Tidbits of the Tri-Cities --- Issue 33

Issue 33March 22-28, 2009

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NOT-SO-LOCAL NEWS: At the Dumbville Mall today, passengers were stranded on the escalators for two hours

after the electricity went out.

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AT THE FOOD COURT by Audrey Cunningham

It’s convenient, it’s tasty, and (most important-ly) it’s there when you need it. This week’s edi-tion of Tidbits examines the the history of shop-ping mall restaurants and some of the stories behind food court cuisine. • Sbarro. In their hometown of Naples, Gen-

naro and Carmela Sbarro learned to cook au-thentic, delicious Italian food. The couple left in 1956 and relocated to New York City, where they opened their first salumeria, or Italian delicatessen. Steady business prompt-ed them to open a second store, this one in-side a Brooklyn shopping mall. The constant parade of hungry shoppers looking for a quick bite to eat proved to be a goldmine. From then on, Sbarro limited its expansion to restaurants in shopping malls, at airports, and on college campuses.

• Hot Dog on a Stick. Founder Dave Barham opened a corn dog stand at Muscle Beach in Venice, California. Sunbathers appreciated the convenience of the frank on a stick that could be held in one hand while sipping Bar-ham’s trademark fresh lemonade with the other. Hot Dog on a Stick became a mall staple when Barham bought a space inside Utah’s Fashion Place Mall in 1972.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Issue 2009.11

At the Food Court pages 1-4

In the Bag pages 5-6

Beaky Buddies pages 7-8

1st Quarter 2009 Week 11

Mar 08 – Mar 14

Tidbits® of the Tri-Cities

DEAR PAW’S CORNER: I am very disappointed by your light-hearted response to the letter written by Rod S. (“How to Correct a Pet Owner”). You start out by blaming the breed of the dog! As if all small dogs get ill-tempered and neurotic, excitable and energetic. Like that’s the issue at hand. It clearly is not.You went on to say that the dog’s owner has some issues, but that there are no clear signs of abuse or neglect. You’re wrong! Clearly there is abuse! You told him the best thing to do is lead by example. So by not telling his son to knock it off and ignoring the real issues here is a good example?You told him not to “preach” to his son. That’s about the only thing I agreed with you on. Heck no, I wouldn’t preach either. I would tell him straight out he’s wrong and if he keeps it up, I would take the dog and give it to someone who doesn’t have dominance issues and the need to control. Rod needs to “step-up” and tell his son just like it is. Be a real man, Rod! When something makes you

uncomfortable and you think it’s wrong, then it most likely is. -- Disappointed in New York

DEAR DISAPPOINTED: I wrote that the son’s “discipline” (flipping Junior on his back and scolding him) was a terrible way to correct a dog. But we’ll have to agree to disagree on how the owner’s dad should approach the situation. Confronting his grown son and making him angry could cause the son’s treatment of Junior to become worse, if he is in fact harming the dog. I am with you on the possibility of abuse -- Junior’s behavior is a big warning sign -- but unfortunately there was no clear evidence given in the original letter.You quite rightly point out that if something feels wrong, then it most likely is. If the father feels this way, he needs to investigate further.

Reader Scolds Dog Owner’s DadBy Sam Mazzotta

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AT THE FOOD COURT (continued): • Cinnabon. Rich Komen leased a space in the

food court of Washington state’s Sea-Tac Mall in 1985, planning to open a T.J. Cin-namons franchise. When the deal fell through, he was left with a shop scheduled to open in 120 days, but with no name or prod-uct. Intent on offering cinnamon rolls, Ko-men and four friends sampled cinnamon rolls made from some 200 different recipes over the next month. They finally settled on a rec-ipe that combined moist, pillowy dough with Indonesian cinnamon and cream cheese frosting. Cinnabon was born!

• Panda Express. Andrew Cherng came to the U.S. in the early 1970s. In Glendale, Califor-nia, he opened a sit-down Chinese restaurant called the Panda Inn. Among his regular cus-tomers was a group of shopping mall devel-opers. They approached Cherng with the idea of selling freshly-prepared Chinese food in food courts of their malls. Panda Express now has 460 outlets across the country, each offering 20 “core” menu items mandated by the company, and four additional dishes se-lected by the local franchise owner.

