the heels and reins.” He went on to remark, “On the other hand, it is probably wrong to permit any highly developed art, no matter how fatuous, to perish from the earth— and which arts are fatuous depends on the point of view. To me the high-schooling of horses is certainly more interesting than either painting or music.” • Meanwhile, the U.S. Cavalry under the command of Colonel Charles Reed captured a German intelligence officer and found papers on him that led them to discover the horses at Hostau, Czechoslovakia. A DARING RESCUE • Colonel Charles Reed also found that 400 Allied prisoners of war were being held in Hostau along with the horses. The Russian army was advancing as the German army was falling back and it was feared the Red Army would slaughter the horses for food. • With the Russians about 60 miles away from Hostau and the American Cavalry only 35 miles away, Colonel Reed contacted General Patton to ask for his support in evacuating the horses and the POWs. Patton’s response was swift and brief: “Get them. Make it fast!” • Patton sent Podhajsky to Hostau and “Operation Cowboy” commenced. Colonel Reed confiscated German vehicles and had them outfitted to carry horses. 1,200 horses, including 375 Lipizzaners, were driven, herded, and ridden out of Hostau, along with the POWs. Only two Lipizzaners were lost to injury, and 244 were returned to Austria. • Colonel Reed said, “We were so tired of death and destruction that we wanted to do something beautiful.” After retiring from the army, Reed purchased the offspring of one of the horses he rescued, and rode her every day for nearly 30 years. • Podhajsky was so thankful to have these horses rescued that he staged performances for thousands of American soldiers stationed in occupied Austria over the next few months. • A few months after the rescue of the horses, Patton was involved in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. His first question to his doctor was “What chance have I to ride a horse again?” He never rode again, dying from his injury a few weeks later. He was buried in Luxembourg, France, along with other fallen soldiers, to honor his request to be laid to rest among his men. • In 2005, the Spanish Riding School celebrated the 60th anniversary of Patton’s rescue by touring the United States.
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by Samantha Weaver * It was poet, philosopher and satirist Horace, who lived in the first century B.C., who made the following sage observation: “He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.” * Legislators in Vermont once found it necessary to outlaw whistling while underwater. * If someone were to ask you to name the sunniest spot on Earth, you might be tempted to answer “the Sahara Desert” or some other such exotic place. You would be wrong, though; that distinction belongs to a town right here in America. Out of the possible 4,456 daylight hours each year, the sun shines for an average of 4,050 in Yuma, Arizona. That means that there’s cloud cover or rain for only about 10 percent of the time there. * You might be surprised to learn that, according to those who study such things, Alaskans eat twice as much ice cream per capita than the rest of the nation. * Those who have the time to study such things claim that the most difficult small object to flush down a toilet is a ping-pong ball. * In 2010 a new species of slug was discovered in the mountains of Borneo. It is distinguished from other species of slug by its novel method of mating: It shoots its mate with a so-called love dart made of calcium carbonate and containing hormones. The researchers nicknamed the gastropods “ninja slugs.” * Other than the fact that they’re all performers, what do Darryl Hannah, Telly Savalas, James Doohan and Jerry Garcia have in common? They are (or were) missing one finger.Ê *** Thought for the Day: “We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?” -- Jean Cocteau (c) 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.
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Tidbits® of the River Region
Mcelya, Sabrina Dale
* On Aug. 18, 1590, 100 colonists are discovered to be missing from the Roanoke Island colony in present-day North Carolina. The only clue to their disappearance was the word “CROATOAN” carved into the palisade built around the settlement.
