Another Memorable Memorial Day

BEAVER--

Local residents passed yet another Memorial Day in their typical fashion-- attending the holiday parade and festivities.

The parade was held on Third Street, where hundreds of people lined the sidewalks all wearing red, white and blue. The parade itself lasted about 15 minutes and included the local JROTC crew, veteran chapters, and youth baseball and softball teams.

After the march had ended, the crowd made its way to the cemetery for the memorial service, where speakers, clergy, and choral members respectfully paid tribute to the country's fallen.

Everyone enjoyed the day's blue sky, abundant sunshine and balmy temperatures-- perfect weather for cookouts and picnics.

5 Things to Do During Holy Week

                                          

Are you on spring break this week for Easter? If so, then why not take time to celebrate Holy Week! Holy Week, the name given for the seven days leading up to Easter, culminating in the three day Tridium on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, is a celebration filled with beautiful traditions and interesting customs, many of which we can all be a part of! Here are a few fun things you can do to help get the most out of your Holy Week, the week that changed the world!

1. Pick up some fresh palms

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the Sunday before his Passion, the people greeted him by waving palms and shouting, "Hosanna!" Today, churches still distribute real palm leaves as symbolic reminders of the event, and you can even take them home with you! Though they are blessed, there are still many fun ways to sacredly use them. Palm weaving has become a beloved Palm Sunday pastime for church members young and old alike. Research the Internet (or find someone who's a palm-weaving pro) and you'll finds scores of examples on how to make palm crosses, crowns, and even baskets. After being woven, you can use them as Bible bookmarks, table centerpieces, or as reverent decorations placed behind a crucifix or religious picture.

    

2. Observe the Robin

Hmmm.... what does a red-breasted bird have to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Very much if you read the legend of the robin! Take a look at this adaption of the story:

The Easter Legend of the Robin

Once, long ago, a little bird in Galilee saw a large crowd gathered around a Man carrying a heavy wooden cross. On the Man's head was a crown made from a thorn branch.  The little bird saw that the thorns were hurting the Man.  It wanted to help Him, so it flew down and pulled out the longest, sharpest thorn with its tiny beak.  As he did, a drop of blood from the thorn's wound dripped onto the robin's breast, staining it bright red.

The stain never went away. And so today the robin proudly wears a red breast, because it helped a Man named Jesus.


I just love to imagine this tender scene!
 If you really want to read a wonderfully spun rendition of the tale of the Easter robin, I suggest the one in Easter Garlands by Priscilla Sawyer Lord. It's imagery is so vivid and moving; it was after reading this version that the robin became my favorite bird!

 

 3. Bake some buns!

But not just any buns, mind you! Hot Cross buns, the semi-sweet rolls topped with a delicate icing cross, have been a Good Friday tradition for centuries. Much folklore surround their history, including a claim that hot cross buns baked on Good Friday will never grow moldy. WOAH! That's some crazy shelf-life! Oftentimes raisins, dates and orange zest are added to give the buns that extra-special flavor.



   4. Be sneaky on Wednesday!

The Wednesday of Holy Week is traditionally known as "Spy Wednesday" because on that day, we remember how Judas plotted with the priests and Pharisees to have Jesus arrested. To me, there always seems to be an air of eeriness on this day, as if someone is secretly watching....(shudder) It could just be my imagination. Nevertheless, keep your eyes peeled-- even if you do it just for fun!

 

5. Visit a church

On Holy Thursday, Jesus prayed fervently to his Father in heaven from the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew the suffering he was about to endure, and so he begged God for strength and courage. Like his disciples, we too are called to "watch and pray" with him on this night. That's why churches have the custom of staying open late into the night for people to sit with our Lord in prayer. Many Parishes organize "Church Walks", visitations to various churches throughout the evening. You can perform your own church walk! Simply assemble a list of churches you'd like to visit, and on Holy Thursday spend a few minutes at each talking to God. It's a very powerful experience!

I hope you enjoyed these suggestions! Happy Holy Week!

The Sights of Light-Up Night: a Never Before Published Article

                                    The Sights of Light-Up Night    

The Friday after Thanksgiving was bitterly cold. The icy wind blew through the early winter night air, biting the cheeks and fingers of anyone who dared to go out in it. The black dome of the sky was covered with clouds, not a star shone up above.

