Flag Day: A Betsy Ross History Lesson
June 14, 2012
[VOA] It’s going to be a busy day at Betsy Ross’s house in Philadelphia on Thursday. She won’t be there, since she died in 1836, but hundreds of tourists will be going through her house.
You see, Thursday is Flag Day in the United States. The unofficial holiday commemorates the adoption of the stars-and-stripes design of the American flag by the Continental Congress 235 years ago, on June 14, 1777.
According to lore, the Ross House is the birthplace of the nation’s flag. That’s open to debate, but it’s a story that schoolbooks still tell.
Betsy Ross was a seamstress, busy upholstering furniture in Philadelphia, which was the focal point of the American revolution against British rule.
The Declaration of Independence by the colonists was signed there, and so was the new nation’s Constitution after independence was won.
Widowed when her husband, a member of the local militia, was killed in a gunpowder explosion, Betsy Ross often mended the clothes of the rebels’ leader and future U.S. president, George Washington.
According to what some say is history and others a stretch of what really happened, Washington asked Ross to design and sew the new nation’s flag.
The story was promoted by Ross’s grandson, who wrote that Betsy Ross had “made with her hands the first flag.”
She became a role model for girls – a shining example of women’s contributions to the nation’s history.
Most research indicates that Ross did sew the first flag.
She’s credited with substituting artful five-point white stars for six-pointed ones in the upper-left blue field.
But many other accounts indicate George Washington brought the design to Ross and simply asked her to stitch it together.
In a letter, Washington wrote: “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her. And the white stripes shall go down to posterity [as] representing liberty.”
That’s deeper thinking than a humble seamstress would have come up with, according to those who doubt that Betsy Ross created the first American flag from scratch.
Zany Magic: Summer Reading Program Continues At Century Library
June 13, 2012
The Summer Reading Series for kids and teens continued Tuesday afternoon at the Century Branch Library.
During the program, the zany Dr. Dee and Daffodil the Clown turned to the audience for help as they performed magic acts to bring a special story to life.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The Summer Reading Series will continue on Tuesdays at noon at the Century Branch Library as follows:
June 19 — Storytelling with Pat Nease. She will share some witty, wiley and wicked tales.
June 26 — Cartooning with Mike Artell. The award-winning cartoonist and illustrator will present an exciting time of cool and creepy facts about a variety of subjects. Mike gets the audience excited about reading, writing, drawing and creative thinking.
July 3 — No program.
July 10 — Drums with Mark Seymour. Explore the world of drums, drum styles and sounds.
The Century Branch Library also offers a preschool story time each Tuesday in June at 10:30 a.m. for children birth to five-years old.
For more information, call the library at (850) 256-6217.
Pictured: Tuesday’s Summer Reading Series at the Century Branch Library. Submitted photos by August Whorff, Pat Rigel and Renee Coppenger for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Reorganized Flomaton Lions Club Looking For New Members
June 12, 2012
The Flomaton Lions Club is being reorganized with the help of the Atmore Lions Club. The Flomaton club’s first meeting in over three years was held last week with several new members.
Judy Champion, Ruth Harrell, Goodie Odom, Scott Hammond and returning Lion Charles Bowles joined the club, according to organizers. The club came together to discuss community needs, including school uniforms for the upcoming year.
Hammond, Flomaton High principal, told the group that there is a need to provide school uniforms for children in need. The Lions will hold a fundraiser pancake supper on August 2.
Former Lions or community minded individuals interested in making a difference in the Flomaton area are invited to join the Flomaton Lions at their next meeting on June 19 from 6-7 p.m. at the Lions Flomaton Community Center.
IP Donates Lifesaving AED’s To Health And Hope Clinic
June 11, 2012
International Paper recently donated three automated external defibrillators (AED) to the non-profit Health and Hope Clinic. One of the AED units had already been installed in the Century location of the Health and Hope Clinic.
An AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening heart rhythms and is able to treat them through defibrillation (shock), with the goal of restarting a healthy rhythm.