White/Female 5’1” 115 lbs 37 yrs old Hair: Brown Eyes: Hazel
Outstanding Warrants: Rec. Stolen Property 1st
* On Aug. 19, 1812, during the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution defeats the British frigate Guerriere. Witnesses claimed that the British shot merely bounced off the Constitution’s sides, as if the ship were made of iron. Since 1934, “Old Ironsides” has been based at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston. * On Aug. 15, 1859, Charles Comiskey, namesake of Chicago’s Comiskey Park, is born in Chicago. Comiskey became the first and only baseball player to later own a team, the White Sox. * On Aug. 14, 1933, a devastating 267,000-acre forest fire is sparked in the Coast Range Mountains in northern Oregon. An official investigation found that the fire stemmed from friction produced when loggers dragged a large Douglas-fir log across a downed tree. * On Aug. 13, 1948, U.S. and British planes airlift a record 5,000 tons of supplies into occupied Berlin. The huge resupply effort was carried out in weather so bad that some of the 700 pilots referred to it as “Black Friday.” * On Aug. 16, 1955, famous entertainer and civilrights activist Paul Robeson loses his court appeal to force the Department of State to grant him a passport. It had insisted that Robeson first sign an affidavit declaring he was not a member of the Communist Party. Robeson had refused. * On Aug. 17, 1987, Rudolf Hess, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s former deputy, is found strangled to death in an apparent suicide in Spandau Prison in Berlin. At 93, Hess was the last surviving member of Hitler’s inner circle and the sole prisoner at Spandau since 1966. (c) 2018 Hearst Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Outstanding Warrants:
Mack, Tashaun Dareise DOB: 06/16/1990 Black/Male 5’6” 150 lbs Hair: Black Eyes: Brown
Wanted for: Destruction State Property/ Inmate
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“Be known before you’re needed” Advertise with Tidbits (334) 202-7285 KRAKATOA
1. Who wrote and released “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”? 2. Which artist wrote and released “Gonna Make You a Star,” and when? 3. Name the group that originally recorded “Walk Like a Man.” 4. Where did the Caravelles get their name? 5. Name the song that contains this lyric: “Love and lies just bring me down, When you’ve got women all over town.” Answers 1. Paul and Linda McCartney, in 1971. The song, compiled of fragments of other songs, won a Grammy for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists. 2. David Essex, in 1974. The song spent three weeks at the top of the U.K. charts but didn’t do as well in the U.S. 3. The Four Seasons, in 1963. As they were recording, the studio above them caught on fire. They closed the door and continued recording, even as smoke and water got into their studio. Firemen had to ax the door to make them come out. 4. From a French plane, the Sud Aviation Caravelle. 5. “I Love the Nightlife,” by Alicia Bridges, in 1978. In “The Simpsons’” “I’m With Cupid” Valentine’s Day episode in 1999, Apu teaches the song to a parrot with different lyrics for his wife. (c) 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.
• Krakatoa is a volcanic island in Indonesia, between Java and Sumatra. Its original name was Krakatua, which may come from the local word for crab or lobster, “karkataka.” The name of the island was misspelled by a reporter and it’s been Krakatoa ever since. • Krakatoa is located where two tectonic plates meet at a point on what is known as the Ring of Fire. These two plates constantly collide, resulting in much volcanic activity. • Krakatoa was an uninhabited jungle island formed by a ring of three volcanoes which had not erupted for over 200 years. But in the spring of 1883, one of the volcanoes sputtered to life. For months there were earthquakes and minor eruptions of gas and steam. • On