• Orange Julius. Julius Freed loved to invent things. His early patents included such di-verse items as an inflatable shrimp trap and a portable pigeon shower. (Yes, really.) In 1926, Freed enjoyed modest success with his own orange juice stand. A friend, real estate broker Bill Hamlin, suggested that he add something to the fresh-squeezed juice to re-duce its acidity. In fact, it was Bill – not Ju-lius – who actually came up with the mixture that creates the frothy drink we know and love today. The secret “powder” added to the crushed ice and syrup is still a trade secret. The name of the new product was coined when customers at the stand’s counter would call out, “Give me an orange, Julius!”

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Elan Pharmaceuticals is looking for more volunteers for a clinical trial for a drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Called the Investigational Clinical Amyloid Research in Alzheimer’s study, its purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of a drug called bapineuzumab in slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s.

This is a Phase III study, which means it’s found enough positive reason to continue since the study started in December 2007. Phases I and II are fairly small groups of people, and the study involves some adjustments to dosing. Phase III involves a larger group for a longer duration and is much more expensive for the company.

Here are some of the eligibility requirements: You must be between 50 and 88 years old, have a diagnosis of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s

and have a caregiver who can go to the study with you.

If accepted, you’ll get medical monitoring, exams and lab tests for free, as well as the drug itself. Researchers plan to give 60 percent of participants the real drug, while 40 percent will receive a placebo for comparison.

You’ll have to go to the study location 15 times during the course of 83 weeks. During that time you’ll receive six doses of the drug every 13 weeks and have exams and blood tests.

To learn more about the study and to see if you live near one of the 186 study locations, go to clinicaltrials.gov and put NCT00575055 in the search box. Or you can call the Study Coordinator at 1-866-446-5463. There is more information at www.ICARAstudy.com and 1-(877)-BE-VITAL.

The best first step is to consult with your doctor and ask if this is something you should do.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a 78-year-old male who recently experienced a breaking out on my face and around my nose. Pimples came up. My physician diagnosed it as rosacea. He prescribed tetracycline and MetroGel ointment. The area cleared up. I wonder if I can stop taking the prescriptions. Perhaps you might explain what rosacea is. -- O.L.

ANSWER: Rosacea (rose-A-shuh) can happen to anyone, but it particularly singles out people who were or are prone to blush easily. The tip of the nose, the cheeks and the chin are the places where the skin stays red and on which pimples break out. In time, tangles of small blood vessels also appear on those places. Without treatment, the nose can become disfigured. For an image of end-stage rosacea, think of the nose of W.C. Fields.Eye involvement is an unappreciated aspect of rosacea. The eyes feel gritty, water and become bloodshot. In a few cases, the eyes are the only manifestation of this disorder.Most often, rosacea is a chronic illness requiring chronic treatment. You can stop your medicines if your doctor agrees. The worst that can happen is that it will return.Stay out of the sun, and always wear sunscreen when going outside. Don’t drink alcohol. Stay away from spicy foods. Hot beverages encourage breakouts. Contact the National Rosacea Society. The society is more than willing to answer any questions that might arise about rosacea. Its toll-free number is 888-NO-BLUSH, and its Web site is www.rosacea.org.***DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have been suffering from pain that spreads from my left shoulder blade, around

my side and to just below my left breast. There is no skin rash. I wonder if this could be shingles. Do the shingles ever not come to the surface? If it is shingles, what is the treatment? -- B.K.

ANSWER: A rare form of shingles called zoster sine herpete causes shingles pain without any skin rash. Its diagnosis is difficult. Proof lies in documenting a rise in antibodies to the shingles virus. A blood specimen has to be taken at the onset of the pain and again one or two weeks later. If the level of antibodies has risen, that’s evidence that shingles has occurred without a rash.How long have you been suffering from the pain? Shingles pain that continues for more than a month after the appearance of the rash is postherpetic neuralgia and comes from nerve damage. Even though you never had a rash, if your pain has been going on for six weeks, you might have postherpetic neuralgia. The Lidocaine skin patch can often alleviate this pain. Oral medicines like amitriptyline, Neurontin and Lyrica are also effective for some people.The shingles story is told in the booklet on that subject. Readers can obtain a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue -- No. 1201W, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 U.S./$6 Canada with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.***Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.

To Your Good Health

By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.

Pimples at 78?

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1. Name the second baseman who cracked 43 home runs in 1973.