The Health and Hope Clinic quietly opened last October in the old Escambia County Health Department building at 501 Church Street in Century. It is the second location for the clinic, which was first established in Pensacola back in 2003 by the Pensacola Bay Baptist Association to meet the needs of uninsured and medically underserved in Escambia County. The clinic is entirely volunteer and donor supported.
Pictured top: The Health and Hope Clinic in Century. Pictured inset: A new AED installed inside the Century Health and Hope Clinic. Submitted and NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Photos: Pensacola’s Wettest Weekend Ends On Bright Note
June 11, 2012
After one of the wettest weekends ever in the Pensacola area — with over 20 inches of rain in some areas, there was a bright ending in the skies early Sunday evening. At sunset, a full rainbow was visible across much of Escambia County.
Pictured top: Rainbow of Myrtle Grove, by Monica Nelson. Pictured left inset: Rainbow of Gulf Breeze Hospital, by Sheila Tucker. Pictured below: Rainbow over Pensacola Sunday evening, by Desere Downing. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Flomaton Grad Named One Of South Alabama’s Brightest
June 11, 2012
A Flomaton High School graduate was one of just 12 students named to the 2012 Mobile Press-Register’s 2012 Top Academic Team.
Victoria Creamer was the only Escambia County (Ala.) student named to the prestigious list of South Alabama’s brightest grads. Honorees “have more than impressive resumes. They possess heart, talent and gumption,” according to the newspaper.
Victoria Creamer
Weekend Gardening: Expert Tips For The Month Of June
June 9, 2012
Here are gardening tips for the month of June from the Santa Rosa County Extension Service:
Flowers
- Annuals to plant include celosia, coleus, crossandra, hollyhock, impatiens (pictured above), kalanchoe, nicotiana, ornamental pepper, portulaca, salvia, torenia, vinca and zinnia.
- Sow seeds of sunflowers. They are easy to grow if you have a sunny spot. Look for some of the new, dwarf varieties that can also be used as cut flowers.
- Remove old blooms (deadheading) to make flowers bloom longer.
- Allow the foliage on spring bulbs to grow. Do not cut it off until it turns yellow and falls over.
Trees and Shrubs
- Mature palms should receive an application of granular fertilizer. Use a special palm fertilizer that has an 8-2-12 +4Mg (magnesium) with micronutrients formulation. Apply one pound of fertilizer per 100 sq ft of canopy area or landscape area.
- Do any necessary pruning of junipers this month.
- Finish pruning the spring flowering shrubs such as azaleas, camellias, spiraeas, wisteria and forsythia by early June.
- This is the month to reproduce plants by budding.
- Check mulch around ornamental plants to be sure it’s two inches thick. Add mulch as needed to help keep weeds down and conserve water. Keep mulch one to two inches away from trunk or stem.
- Inspect maple trees, especially silver maple for infestations of maple soft scale. Look for a white substance with some black on one end. Individual maple scales are about 1/4 inch in diameter and resemble bird droppings. They occur mostly on leaves and can cause defoliation unless controlled.
- Inspect the undersides of azalea leaves for spider mites and lace bugs. If dry weather conditions exist, these insects can do some serious damage if not controlled.
- Check conifers for signs of bagworms. Call your local Extension Service for control measures.
Fruits and Nuts
- Harvest peaches, nectarines and plums as soon as they mature, before the squirrels and birds get to them
Vegetable Garden
- Side dress vegetable gardens with fertilizer containing nitrogen and potassium. A fertilizer such as a 15-0-15 can be used. Use approximately 2-3 cupfuls (1 to 1 ½ pounds) per 100 feet of row.
- Increase watering frequency and amount as tomatoes load up with fruit.
- Vegetables that can be planted outdoors include eggplant, lima beans, okra, southern peas, peppers and sweet potatoes.
- Sweet potatoes are started from plants or “draws”. Be sure to purchase only certified weevil free sweet potato plants.
- Check for the following pests and control them if necessary: tomato fruitworm, stinkbugs on vegetables and aphids on all new growth
Lawns
- Check for the lawn pests and control them if necessary: Spittlebugs in centipedegrass. They are more attracted to especially lush areas of the yard such as along septic drain fields and in areas where excessive nitrogen fertilizer has been used. Chinch bugs in St. Augustinegrass Sod webworm in all turf
- Start monitoring for mole cricket infestations and prepare for treatment.
