Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "Hard Times Inspire Ky. College Students To Action" from NPR

"This school was started six years before the Civil War. It was to be both integrated and coeducational. And the poor students became part of the mission. The small college town, Berea, is right at the edge of the Bluegrass region. There's a rise of mountains to the east. It's where Appalachia begins."


Link:
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/29/142889056/hard-times-inspire-ky-college-students-to-action

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

2011 Kingwood Nativity Exhibit is This Weekend!!

 

The 2011 Kingwood Nativity Exhibit and Music Festival begins in just a few days!  This is such a beautiful way to begin the Christmas season and remember the meaning behind the holiday.  We are grateful for all the volunteers who are making this event possible, and hope to see you this weekend!  The Nativity Exhibit, Music Festival, Nativity Costume and Photography Room, Children's Activities, and Woodcarver Story are open to all visitors from 1-9 pm on Friday, December 2nd and Saturday, December 3rd.  All activities are free--we hope you enjoy our gift to the community this holiday season! 

For more details, visit our Nativity Page or read posts farther down this page.

Rings!

18ct Yellow Gold, Sterling Silver, 18ct White Gold, 9ct Yellow Gold

Currently working on a precious range of rings, they'll be making their way to Pieces of Eight in the near future!

Treasure Trove

Sedimentary Slump Earrings

 Pop on over to my facebook page and check out the SITE album to see a few little treasures for sale!

Animal Vegetable Mineral Neckpiece

String of Tails Necklace

Great Lakes & Upper South Events: Thanksgiving Day Parades

Looking for some fun on Thanksgiving Day?  Try some of these holiday classics:


Detroit-America's Thanksgiving Parade: 
Web Site: http://www.theparade.org
Kickoff: Thursday, 9:05 am ET


Chicago-McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade: 
Web Site: http://www.chicagofestivals.org/
Kickoff: Thursday, 8:05 am CT


Saint Louis-Ameren Missouri Thanksgiving Day Parade
Web Site: http://www.christmasinstlouis.org/parade
Kickoff: Thursday, 8:45 am CT


Not on Thursday, but still fun.....
Pittsburgh-My Macy's Holiday Parade
Web Site: http://www.wpxi.com/pittsburghparade/index.html
Kickoff: Saturday, 9:05 am ET

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "$150M grant announced for high-speed rail between Detroit, Chicago" from the Battle Creek Enquirer

GREAT NEWS for all CTers!  


"The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced a $150 million award for high-speed rail improvements to Amtrak's line between Detroit and Chicago."


Link:
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20111122/NEWS01/301010020

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Two Weeks To Wait

We are excitedly gathering nativities, coordinating volunteers, and planning last-minute touches...the Kingwood Nativity Exhibit and Music Festival at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will officially start in two weeks!

Great Lakes & Upper South Events: Reeling: The Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival , Chicago, IL

"Reeling: The Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary as the second-oldest LGBT film festival in the world, showcasing innovative gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender films from around the world. This year, films are featured at six different Chicago area theatres. The festival runs Thursday, November 3 through Saturday, November 12, 2011 and will include 65 screenings."


Link:
http://reelingfilmfestival.org/

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "Evoking the World of War" from the WSJ

"The Pritzker Military Library is not just another repository of war stories, battered flags and medals, interesting only to veterans and Civil War re-enactors. Among the striking materials on display is the handwritten diary of a New Hampshire militiaman, written during the American Revolution, and the Medal of Honor earned by Hershel "Woody" Williams for his service on Iwo Jima during World War II."


Link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203716204577013833544020206.html?KEYWORDS=Pritzker+Military+Library

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: 45th Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, TN, 9 November

One of the biggest televised awards shows based in the GL&US, the CMA Awards showcases the best in country music. This year the awards show will be held at the Bridgestone Arena. 


Link:
http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/category/awards/cmas/


Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Great Lakes & Uppers South in the News: "'The Gift Of Detroit': Tilling Urban Terrain" from NPR

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "'The Gift Of Detroit': Tilling Urban Terrain" from NPR

"Detroit is a surprisingly green landscape during the spring and summer months. The site of many houses that are crumbling, boarded up or missing altogether is tempered by community gardens and even some urban farms."

Link:
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/02/140903516/the-gift-of-detroit-tilling-urban-terrain


Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "'Star Trek' fans can visit final frontier at St. Louis Science Center" from the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch 


"Are you looking for the "Next Generation" bridge?