     You might wonder why anyone would want to be outside in these conditions, but there actually were tens, maybe hundreds of people out around town on this very night in Beaver Pennsylvania. No, the residents of our small town are not crazy. It’s not a habit of ours to be out in freezing 20 degree weather in the dark. On the contrary, most of the time, most people would much prefer to be shut inside their nice, warm houses. But, besides being Black Friday, this November 26^th marked a very special once in a lifetime (actually once in a year) occasion. It was Beaver’s annual Light-Up Night, and I observed it firsthand.

      At about twenty after six, armed with gloves, hats, and scarves, we walked up to Third Street just in time to catch a glimpse of the parade, which was very interesting, to say the least. The floats, band, cars and carriages would process down the street and then turn around and make a loop so that, at times, the parade was going in two different directions! It was very entertaining. After the parade had ended, we started to look around.

      True to its name, Light-Up Night was quite full of lights. All of Main Street was aglow. The Christmas lights that were strung on the trees in October were finally lit. The windows of the storefronts were all dressed up with holiday decorations beckoning you inside and luminaries lined the sidewalk.

      Clusters of people filtered in and out of the open stores, viewing the merchandise, watching the live models in the Shirley Shop, listening to the orchestra students from Beaver as they moved from store to store, and some, even eating at one of the restaurants.

The Borough offered free hot chocolate and donuts, while down at the historical museum’s log cabin, costumed volunteers served homemade cookies and hot apple cider cooked over a warm fire.

     After we had seen all the sights of Light-Up Night, we walked back home to our warm house and went to bed. What a wonderful job Beaver did, yet again, putting on such a festive event.

This post is from November, 2010

Missy Times Flashback: "Pumpkins, Candy and Costumes, Oh My!"

Taken from the October 31st, 2010 issue of The Missy Times.

While Trick-or-Treating I took the time to notice these three staples of Halloween around town.

Pumpkins Although most pumpkins are usually carved in the same general fashion with two eyes, a nose and a scraggly smile, a few that I saw really caught my attention.

• Most people carve the face or scene on their pumpkin and therefore that carving is the main attraction. Not many people use the front of their pumpkin as a window into the interior where they staged the real show. Our neighbor did just that, though, by carving the front of her pumpkin into jail bars and placing a mini pumpkin inside, where he unfortunately was suffering the consequences of whatever crime it is that pumpkins can commit.
• As we walked up the stairs of one house on Bank Street, we were greeted by a few surprisingly amazing pumpkins. One had quite a beautiful ornately carved design that must have been carved by an expert with the knife, and another had a whole face --A WHOLE FACE!-- complete with hair, eyes and neck. It was very impressive.

Candy What can I say about candy? Most was chocolate but I still got a good basketful of edible and delicious candy. Here are some candy-giving styles I observed:

1. The "take-it-yourself" method: a basket full of candy is quite appealing, especially when there is a large selection. It's nice to hear a friendly adult say "Go ahead, take a piece", or even better, "take a handful" and let you pick your own confection of choice. Some people even just had a basket on their doorstep free to choose from!
2. The "Here you go" method: this method is for parents who want to make sure greedy children do not take more than one piece. Being handed a piece of candy is a minus for Trick-or-Treaters, however, who will often not get the candy they want or that they are not allergic to.
3. The "Sit on the porch" method: It is an unwritten rule that if the porch light is on there's candy in the house. Most of the time, along with the light the bestower of the candy is also situated on the porch, waiting for kids to walk up the steps to receive their prize.
4. The "sit near the sidewalk" method: this method is more convenient than the previous one if you are trying to keep up with a fast moving group of people, though it is less popular.
5. The "wait for them to knock on the door" method: this is the most ominous of the candy-giving styles. Are they giving out candy or are they not? Is their light on to light the sidewalk or as a signal to come to the door? This used to be the only way people gave out candy; not many people would wait outside. It's sort of cool to have someone answer the door and be able to look inside the different houses.

Costumes   Most of the costumes this year were all store bought and very trite. In my own experience, I noticed while at various stores that they were mostly for either grown-ups or toddlers and that there were not many for ages in between. The most creative costumes I saw were on a group of three people: one was Abraham Lincoln, one was a confederate soldier, and one was a union soldier. I myself dressed up as a detective using dark green pants, a trench coat over a turtle neck and a detective hat (two baseball hats in opposite directions covered in plaid fabric).

