I am NOT paranoid...

The Annual Mid Michigan Model Train Show and Flea Market will occur on March 27, 2011, 11am – 4 pm, in the Finch Field House on the campus of Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI.

This show will please the whole family, so come and enjoy an afternoon seeing operating train layouts, demonstrations, and plenty of opportunities to ask experts about the wonderful hobby of building, collecting, and running miniature trains from tiny Z-scale to mighty G-scale.

Railroads have connected cities and states in this country since the 1860’s. The romance, energy, and variety of these vital links have fascinated children and adults ever since. Children growing up with model trains have an advantage by putting sets together in endless designs, loading and unloading freight and passengers, and then running the trains to wherever they imagine. They are in control, and command an empire.

There will also be many booths offering train sets, kits, rolling stock, and accessories, as well as antiques and crafts to suit a general audience in the large one-room location. Parking is free. Admission is $4 for adults. Children under 10 are free.

Experience what a great hobby this is and talk to the friendly railroading fans who will be there in force.

Don’t forget to Spring Forward tomorrow morning at 2 am (Sunday, March 13). We are going on Daylight Saving Time. Whoopee!

I really detest DST. It means I have to get up when I’m sleepy and go to bed when I’m not. It means eating breakfast, lunch and supper before I’m hungry. Well, that might make me eat less, so I guess that part is good. It means daylight pouring through our family room window onto the television news. It will be dark at the start of the day, and the extra hour in the afternoon will be — an extra hour in the afternoon.

DST was invented by the Germans in World War I to get the drop on the Allies. It worked until England went on it. When the United States got involved, we adopted it as a patriotic gesture; you know, to give up something for the Yanks, as if it were Lent.

It was supposed to save on the use of electricity, and give more time to grow food and make the war materiel needed over there, over there. Three cheers.

People used more electricity in the dark morning than they saved by turning on the lights an hour later. The farmers hated the idea: the chickens didn’t get up an hour earlier. And when you are producing stuff twenty four hours a day there is no savings there.
Here we sit at the western edge of the Eastern Time Zone, so we already have extra sunlight. It turns out that the only people in a time zone who are “on time” are those in the middle of it. Those to the east of it are shorted by a half hour and those to the west gain a half hour.

There was an article in the morning paper about DST affecting those with sleep disorders. The remedy? Get up a half an hour “earlier” on Sunday and again on Monday and get lots of sunlight. Have you seen much sunlight in Mt. Pleasant this weekend?

My wife and daughter have no problem adjusting to DST. Their internal clock must be digital. My internal time piece is a grandfather clock, with the pendulum swinging between my socks. I have to agree with Ebenezer Scrooge on this one: Bah! Humbug!

Senators Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) have moved to curtail federal money going to National Public Radio and The Public Broadcasting Service.

Last week, a poll found that 69 percent of the public, including more than half the Republican faithful, oppose attempts to stop federal funding for public media.

This bill if enacted will affect CMU and the mid Michigan area. Both WCMU tv and fm broadcasts bring programming not available elsewhere. Nova, Antiques Road Show, This Old House, Masterpiece Theatre, and the PBS News Hour provide pleasure and information regularly. Public radio features classical music Monday through Friday during the day, and a vast array of musical styles during the night and weekends. Activities in the community are regularly featured, and would have no alternative if these stations fail.

Funding for PBS programs comes from a variety of sources: member stations' dues, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, government agencies, foundations, corporations and private citizens. The majority of funding is distributed through a PBS general fund and projects considered for funding are evaluated based on Content Priorities Criteria found on the PBS web site.

If you enjoy any of the programs offered on public radio and television please contact your representatives in Washington about your concerns.

On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 10:23 AM, Timothy Caldwell wrote:
The Isabella County Apportionment Commission will meet Monday, March 7, in the Isabella County Building, room 225. The meeting time has been changed from 9:00AM to 10:00AM. We will have a limited agenda- reviewing available software and, I hope, voting to order it.

The change in the meeting time may or may not be posted on the county calendar because the County Clerk is on vacation. We changed the time because the Chair of the Commission, Larry Burdick, was informed that he will have to be in court at 9:00 (he is the County Prosecutor).

MAEA List of pieces moving on to Lansing for Jury

The Michigan Art Educators Association provided this information: Region 12 has only 35 members this year and one pending…so we could only have 18 sent on. The numbers chosen at each level were in ratio to the number of entries in each level. Note the many Mt. Pleasant students and art teachers.

High School Level

Sarah Bromm - Painting - Houghton Lake High School - Teacher: Elaine McDaniel
Candice Blair - Painting - John Glenn High School/Bay City - Teacher: Amy Pobanz
Jamie Reder - Painting - John Glenn High School /Bay City - Teacher: Amy Pobanz
Rebecca Ross - Painting - H.H. Dow High School/Midland - Teacher: Carol Lewin
Holly Mauch - Paper Mache - Midland High School - Teacher: Jeanne Townsend
Emilee Monville - Bronze Sculpture - Midland High School - Teacher: Jeanne Townsend
Chris Rothhaar - Bronze Sculpture - Midland High School - Teacher: Jeanne Townsend
Caitlyn Straley - Soapstone Sculpture - Midland High School - Teacher: Jeanne Townsend
Fatima Ugur - Drawing - Mt Pleasant High School - Teacher: Therese Lunsford

Middle School Level

Madelynn Henrie - Cut Paper - Fancher Elem/MS/Mt Pleasant - Teacher: Sigrid Wood
Alexia Wieferiech - Cut Paper - Fancher Elem/MS/Mt Pleasant - Teacher: Sigrid Wood

Elementary School Level

Rayferd Ralph - Gyotaku Fish Print - Auburn Elementary /Bay City - Teacher: Diane Brown
Eric Urbaniuak - Tempera Painting - McAlear Sawden Elementary/Bay City - Teacher: Colleen DeSanto
Rebecca Dengel - Tempera Painting - McAlear Sawden Elementary/Bay City - Teacher: Colleen DeSanto
Amber Rytlewski - Tempera Painting - McAlear Sawden Elementary/Bay City - Teacher: Colleen DeSanto
Morgan Vandenberg - Tempera Painting - Mackensen Elementary/Bay City - Teacher: Colleen DeSanto
Fitz Neeley - Crayon/watercolor - Fancher Elementary/Mt Pleasant - Teacher: Sigrid Wood
Blake Aylor - Block Print- Fancher Elementary/Mt Pleasant - Teacher: Sigrid Wood