Century Correctional Brightens The Day At Century Care
June 8, 2012
Staff from Century Correctional Institution delivered sunflowers grown at the prison facility to the residents at Century Care Center.
“It was so kind of them to bring summertime to Century Care Center,” Century Care Center Activities Director Mae Hildreth said. “Sunflowers have always reminded me of a smiling face. They can cheer up the gloomiest of days, just by looking at them.”
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge
Molino Family Photographs Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee
June 6, 2012
[VOA] England’s Queen Elizabeth led a carriage procession through the streets of London Tuesday, the last day of Diamond Jubilee celebrations to mark her 60-year reign, and the public poured out to view the spectacle.
A Molino family living in England was there with photos for NorthEscambia.com. To view the photo gallery, click here.
In a rare speech Tuesday broadcast in Britain and the Commonwealth, the queen said the events she attended to mark her 60 years on the throne have been a “humbling experience.” She said she was touched “deeply” to see thousands of families, neighbors and friends celebrating in such a “happy atmosphere.”
She also said her husband of 64 years, Prince Philip, is very grateful to the organizers.
On Tuesday, cheering crowds lined the avenue toward Buckingham Palace for the grand finale to the celebrations.
The 86-year-old monarch and her family waved to thousands of flag-waving Londoners from the palace balcony, as Royal Air Force aircraft conducted a fly-past overhead. Prince Philip was absent after being hospitalized Monday with a bladder infection.
Earlier in the day, Queen Elizabeth attended a solemn service of thanksgiving in St. Paul’s Cathedral, joining her son and heir-to-the-throne, Prince Charles, her grandsons William and Harry, and other members of the royal family. She then led a horse-drawn carriage procession to Buckingham Palace, while military bands played and a 60-gun salute was fired.
In his thanksgiving sermon, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said Queen Elizabeth had shown “a quality of joy in the happiness of others” during her 60 years on the throne.
In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a personal tribute to the queen, saying he hopes she will continue to “reign supreme for many years to come.” In a video posted on the White House website , Mr. Obama called her a “living witness” to the enduring “special relationship” between Britain and the United States, a bond that he said remains indispensable to their two countries and the world.
Elizabeth succeeded her father, King George, after his death in 1952 and was coronated the following year.
She was crowned queen of seven Commonwealth countries — the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka.
Along with Britain, the monarch is the head of state of 16 other nations, known as realms. Her role is purely ceremonial. She is also head of the Commonwealth, an organization that rose from the British empire. Most of its 53 member countries are former colonies.
Pictured top: (L-R) Camilla, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth, Prince William and Kate, and Prince Harry on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Pictured top inset: Queen Elizabeth rides an open-air carriage through the streets of London Tuesday. Pictured bottom inset: Looking toward Buckingham Palace. Pictured below: Prince William and Kate, and Prince Harry in an open-air carriage near Buckingham Palace. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Be A Star: Summer Reading Series Begins At Century Library
June 6, 2012
The Summer Reading Series for kids and teens began Tuesday afternoon at the Century Branch Library.
Kathleen Gibson, an award winning family entertainer, song writer, producer and recording artist shared her special program “Whoever You Are, Be a Star!! Dream Big!”. Children had the chance to make their own guitars, sing, color and dance.
The Summer Reading Series will continue on Tuesdays at noon at the Century Branch Library as follows:
June 12 — Magic with Dr. Gee & Daffodil the Clown. The zany performers will need the audience’s help as they perform fantastical magic acts and bring stories to life.
June 19 — Storytelling with Pat Nease. She will share some witty, wiley and wicked tales.
June 26 — Cartooning with Mike Artell. The award-winning cartoonist and illustrator will present an exciting time of cool and creepy facts about a variety of subjects. Mike gets the audience excited about reading, writing, drawing and creative thinking.
July 3 — No program.
July 10 — Drums with Mark Seymour. Explore the world of drums, drum styles and sounds.
The Century Branch Library also offers a preschool story time each Tuesday in June at 10:30 a.m. for children birth to five-years old.
For more information, call the library at (850) 256-6217.