I hope my observations have made things more interesting and shed a positive light on one of my least favorite holidays.

Pictures from Beaver's Memorial Day Celebration

Men dressed as civil war soldiers march down the parade route

The people bow their heads in prayer as Dr. William H. Silver gives the innovocation at the cemetery service

The soldiers stand at attention as they prepare for the volley fire salute

The people rise from their seats and applaud

A Unique Way to Dye Easter Eggs.....and More Easter Fun

He is Risen! Alleluia! After 40 days of fasting, prayer and self-denial, the time for celebration has finally come!

Even though its hard to remember sometimes, we can't forget that the Easter season lasts longer than just one Sunday. Are you kidding? Do you think that those 40 straight days of preparation and repentance were all for just 24 hours of rejoicing? Of course not! The Easter season lasts a full 50 days.

Besides the holiday itself, my favorite time around Easter has to be Holy Week. When Palm Sunday arrives my excitement starts to build up. By the time the Sacred Triduum rolls around I am absolutely pumped! All three days are filled with some rich traditions which I love: from the seven church walk on Thursday evening to the blessing of the Easter baskets on Saturday morning.

 We had already bought all the candy we needed from Malley's while staying at my grandma's house a week prior, so I spent the days leading up to Easter getting ready in other ways. Since I'm the least busy and don't live out of state, I was a good candidate to become the official family Baker of the Easter Goodies. On Holy Wednesday I made some special Holy Thursday rosemary buns, which are a close cousin to Hot Crossed Buns. My mom was right, though. I should've started them earlier in the day; They weren't done till 12:40 a.m. ! But despite that, they did turn out pretty good. On Holy Thursday, my friend came over and showed me how to make her grandma's famous nut roll, which, by the way is DELICIOUS! It was my first experience making nut roll and I was surprised at how easy it was. On Holy Saturday I made an Edelweiss Coffee cake. Yummy! There's still one last piece I'm saving in the fridge.

And let's not forget my most favorite pre-Easter activity: dying eggs. I love taking plain white eggs and transforming them into colorful masterpieces. The process reminds me of the transition from winter to spring.

Upon looking up tips for dying the eggs, I came across this fun method:
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/11-ways-to-dye-easter-eggs-naturally/

I thought it looked like such a fun project to do, but unfortunately, this year I can't. But if you're unlike me and don't have an egg carton full of hard boiled colored eggs that are still needing to be eaten, perhaps you can try it for yourself. Let me know if it works!

Don't Forget.....February 17th Is Random Acts Of Kindness Day!

Boy, February sure has a lot of great holidays! There's Groundhog day, Valentines Day, Toothache Prevention Day, Candlemas, Presidents Day, etc. You may not be aware that February is home to another great holiday: Random Acts of Kindness Day, which is (of all days) today! I know it is not a big, well known celebration, but the idea of doing spontaneous nice things for people is a practice we should all adopt. Here is some information on the holiday from http://www.holidayinsights.com/





When : Always February 17th


Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day. And, you know what to do...perform a few random acts of kindness. Almost any kind deed will do. And, we highly recommend you perform kind acts on as many people as you can.
This is a favorite day of many people and groups. People like the idea of showing a little kindness to others. Its a fun and good thing to do. And, they like being on the receiving end of this day as well. It makes both the giver and the receiver feel good.
Schools have used this day as an educational event, and to promote the value of kindness. Organizations have used this day to promote their cause, and for fundraisers.


Caution: What comes around, goes around. Random Acts of Kindness is highly contagious.


Origin of Random Acts of Kindness Day:
Our research did not find the creator, or the origin of this day. We wish we could thank the originators of this great day. The originators have truely helped to make the world a better place.
Many organizations and groups have declared other days to be "Random Acts of Kindness Day". These declarations are usually local, one-time events, often for fundraisers.




Aren't you glad I did you a random act of kindness by reminding you that today is Random Acts of Kindness Day?

Good luck with your random acts of kindness!

---

Happy Valentines Day!

How was your Valentines Day? I hope it was just LOVEly!
Here is what I did to celebrate the holiday:

It did not take long after I woke up for my Valentines Day to begin. As I walked down the stairs, I found a red envelope waiting for me on top of the piano. It was a card from my dad. Every year its his project to buy us all Valentines. Its fun to look through the Valentine bag from the attic and read all my old cards from past February 14ths.