Go past Kirk's chair, wind past Picard's quarters, make a left at Spock's wardrobe room, go through Crusher's sick bay and you're there.


If you end up in Quark's bar, you've gone too far.


These directions could come in handy if you decide (boldly, of course) to see "Star Trek: The Exhibition," a new attraction at the St. Louis Science Center. It opens Friday (Oct. 28) and runs through May 28.


Link:
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/star-trek-fans-can-visit-final-frontier-at-st-louis/article_bf36412e-7926-5a17-a406-5b4e8d03809c.html

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "Bob Cassilly Remembered: Part Sculptor, Part Kid" from NPR

"It's hard to miss City Museum when you're in downtown St. Louis. It's the only building with a Ferris wheel on the roof.


There's a large green praying mantis, too. And a bus that's tipped just over the building's edge.


You can actually get on the bus."


Link:
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/08/141158172/bob-cassilly-remembered-part-sculptor-part-kid

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "Poet Laureate" segment from Re:Sound

"Poet Laureate"
by Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister (Day to Day, 2006)
Three Oaks, Michigan is one of the smallest towns in America to have a poet laureate. Like many rural towns, Three Oaks' economy was badly hurt by farm consolidation and factory shutdowns, but an influx of artists and creative types has given it new life. Dan and Elizabeth recently relocated to Three Oaks and documented the selection of the new poet laureate."


Link:
http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/library/628-re-sound-62-the-long-haul-show?closed=true

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "At New Madrid Fault, Shaky Guesses On Next Quake" from NPR

"It has now been 200 years since the last major earthquakes rocked the New Madrid Seismic Zone — a fault system that runs down the central U.S. through parts of Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee. "

Link:
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/27/139968260/at-new-madrid-fault-shaky-guesses-on-next-quake

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "Enterprising Young Musicians On The Road To Interlochen" from NPR

"For young people who want a career in the arts, a handful of prestigious summer camps are a vital early step. Interlochen, in northern Michigan, is one of them."


Link:
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/22/138540900/enterprising-young-musicians-on-the-road-to-interlochen

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "On Location: Mansfield, Ohio's 'Shawshank' Industry" from NPR

"The 1994 prison drama The Shawshank Redemption is a Hollywood rarity, in that it wasn't shot in Hollywood. The filmmakers didn't use New York or Toronto either. Instead, Shawshank was filmed almost entirely on location, in and around the Rust Belt city of Mansfield, Ohio, about halfway between Columbus and Cleveland."


Link:
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/04/138986482/on-location-mansfield-ohios-shawshank-industry

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Great Lakes & Upper South in the News: "Does Jobs Have Place In History Beside Edison, Ford?" from NPR

"Comparisons can be drawn between Jobs and other great American innovators like Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, both technological titans in U.S. history.


The Henry Ford Museum just outside of Detroit is a shrine to all sorts of American innovation. The museum includes Edison's laboratory complex and the Wright Brothers' original bike shop."


Link:
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/27/139996473/is-steve-jobs

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_101579883236151&ap=1

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Picasa Web photo site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmaihoferii

Great Lakes Casual Traveler Google Earth/Panoramio photo site:

http://www.panoramio.com/user/5023543

Nativity Music Schedule

We are excited and grateful to have the following individuals and groups participating in the 2011 Music Festival during our Nativity Exhibit:

Friday, December 2nd:

2:00 Shane Hetherington
4:00 KHS Madrigals
4:30 Eagle Springs Choir
5:00 Greentree Gator Choir
5:30 Riverwood Orchestra
6:00 KPHS Madrigals
6:30 5th Grade Honor Choir
7:00 KHS Orchestra
7:30 KHS Orchestra

Saturday, December 3rd:

1:00 Camille Ditusa/Timber Musical Groups
1:30 Whispering Pines Choir
2:00 Super Singers
2:30 Piano Students
3:00 Piano Students
4:00 Ladies & Lords Chorus
4:30 Clickety Clack Cloggers
5:00 Cathryn Parker Harp Studio
5:30 Cathryn Parker Harp Studio
6:00 Melissa Prince Vocal
6:30 KPHS Silver Belles
7:00 Atascocita High School Strolling Strings
7:30 Mormon Brothers
8:00 Mormon Brothers
8:50 Kay Ivory will accompany Silent Night

Please note that this schedule is still subject to change.  Additional performances by Whispering Pines Choir, a Primary Children's Choir, and harpist Beverly Stoker are also planned.

Visit this page to see more details about the Nativity Exhibit and Music Festival!