August 26, 1883, clouds of ash and pumice rose to spectacular heights. It’s thought that an earthquake opened a vent in the side of the volcano which allowed sea water to pour into the magma chambers. This resulted in a series of cataclysmic eruptions and catastrophes that lasted two days. • The initial blast created a caldera almost four miles (6 km) wide. The sound of the largest blast, thought to be the loudest sound in recorded history, was heard in Perth, Australia, some 1,930 miles (3,330 km) away. On the island of Rodrigues some 3,000 miles (4,800 km) away, citizens thought there were ships firing cannons in the bay. That would be like people in New York City hearing explosions in Dublin, Ireland. It was so loud that it ruptured the eardrums of sailors on ships 40 miles (64 km) away. A ship 15 miles (24 km) away was covered in three feet (0.9 m) of ash. • The blast was equal to 10,000 Hiroshima-size atom bombs, and 18 times more powerful than the Mount St. Helens blast. • Pyroclastic flows reached the Sumatran coast 25 miles (40 km) away, moving across the water on a cushion of superheated steam at 62 mph (100 kph). Under-sea pyroclastic flows reached 10 miles (15 km) from the volcano. Pumice hurled 34 miles (55 km) into the atmosphere fell 3,313 miles (5,331 km) away ten days later. Ash fell as far away as New York City 10,000 miles (16,000 km) away. • The shock wave radiated out at 675 mph (1,086 kph) and circled the earth seven times over the next five days, measurable on barometers around the globe. • Most devastating were the giant tsunamis generated by the explosion. Reaching heights of 100 feet (30 m) they fanned out in all directions. The people closest to Krakatoa lived five miles (8 km) away, and the entire population of 3,000 people was swept away. In all, 165 villages were obliterated and 132 others were nearly destroyed. • The waves exited from the Indian Ocean below Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America, and radiated into the English Channel, 11,500 miles (18,500 km) away. The waves circled the Earth three times. • A one-ton iron buoy hurled onto a hill a mile inland can still be seen today. Waves carried a steamship a mile inland on Sumatra. A 600-ton chunk of coral was tossed on shore. • Over 36,000 people died. Of those, 90% were killed by the tsunami. The rest were burned to death by super-heated gasses or killed by falling debris. Humans bones were carried 4,500 miles across the Indian ocean to the shores of Africa. • The island had originally been 2,625 feet (800 m) high and 3 miles long by 5 miles wide (4.8 km x 8 km). After the eruption, only 30% of the island remained.
Chris Wilson Please call 334-202-7285 within 7 days of this issue to claim your prize!
Tommy Count ______ This week’s winner receives
2 Dozen Glazed Doughnuts from
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Register to win by sending an email to entertommycontest@gmail.com or USPS to PTK Corp., PO Box 264, Wetumpka, AL 36092 with the following information: 1) Your name (first and last), and, 2) the number of times you find Tommy in the ads in the paper. From the correct entries a winner will be selected. You must be 18 years of age to qualify. The gift certificates will range in value from $25 to $100 each week. Entries must be received by midnight each Friday evening.
Last Week’s Ads where
Tommy was hiding:
1. Cousins Insurance Agency, p.1 2. Farmers Market Cafe, p.7
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TidbitsÂŽ of the River Region
“Be known before you’re needed” Advertise with Tidbits (334) 202-7285 Fabulous Food
SKITTLES
BIBLE TRIVIA ANSWERS:
1) Old; 2) Jeremiah; 3) Galatians; 4) Live coal; 5) Wrath; 6) 2
1. Cincinnati’s Walker Cooper, in 1949. 2. Alex Rios, in 2013. 3. Chicago’s Jim McMahon and Walter Payton did it in 1985. 4. It was the 1974-75 season. 5. It was the 2009-10 season. 6. The Seattle Sounders, in 2009. 7. Winning Colors, in 1988.