After my piano lesson my mom and I drove over to Rosalinds Candy Castle to buy some Valentine sweets. Inside the small store, a line of people waiting to purchase last minute suprises wrapped around the candy displays stocked with Valentine confections complete with colorful red and pink wrappers. There were little boxs of chocolate, heart shaped lollipops, candy berries, and little bags of candy hearts. Most of the people were choosing from the wide variety of gourmet chocolates at the counter or ordering a box of delicious chocolate covered strawberries. We left the store with the latter, two bags of candy berries, and some little raspberry milk chocolates for one of my friends.

Later on after school, I had fun going around the neighborhood delivering my tiny Martha Stewart Valentines which my mom (who has very good taste) found for me at Michael's craft store. I think they're my favorite ones yet! They're so cute! I had a good time trying to think up rhymes such as
"Roses are Red
Violets are blue
Candy is sweet
and I hope your Valentines Day is too!"
to put inside.

At about 5:00 I went over to my friend's house to bake some Valentine sugar cookies. We had a good time experimenting different ways to cut and decorate them (see pictures). One of the cookies turned out to be a giant pink heart with colored sprinkles rolled inside the dough and we even tried baking conversation hearts into some of the others. The funny thing was that even though they melted a little bit into the cookie, their texture didn't change. They still felt hard and crunchy!

After I had finished my dinner back at home, another one of my friends brought me over a big heart shaped Valentine.

The day concluded with me presenting my parents

 their special cards and then watching the new episode of "Pawn Stars" before bed.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about my Valentines Day and I hope that yours was just as happy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Happy New Year!........Was It a Happy Last Year?

Its the very last day of 2010......... oh where has the year gone? 2011 is no longer right around the corner, its right next door!
So how was 2010? Was it as good as you hoped? As bad as you expected? (hopefully not). What single event stood out as a highlight of your year? Maybe January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August and September, October and November, and most recently December all had their own stand-out experience. Well, what ever happened in the year that was monumental or monotonous that you'd like to share, The Missy Times wants to know about it! Whether you want to share a highlight from every month, a few random events, or just one, you can by participating in The Missy Times  "Happy Last Year! 2010 Highlights" special reader survey. All the compiled responses will be be posted in the next issue of The Missy Times  which will be coming out very soon, so make sure to send in yours  to:
 maksmk25@verizon.net
or else just comment on this post

as soon as possible

Happy New Year!!!!

'Twas The Week Before Christmas.... In The Words of Christmas Carols

"From now on we all will be together,
if the Fates allow"   

"Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more."

"In the air there's a feeling of Christmas"

"Can you hear what I hear?"
"Silver bells, silver bells"

"Please have snow, and mistletoe, and presents by the tree"

"Let every heart, prepare Him room"

"From now on our troubles will be miles away"
  so
"Joy to the world!"

Christmas is coming.


-"Have yourself a merry little Christmas"
-"Silver Bells"
-"I'll be home for Christmas"
-"Joy to the world"




And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Yesterday, on a rainy winter afternoon, just as we were on the brink of another Steelers win, my mom and I went to the church parking lot to pick out and purchase this year's Christmas tree.
We had three varieties to choose from:

Douglas Fir
Frasier Fir
Chaanan Fir

At first, my mom wanted to get one of the douglas firs which were nice trees, but as soon as I saw that the volunteer who was showing us the tree was almost as tall as it, I immeadiately told my mom that this was not the tree for us. For, the image of a tree from Christmas past had popped into my head. It had been a nice little tree, round and full, but the problem was, it was short. Even standing on a box it's top still was two feet short from the ceiling. We did get a kick out of it, but that wasn't the tree we said, "This is the best tree we've ever had!" about.That statement may be true for last year's tree, though.  Look how beautiful it was! (see top picture)

I wanted to lean towards picking a tree like last year's rather than a short tree like the one from two years ago, so, we moved on.

The Frasiers looked dried out, so our last choice were the Chaanans. And, we ended up taking home a wonderful looking tree with a very nice Christmas shape standing nearly 7 1/2 feet tall . Considering our ceilings are only 8 feet, I'd say its the perfect height. We won't put it up for a few days. Right now, its sitting on the porch outside in the world covered with freshly fallen snow.

What's your opinion on Christmas trees? What does yours look like?

