| After-school activities guide
Must attend participating public schools. Combines the sport of squash with academic tutoring for under-served, urban youth. Contact: Jake Greenbaum, Tariem Burroughs, 215-895-4964, info@squashsmarts.org.
Drew School, 3724 Warren St. K-8. A variety of activities. 215-823-8204.
Family Charter School, 907 N. 41st St. Foundations, Inc. K-4. ASAP Chess Challenge. 215-386-5768.
Fencing Academy of Philadelphia, 3519 Lancaster Ave. Beginner Youth and Junior Fencing. Tuesday-Thursday. 4:30-5:30 p.m. 8-16 yrs. $200/every 10 classes. Introduction to basics of the Olympic sport of fencing-students can then pursue training up to top international levels. Equipment & Supplies provided. Times vary by age; call for details. 10 classes total. Sat. hours: 11:30 a.m.
Vollmann Hops Trains, Lives to Tell All
I haven't been on nearly as many trains as William Vollmann. In Riding Toward Everywhere, he writes about a world of violence and addiction by the rails — I've never passed through those junctions. But I have seen the world from a boxcar door, and I do know why — once you've hopped a freight train — it's killing hard to stay away. If you've ever climbed into a cold metal car and felt the wheels ka-chunk into motion, that feeling, all those feelings — the motion and sound and sight of the countryside appearing and disappearing frame by frame — they'll haunt you. And let's face it — trains haunt us anyway, even from a distance. They certainly haunted musicians like Hank Williams, with his "Lonesome Whistle Blow," the Grateful Dead with "Casey Jones," Woodie Guthrie with "New Baby Train," Gladys Knight with the "Midnight Train to Georgia." I hopped my first train with a friend in New England a couple years after college, and my brain has never been the same.
The pet corner: Golden rescue reunion tail-wagging event
GOLDENS GALORE: About 100 people and 76 rescued golden retrievers had the pleasure of attending last Saturday's third annual Golden Rescue in Naples Reunion. Held at the Ruffin' It Doggie Day Care in Bonita Springs, the event featured dog training demos, a lecture on nutrition, a silent auction and loads of fun for the dozens of goldens who romped in the play room. It's just about the happiest energy you can imagine to sit in a room with all those happy dogs bounding about. And to think that at some point in their lives, each one was abandoned, abused or homeless. Kind of boggles the mind. Thanks to GRINInc. founder and president Mary Ellen Metro, of North Naples, and all her volunteers, for putting on such an enjoyable event. To date, GRIN, started in June 2004, has found homes for 260 goldens.
Two pastors and a pulpit
Robyn and Robert McMullen share three children, two offices, a joint calendar and, on occasion, each other's sentences. On a typical day, their professional and private lives intersect at a dozen different points. Navigating those intersections is critical, as the couple attempts to pull off something that might make other working couples — even those deeply in love and accustomed to each other's idiosyncrasies — shudder in mock horror. The McMullens are co-pastors of Columbia's Trinity Presbyterian Church, committed to an equal professional partnership they say brings joy and balance to their work and their family life. The 180-member congregation off Garners Ferry Road embraced the couple's unusual arrangement, even though it is a first for them and Trinity Presbytery, the administrative arm of the Presbyterian Church USA that oversees 69 Midlands-area congregations.
'AMC' stars dish on Angie-Jesse reunion
When "All My Children" actors Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams arrived at the New Hope, Pa., train station to film their 20-years-in-the-making reunion this month, Morgan found herself facing a myriad of emotions. "I felt Angie's desolation walking down those tracks and then her joy at seeing Jesse," Morgan explains. "On another level, it wasn't really like acting. It became an out of body experience for me. I'm so thrilled to be working with Darnell again. For me on a very personal level, I was responding emotionally to seeing my best friend." .
Spinster celebrates her 110th thanks to whisky and onions
She has seen three centuries, six monarchs and twenty-one prime ministers, and was a teenager when the Titanic sank. Today, Minnie Smith celebrates her 110th birthday. Miss Smith is on her way to being the oldest woman to have lived in Britain, the record having been set by Eva Morris, who died in 2000 six days short of her 115th birthday. Miss Smith, who is now blind and largely deaf, attributes her longevity to regular consumption of whisky and boiled onions. It may be relevant that she never married or had children. During the Great War she had a crush on an Australian soldier called Noddy, but her mother forbade her to pursue him. To this day a photograph rests on the dressing table at her Salvation Army retirement home in South London. She is not the oldest living Briton.
Witness: Shooting victim unarmed
It's been my experience that if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and acts like a duck - it's probably a duck. Likewise a hoodlum. The very persona that this young man has built for himself says hood or gangbanger or whatever the PC term is today. I'm not saying that the shooting was justified, only one living person knows that for sure, but the lifestyle this young man choose is not very conducive to receiving the benefit of doubt. There should be NO parole for dealers or manufacturers of illegal drugs. This man shouldn't have been on the streets to start with. .
Get Fit seminars give helpful fitness, nutrition plan tips
Get Fit 2008 kicked off in the middle of a blizzard. Not exactly ideal but par for the course in Minnesota. All weigh-in locations, except the YMCA, closed due to the weather and official weigh-ins were extended through Thursday, Jan. 31 to accommodate those who were not able to weigh-in Tuesday. Their weigh-in partners were so very understanding and we could not have done it without them. This year, 831 people are participating in the Get Fit Challenge. There are 114 teams of 702 participants in the TEAM Challenge. The teams are competing to see in nine weeks which team will have the largest percentage of weight loss and activity points combined. There are 29 teams with 129 participants on the FAMILY Challenge. The Family Challenge is geared toward families and working together to maintain or change to a healthier lifestyle.There are several seminars coming up.
A Dozen Reasons Why This Edwards Supporter is Backing Obama
At a Seattle rally I attended, the volunteer state campaign chair had started as Perot activist. The founding coordinator in the state's second-largest county, a white female Iraq war vet, voted for Bush in 2000 and written in Colin Powell in 2004 before becoming outraged about Iraq "I've always leaned conservative," she said, "but Obama's announcement speech moved me to tears. The Audacity of Hope made me rethink my beliefs. He inspires me with his honesty and integrity." As well as inspiring plenty of progressive activists, Obama is engaging people who haven't come near progressive electoral politics in years.11. The story we tell: Obama captures people with a narrative about where he wants to take America. His personal story is powerful, but he keeps the emphasis on the ordinary citizens who need to take action to make change.
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