2. Which Cy Young Award winner has had the highest victory total since Denny McLain’s 31 in 1968?

3. In eight of the past nine seasons (2000-2008), a linebacker has been selected The Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the year. Name the lone non-linebacker.

4. Earlier this year, Jodie Meeks set a University of Kentucky men’s basketball record with 54 points in a game. Who had held the top scoring mark?

5. In 1942, Armand “Bep” Guidolin became the youngest player in NHL history. How old was he?

6. How old was Mark Martin when he took part in his first NASCAR Cup race?

7. Who was the last male tennis player before Roger Federer to win three grand slam tournaments in a single season?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. deals with hard times a great deal better than many of the fans who love him.

A cynic -- or, perhaps, a marketer -- could say that the slings and arrows fired at Junior’s crew chief (and first cousin), Tony Eury Jr., are functional because they aren’t blaming Earnhardt himself.

But Earnhardt isn’t a cynic or a marketer. He’s as honest as anyone in NASCAR, which means that, when he’s asked about how honest he is, he replies by saying he’s pretty honest.

“I always try to be honest, and I’ve never really tried to intentionally lie to somebody, especially when it comes to the media,” he said at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “But I have never said I was always right about everything.”

Earnhardt is 34. The Shelby 427 in Las Vegas was his 330th. He’s won 18 of them. Six of them were in the same season, but that was five years ago.

Being the favorite driver of well over half the fans isn’t without its side effects. Last year, when he moved to Hendrick Motorsports after eight years with the team his father founded, Earnhardt improved. He made the Chase after failing in two of the previous three years. Still, he only won once last year and has only three victories in the last four seasons.

But Earnhardt isn’t afraid of the pressure. He’s

willing to accept his share of the blame.Asked about the criticism of his crew chief, Earnhardt

was up for a good-natured retort.“Well heck, I’ve been getting most of it (criticism)

here lately, so I told him, after Daytona, I’d done him a big old favor,” he said, “which is actually pretty good. Because when he’s not getting so much criticism, he’s not under so much pressure and I get what I hope is a better race car.

“Maybe I should just keep doing things to get all the criticism and give him a break, which is fine with me.”

There’s more fretting going on in Earnhardt Nation than the real one.

Oooh. He’s going to fall out of the top 35 in points.Oooh. He’s not going to make the Chase.Earnhardt’s not doing any of the “oohing.” His head

seems to be on straight. He’s had back-to-back bad races. So did Carl Edwards in last year’s Chase, and he finished second in it.

Maybe Earnhardt will have a bad year, but that can’t be concluded by the season’s first two races. It’s simply

Too Early to Tell About Earnhardt

To Your Good Health

By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.


1Q2009 :: Wk 11 :: Mar 08 - Mar 14 :: Pg. 3

AT THE FOOD COURT (continued): • California Pizza Kitchen. Rick Rosenfield

and Larry Flax were successful attorneys who had grown weary of the law world and decided to get into the restaurant business. Neither man had any experience in the field, so they turned to an expert – McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc – and devoured his auto-biography. With Kroc’s basic principles of quality and cleanliness in mind, all they needed was a product. The men found inspi-ration in celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, who had begun dishing out pizzas with fancy top-pings like duck and goat cheese. Rosenfield and Flax took the idea, scaled down the ul-tra-pricy ingredients a bit, and introduced “L.A.-style” pizza to the rest of the nation.

• Chick-Fil-A. Truett Cathy is credited with inventing the boneless breast of chicken sandwich. In 1967, he opened his first Chick-Fil-A restaurant at Greenbriar Mall in Atlan-ta. Even though the menu was limited to only five items, the restaurant became a massive success. Today, Chick-Fil-A is a $1.5 billion empire, with stand-alone outlets as well as the familiar food court stores. And, true to Cathy’s Christian principles, each and every store in the chain is closed on Sunday.

• Auntie Anne’s. As one of eight children born to Amish parents, Anne Beiler had been baking bread as long as she could remember. At the age of 15, she got a job as a truck stop waitress, where she spent the next four years learning all about customer service. Beiler later worked making hot, doughy, Pennsyl-vania Dutch-type pretzels at a local stand. When the owner put the stand up for sale, she bought it. After tweaking the original recipe, she unveiled Auntie Anne’s Pretzels. Thanks to a tasty product and word-of-mouth advertising, Beiler began offering franchises after only one year in business.