Christmas is still 12 twelve days away! Can we really wait?

In the words of Father Mike in his sermon yesterday, "Be patient, be patient, be patient"

Speaking Of Advent & Christmas.....

Here is an article my mom showed me. I think it goes perfectly with yesterday's post.

http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Dont-Let-Christmas-Steal-Your-Advent.html

Happy Advent!!!!!

                                                                                                                                                      
Yesterday, November 28th, marked the beginning of Advent, the holy season in which we prepare for Christmas and the second coming of Jesus.

Speaking of Christmas, it feels like the holiday comes earlier and earlier each year. Just four days after Thanksgiving, it seems as if almost every house in town already has Christmas lights and wreaths hanging outside, and in some houses you can already see Christmas trees through the curtains. At the mall, Christmas sales, decorations, and presents abound, while carols stream out the speakers.

Please reread the date at the top of this post and take a deep breath. Its November 29th. Christmas is still 25 days away.Though its past October I still feel we're overdoing it.

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE Christmas. It is the one holiday that outshines my love for Thanksgiving, mostly because it is the 2nd most important holiday we celebrate (Easter being the first). The reason why its so important is because it is the day God sent His only Son Jesus to save us. I also love Christmas for all the other obvious reasons, the songs, the decorations, the gifts, the cheer etc.

But, it is November and it is Advent, our time to prepare for the day. Maybe putting up all the Christmas stuff and singing carols already is some people's way of preparing, but for other people, I'm just worried that by the time Christmas does come, they'll already be taking them down (which usually does happen) and forget why they put them up in the first place. And the stores? The ones that started their sales on Thanksgiving Day? I know they aren't preparing for the Christmas season, they want it to start now, they don't care about what it truly means, they just want customers.

I admit, its hard for me not to join in, and we should start to get in the mood because the 25th is going to be here soon, so I think listening to a carol here and there and watching a Christmas special or two won't hurt, just as long as we don't overdo it. I think to truly enjoy Christmas, we should prepare, (our hearts then our house) and when we are prepared, let the joy begin!

So grab an Advent Calendar, prepare, be patient with those Christmas ads, light those purple and pink Advent candles, and have a happy four weeks of  Advent!

Don't forget to sing "Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel"!

Snow, Part 2

                           

This morning, just two days after Thanksgiving, I woke up and climbed down the ladder of my bunk bed. I walked over to the window in the dark room and peeked through the blinds and was very, very pleasantly astonished. Fluffy white clumps that looked like tiny little clouds were slowly drifting to the ground. I felt a wave of excitement rush over me, for, though I saw it on the ground in Cleveland at the beginning of the month,  I didn't actually see the snow fall then.
This time it was the real deal! The first Beaver snowfall of winter!
It was so beautiful. I've been noticing something for a while now, and when I went outside today I noticed it yet again. Some way, I don't know how, when you stand outside in the snow, the world seems so much quieter, even more peaceful, and the silence sounds louder as long as the flakes are falling. Maybe that's why a winter wonderland seems so magical and mysterious. What do you think?
The snow didn't stick, but it was really cool to see it. Winter is beginning!

Oh How I Love Thanksgiving!

                       

                 

Waking up on Thanksgiving is almost as good as Christmas, for you know what good things the day will hold.

Colorful floats sail across the TV screen far, far away in New York City at the Macy’s Day Parade.

The whole house is bustling with chaos, everyone rushing here and there, mashing, mixing, stirring, adding, rolling, baking, tasting! Delicious smells waft from the kitchen as mother checks on the

turkey in the oven.

Relatives pour in from near and far, hugging and laughing, as the mound of coats on the couch piles up.

Finally, everyone is seated at the dining room table in eager silence. Then, coming through the doorway, seated on a shining silver platter, is the star of the show, the turkey! The room breaks into conversation but is soon silenced again as everyone bows their heads to pray.

Mountains of fluffy mashed potatoes with avalanches of flowing gravy; cranberry sauce with steam curling up towards the ceiling; turkey, both dark and white meat; green bean casserole, crunchy with fried onions; sweet pies of all kinds. The table has so many colors, it looks like a Autumn mural.

In the evening, after the meal, everyone is tired and lounges around in the living room, watching football, talking or playing games. Soon its time to go to bed, oh what a great day it’s been! Oh, what many things there are to be thankful for! Oh, how I love Thanksgiving!