• Skittles is a brand of fruit-flavored candy, currently produced and marketed by the Wrigley Company which is a division of Mars, Inc. They were first invented in 1974 in England, and were introduced in the U.S. as an imported product in 1979. They proved to be so popular that production began in the United States in 1982. The slogan “Taste the Rainbow” was introduced in the year 1994. • They were one of the first candies to heavily utilize social media such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. The Skittles company once made the mistake of allowing any Tweet regarding Skittles to appear live on their website, and the result was such an immediate flood of profanity that it nearly crashed Twitter. • In 2016 during the celebration of London Pride Week, Skittles dropped their colorful packaging as well as the colors of their candy and released packages of all-white Skittles in black and white packages. This was to show support for the Pride flag, allowing it to be the only rainbow of color in London during Pride Week. The colorless candies were handed out from a similarly colorless float during the Pride parade. • Skittles are composed mainly of sugar, corn syrup, and hydrogenated palm kernel oil along with fruit juice, citric acid, and natural and artificial flavors. Because of the citric acid used as flavoring, a small bag of Skittles contains about 50% of the daily recommended amount of Vitamin C for an 8-yearold and 25% for an adult. • Each individual candy contains about 4 calories and a packet has a total of about 230 calories. It takes 8 hours to make a batch of Skittles in the factory from start to finish. Every day over 200,000,000 Skittles candies are manufactured. • Each individual Skittle is stamped with the letter “S” using non-soluble ink and attached by edible glue. If you soak Skittles in liquid, the “S” will detach and float to the surface. • You can make interesting Skittles art by arranging Skittles on a shallow pan or plate and covering them with hot water. The water-soluble colors run and swirl creating interesting patterns in the water. • The most common flavors are grape, lemon, lime, orange, and strawberry. In the U.S., purple Skittles are grape-flavored, but overseas the flavor is black currant. This is because black currant bushes could not be imported into the U.S. due to the wooddamaging fungus they carried. As a result, the flavor of black currant so popular in Europe never caught on in the U.S. • In 2013, Skittles tried replacing the lime-flavored Skittles with green apple, causing a backlash. Appleflavored Skittles can still be found in some overseas countries. • There are now about 18 flavors including mango, kiwi, and banana. You can also find Skittles that contain two different flavors in each candy, as well as Skittle Riddles where the flavors don’t match the colors. There’s also Skittles bubble gum. • Skittles makes a vending machine where consumers can choose their own mix of favorite flavors and colors. • Many people like Skittles taken straight from the freezer and eaten while frozen solid. • In Texas in 2007, 22-year-old Alan Chavez stole a truck that was hauling $250,000 worth of Skittles. Of the 28 pallets loaded with the candy, seven were never recovered. Chavez was caught and arrested while removing the truck’s tires in order to sell them. • Today, Skittles are ranked as the second most popular chewy candy, coming in after Starburst.
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Easy Fresh Fruit Cookie Tarts
Tell your kids that they can be the “King and Queen of Tarts” when they make this gem of a summer dessert. The fresh fruit ingredients from your local market or fruit stand are luscious and good by themselves, but when they’re combined with a cookie base, you’ll have a “WOW” can’t-miss finale to a barbecue or outdoor get-together with friends. These cookie fruit tarts are super simple to assemble and look “tres francais,” but there’s no from-scratch pastry with mini fluted rims that you have to fuss over. Instead, the easy recipe starts with good, large sugar cookies you purchase at your bakery or grocery store. FRESH FRUIT COOKIE TARTS 8 large sugar cookies or your favorite plain round cookie 8 ounce package of cream cheese 1/3 cup white or vanilla chips (find them in the baking section of your store) Assorted fresh fruit and berries for toppings, such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries and sliced peaches and plums, washed and dried 1/4 cup currant jelly or powdered sugar (optional) 1. Set cookies on a work surface such as a cutting board. Place cream cheese in a medium-size mixing bowl. 2. In a microwave-safe dish, melt chips, spoon into cream cheese and stir until smooth. 3. Spread the mixture evenly over the cookies. Let kids arrange the fresh fruit and berries in pretty designs on the top. 4. Meanwhile, if you would like a glaze, an adult should melt the jelly in a saucepan. Cool. Let kids drizzle or lightly brush with a pastry brush over the fruit to glaze the tarts. Or, dust over each tart with powdered sugar. 5. Arrange on a serving platter. Variations: -- Get creative with the presentation and decorate the serving platter or top the tarts with coconut flakes, sprigs of mint leaves, tiny blooms of edible flowers or fresh lavender. -- Make a larger quantity of bite-size tarts using packaged cookies such as gingersnaps. -- Instead of using cookies, make a larger single tart. Press prepared piecrust from the refrigerated section of your market on the base and sides of a 9-inch tart pan. Prick sides and bottom. Bake according to package directions. Cool. Spread cream cheese mixture on the base, arrange fruit attractively, and brush on the glaze. *** Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.” (c) 2018 Donna Erickson Distributed by King Features Synd.
Tidbits® of the River Region