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Q: I know home prices are dropping like a rock, but I’m still considering putting my cottage in Maine on the market. Is there anything I can do to keep its value up? Sign me -- Ogonquit Snowbird, Ft. Lau-derdale, Fla.

A: The housing market has gotten pretty interest-ing in the past year, but while prices have sunk in many areas of the country, other areas have seen only a modest decrease. And, despite all the doom and gloom we hear about, homes are still being bought and sold. The biggest difference is that buyers can demand more for their money.As a seller, you will need to offer a home that satis-fies at least some of those buyer demands, while avoiding getting soaked on the final selling price. So, what does that mean? Renovations? Prob-ably -- but now more than ever, you’ll want to be careful which renovations you make, because you

want to get the biggest return for the amount you invest.Steve Berges wrote a great guide in 2004 that tackles this concern. “101 Cost-Effective Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home” (Dearborn Trade Publishing) doesn’t just throw out ideas like redoing your kitchen; it breaks down, by the numbers, which project is most desirable to consumers and is therefore most likely to help improve that sale price.Visual appeal ranks very high in his guide (and in general). That means improving your home’s exterior and its surroundings (the yard, trees and garden, for example). If your cottage doesn’t get much attention while you’re away for the winter, or the yard looks a little ratty, call a professional landscaper to spruce up the lot -- or completely redo it.The interior of your cottage should get thorough consideration as well. A fresh coat of paint and clearing away clutter costs little, yet vastly im-proves the look and feel. Hire a decorator if you want to create a complete “look” in the house that will tempt buyers.What if major repairs need doing, such as plumb-ing or foundation work? You can make them before putting the house on the market, or you can disclose the problems to potential buyers and work out an agreement on who will tackle the work before finalizing the sale. In this case, talk to your Realtor to get more details ahead of time.

Cheap Ways to Boost Your Home’s Value

By Samantha Mazzotta

¥ Go Green Tip: Air-cleaning houseplants. Sound like science fiction? It’s not; use the following plants in every room to naturally clean air of pollutants: English ivy, golden pothos, spider plant, peace lily, bamboo palm and ficus plant (also called weeping fig).

¥ “To give your cat a pill when all other efforts fail: Place pill in a plastic baggie and crush very fine with a hammer. I laced it into a hair-ball cat salve, spread thin and thoroughly onto both paws, and they’ll always lick them clean.

It’s best to keep the cat on a vinyl floor or out-side until they’re cleaned up.” -- Mrs. K.N in Illinois

¥ “To remove a bumper sticker from a vehicle, try loosening it with a little spray lubrication, like WD-40. Then work a plastic spatula un-der the corners until you can get as much of it up as you can. Hit it lightly with a hair dryer to heat and loosen the sticker. When you have the sticker off, use a plastic scrubbie and dish soap to get as much of the leftover adhesive as possible. Follow that with rubbing alcohol. Don’t use a razor blade, as it will scratch up the paint.” -- D.W. in North Carolina


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TRIVIA NEWSFRONT™

PRESENTS

NEWSFRONT ANSWERSTRIVIA

NUMBER PUZZLEFill in the grid so that every column, every row,

and every 3 x 3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

NUMBERPUZZLE ANSWER

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1. What star of the TV show was given thename Alphonso d’Abruzzo at birth?

M*A*S*H

2. Scary film legend William Henry Pratt was betterknown by what stage name?

3. What is the full first name of actress Demi Moore?

4. Since people had difficulty pronouncing his name,rock star John Bongiovi uses what phonetic versionas stage name?

5. What is the real first name of golf superstar TigerWoods?

1. Alan Alda

2. Boris Karloff

3. Demitria

4. Jon Bon Jovi

5. Eldrick

FILLER PAGE 2

1Q09 - WEEK 09FEB 22 - FEB 28

Many parents experience “baby name remorse” after choosing a name to put on the birth certificate.Once the baby gets a little older, they decide the original name doesn’t suit it. Luckily, as long as

both parents give their legal consent, U.S. laws make it reasonably easy to change the name of a minor.

2 3 4 5

4 9 8

8 6 5 1 4

5 1 8 7

4

7 2 6

1 4 5

9 5 1 2

2 8 1 7 9 3 4 5 6

3 4 9 2 6 5 8 7 1

6 5 7 8 4 1 3 9 2

8 3 6 5 1 7 9 2 4

5 1 2 9 8 4 6 3 7

9 7 4 6 3 2 5 1 8

7 2 8 3 5 6 1 4 9

1 6 3 4 2 9 7 8 5

4 9 5 1 7 8 2 6 3

1Q2009 :: Wk 11 :: Mar 08 - Mar 14 :: Pg. 4

AT THE FOOD COURT (continued): • Baja Fresh. In 1990, risk-taker Jim Magglos

took out a third mortgage on his house to finance the opening of his first Baja Fresh restaurant. The “fresh-Mex” chain prides it-self on using fresh ingredients, and boasts that there are no microwaves or freezers on the premises of their 300+ outlets

• P.F. Chang’s. The “P.F.” in the restaurant’s name are the initials of its founder, Paul Fleming. He’d previously become the first Ruth’s Chris Steak House franchisee on the West Coast, so Fleming knew a bit about running a restaurant. He loved Chinese food, particularly Beverly Hills’ famous Mandarin. Fleming befriended the Mandarin’s owner, Philip Chiang, and the two men formed a partnership. The first P.F. Chang’s China Bi-stro opened in 1993 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

• Great Steak. When most people think of cheesesteak sandwiches, the first city that comes to mind is Philadelphia. But one of this country’s largest cheesesteak sandwich franchises was founded a bit further south and west, in Dayton, Ohio. Founders Ken Smith and Mark Turner did grow up near Philly, where they learned how to properly make the sandwich by slicing rib-eye steak and topping it with the right combination of provolone cheese, onions, and green peppers. The first retail space they rented was in an Ohio mall, where they opened the Steak Es-cape in 1982. The business proved so suc-cessful that their landlord franchised it as the Great Steak & Potato Company.

• Sarku Japan. Founded in 1987, Sarku Japan is the largest Japanese quick-service restau-rant chain in the United States. It’s also the only one to serve Teppanyaki-style cuisine. But don’t bother asking any of your Tokyo pen-pals about the meaning behind the “Sar-ku” name; it’s not really a Japanese word.

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1. Davey Johnson of the Atlanta Braves.2. Steve Carlton (Philadelphia, 1972) and Bob Welch (Oakland, 1990) each won 27 games.3. Defensive end Julius Peppers of Carolina in 2002.4. Dan Issel tallied 53 points in a game in 1970.5. He was not quite 17 when he made his debut for the Boston Bruins.6. Martin was 22 in 1981.7. Mats Wilander in 1988.(c) 2009 King Features Synd., Inc.

Warmer weather is just around the corner -- and so is your chance to make some extra money. It’s not too early to get started on a plan. Here are some ideas.¥ Yard sales: Start looking in your own home

and garage for items to sell. What you’ve always given to Goodwill or the Salvation Army could net you a few bucks. Kids’ jeans for a dollar, shirts for 50 cents -- somebody will buy those. Have baked goods on hand and a couple pitchers of lemonade or punch to bring in extra dollars. ¥ Look at your own skills: Plan a class teaching

something you know how to do and propose it in writing to your local parks and recreation department or college. Teach basic sports to children, computer skills to seniors (don’t forget senior centers), flower arranging, faux (marble, leather) painting, baking, home tailoring and basic sewing, music lessons -- the list of possibilities is only limited by your own skills.¥ Language instructor or tutor: Contact social

services and charity organizations to organize a class for those who want to learn English. If you know a foreign language, you can tutor or get on a courthouse list to act as translator.¥ Tutor in a subject you know: By this time

of the year, parents know whether their child is likely to pass final exams. There’s still time for you to tutor children and get their knowledge up to par before the end of school.¥ Delivery driver: Check courier services,

landscapers and auto-parts suppliers.¥ Vacation plant and pet care: Put out flyers

(especially at your local veterinarian) and offer your services taking care of pets for those on vacation. Offer to water plants and bring in the mail as extra incentive. Be sure to charge a bit less than local kennels.¥ Run Saturday errands for busy families. This is

doable even if you work during the week.¥ Make and sell crafts or jewelry at summer flea

markets.¥ Weed vegetable gardens in exchange for some

of the bounty. Can the vegetables, again for some of the end result.Don’t limit yourself to one way to bring in extra

cash. Try out different ideas and see what ends up being the most lucrative.

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1Q2009 :: Wk 11 :: Mar 08 - Mar 14 :: Pg. 5

IN THE BAG • Until the mid-19th century, American shop-

pers brought their own hand baskets to retail stores to haul their purchases home. A few savvy retailers wrapped certain items in pa-per bundles for easier carrying.

• In 1852, a Pennsylvanian named Francis Wolle invented a device capable of mass-producing paper bags. This event revolutio-nized the retail shopping industry. Wolle’s machine could spit out 1,000 bags per day in different sizes. Oddly, his most popular bag was a smaller one that allowed women to buy a variety of needles, thread, ribbon and other notions at one time without worrying about losing them. (Such tiny items were no-torious for becoming lost after slipping through the weave of hand baskets.)

• These early grocery bags were glued at the base like an envelope, so they didn’t expand very much. Margaret Knight of York, Maine, decided that there was a better solution. In 1868, she patented a new machine that cut and glued “box bottom” bags, similar to those still used in many grocery stores today.

• Sleeping bundles have certainly been around much longer, but historical documents point to Freydís Eiríksdóttir as the inventor of the “modern” sleeping bag. An able explorer, she was the daughter of Eric the Red, who discovered Greenland. While aboard ship on an expedition in the year 1004, Freydis wrapped traditional bedding inside one of the ship’s spare, unused sails, forming a protec-tive cocoon that deflected wind and rain.

• Before synthetic materials were developed, the “bag” part of a bagpipe was made of an-imal skin (usually goat or cow). The part that the player blows into is called a “blowpipe,” and the pipe below the bag that he fingers like a flute is called the “chanter.”

1Q2009 :: Wk 11 :: Mar 08 - Mar 14 :: Pg. 6

IN THE BAG (continued): • U.S. government vehicles experimented with

automotive airbags years earlier, but the first commercially-available car to offer both driver and passenger side airbags as an op-tion might be older than you think: It was the 1973 Oldsmobile Toronado. By 1998, driv-er’s-side airbags had become mandatory equipment in all automobiles manufactured domestically.

• The custom of asking for a “doggie bag” dates back to ancient Rome, when hosts of dinner parties were expected to package lef-tovers for guests to take home. If you’re un-able to finish your meal, Miss Manners (eti-quette expert Judith Martin) claims that it is perfectly acceptable to ask for a doggie bag in any restaurant, whether it’s a dive or a five-star establishment. The exception is at all-you-can-eat restaurants. Owners frown on already-full diners who try to “cheat” by loading up their plates with unwanted food at the last minute just so they can carry it home.

• The warning labels on plastic bags for dry cleaning vary from state to state; no federal law mandates them. The inherent danger of dry cleaning bags came to light in 1959 when several infants suffocated after their parents used dry-cleaning bags as sheet protectors in their children’s cribs. It goes without saying that all plastic bags should be kept out of the reach of infants and toddlers.

• If you’ve ever experienced a queasy stomach while onboard an aircraft, you might want to give a quick tip of the hat to Gilmore Schjel-dahl. This plastics and adhesives expert, known as Shelly to his colleagues, devised the plastic-lined airsickness bag back in 1949. Northwest Orient was the first airline to install the bags as standard equipment in the seatback pockets of its airliners.

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President Lincoln Visits PetersburgOn April 4, 2009 President Lincoln will, once again, visit the City of Petersburg. In honor of the President’s 200th birthday and in commemoration of the 144th anniversary of his visit to Petersburg, a two hour liv-ing history program will occur at Union Station in Old Towne Petersburg beginning at 7:00 p.m. For more information, call ranger Ann Blumenschine at (804) 732-3531 x203.

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Petersburg:Friday for the Arts!The second Friday of each month from 6-10pm. Come visit the stores, restaurants and art displays in Old Towne Petersburg. The March celebration of Fri-day for the Arts! will feature two highly acclaimed art-ists at the Petersburg Area Art League. Bryant White and Pamela Patrick White will provide an exciting and educational evening during the March 13 opening night celebration. Both will showcase their original oils and limited edition giclee prints which masterfully depict the lives and times of 18th Century America.

Hopewell: Hershey Track & Field MeetOn April 25, 2009, come join the million of Americans that want to run the fastest, jump the highest, and throw the farthest in a competitive atmosphere where local winners can advance from local meets to region-al meets to state meets and maybe to the nationals. Hershey Track and Field is one of the fastest growing events in the country today. Call 541-2356 to find out more about the event held at Hopewell High School. Sponsored by PAL Organization

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Tidbits of the Tri-Cities --- Issue 33

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