And exactly who is this St. Valentine?

 

 

February - oh, the month of love. What do you think of? Hearts? Roses? Chocolate? Everybody has bought into this commercialized holiday but do we even know where it came from? Why do we spend money (and hopefully time) on this day to show the ones we love, that we, well, love them?

 

One legend exists that Valentine was a Catholic priest who served in ancient Roman times. When Emperor Claudius declared that single men where not able to marry because they made better soldiers than husbands, Valentine continued to marry these young men in secret. Valentine was sentenced to death when the emperor realized what he was doing. Not really the happy ending we all hope for, huh?

 

The holiday is celebrated in the US, Canada, the UK, Mexico and Australia to name a few.  Americans began exchanging and celebrating in the 1700's. In 1840 the first commercialized valentine card (with lace and all) was sold.

 

It is also the second largest day for card giving, Christmas ranks first. I would like to note that 85% of the card purchasers are women. Women? Oh wait, men purchase 73% of the flowers. So, it pretty much equals out.

 

Interesting Valentine Facts:

 

• Most cards are purchased in the week of Valentine's making it a Procrastinator's holiday.
• 220,000 is the average number of wedding proposals on Valentine's Day each year. (I wonder how many babies are born 9 months later)
• About 3 percent of pet owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets.
• Teachers will receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.
• AND, more than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine's Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shining Waters, Montana?

Missoula is a beautiful, little town that over 68,000 of us call home, but do you know any of the history of our awesome town?

Missoula is a Salish Indian word meaning "by the shining waters".

*Founded in 1860 and originally called the Hell Gate Village.

*Lewis & Clark were in the area twice during their expedition

*In 1883 Northern Pacific Railway arrived to help booster the economy and lifestyle.

*1893 brought the first university in Montana to Missoula - University of Montana.

*The second largest city in Montana.

*In 1908 the US Forest Service came to town and in 1942 started training smokejumpers.

*Approximately 45 miles from the Idaho border.

*13,000 years ago Missoula was the bottom of a lake.

*Home to the International Heart Institute - St. Patrick's Hospital.

*The Norman Maclean book "A River Runs Through It" is based on the Missoula area.

 

Flags at Half Staff

 

When I see the flag at half staff I am immediately sadden. Sometimes I have to question why but sometimes it is obvious why it is there.  This made me realize I don't know where this tradition came from and talking to others they don't either. Here are some facts about the ritual that began in the 17th century. 

     *The term is half mast and not half mass

     *Half mast is the term describing flying a flag below the summit of the flagpole (mast). This is done in many countries as a symbol of respect and mourning.

     *Only flags on ships are flown at half mast, on land they are at half staff (interesting tid bit)

     *The US code establishes when they flag should be flown at half staff. See website       http://halfstaff.org/ for the whens and whys.

     *On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff

     *By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory

     *The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President

     *10 days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives

     *Federal law requires the flag be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15), unless that day is also Armed Forces Day

     *New legislation was signed into effect on June 29, 2007, by President Bush, requiring any federal facility within a region, which proclaims half-staff to honor a member of the U.S. Armed Forces who died during active duty.

     * The United States of America is not the only country to observe this tradition. Other countries include; the UK, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Russia, New Zealand and Israel, just to name a few.

Oh Christmas Tree

It's that time of year again where you either pull your tree out of a box in your garage, find a local lot or cut your own Christmas tree down.  Whether you let the kids put up all their homemade ornaments or you decorate a tree Martha Stewart would be proud of, most US homes will be going through the process of putting up the perfect tree in the next few weeks.

Here are a few local places to start if you are in need -

• The Missoula Lions annual tree sale at the Fairgrounds. Profits go towards sight conservation and related projects are heavily emphasized for needy children and adults.
• The tree lot next Jokers Wild on North Reserve is using their profits to support local youth sports.  They offer delivery and pick up - 406-241-1450
• To cut your own down you need to get a permit. Permits are $5 a piece with a limit of 3 per family. They can be attained at the Lolo National Forest Rangers office located at Fort Missoula.

Can the Cats: A win, win for all

 

The 13th annual "Can the Cat" food drive starts tomorrow, November 3rd in Missoula.  The competition between UM Grizzlies and MSU Bobcats benefits the Missoula Food Bank.  The winner will be announced during the Brawl of the Wild, November 17th, 2012.

The Cats "claim" to have won most of the food drives, but, really the needy families in the Missoula and Bozeman areas are the real winners. We could always remind the Cats we have more wins on the football field!

The competition is based on weight, so heavier items like canned goods are best.  Cash donations are accepted and rated at $1.60 = 1 lb of food.  In the past over 40,000 pounds of food has been collected and every year they like to add to the last years numbers by at least 10,000+. The most requested items are tuna fish and peanut butter.

Albertsons will again have prepacked donation bags that can be purchased at the check out.  And this year, you can text NOURISH to 20222 and a one-time donation of $10.00 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance.  How easy is that? Boy, I love technology! There are no excuses not to get involved.

We would like to encourage businesses to challenge each other to competitions to see who can collect the most.  Let's give local families food on their tables AND Can the Cats!!!

Some local donation drop offs are: Missoula Food Bank, Karl Tyler Chevrolet, all Missoula Federal Credit Union locations, Noon stores, Orange Street Food, Mansfield Library, Worden's, Grizzly Grocery and Good Food Store just to name a few. To find out more "like" Can the Cats Canned Food Drive on Facebook or visit www.missoulafoodbank.org.

So what are you waiting for? There are no excuses to not get involved and Can those Cats!

U of M by the numbers

With a new school year beginning here is some interesting info on the local college in our little college town:

Total Applicants for 2011: 6092 with a 94% acceptance rate

In State Tuition: $5,476                                       Out of State Tuition: $17,764 (yikes!)

Student Faculty Ratio: 19:1                                  Graduation Rate: 44% (yikes again!)

Programs/Majors Offered: 108                             Out of State Students: 30%

Student Population by age: 18-19: 26%  20-21: 26% 22-24: 21% 25+: 26%

Campus Housing capacity: 3,425 with 79% being freshman

Current capacity of Washington-Grizzly Stadium: 25,217 with 49 private boxes

Grizzly Football players: 97 with 13 coaches

And let's hope at least 11 wins for the 2012 season! Up with Montana boys!

12 Olympic Facts You May Not Have Known

*The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana, and every national flag in the world includes one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red.

*Three continents – Africa, South America, and Antarctica – have never hosted an Olympics.

*Up until 1994 the Olympics were held every four years. Since then, the Winter and Summer games have alternated every two years.

*The last Olympic gold medals that were made entirely out of gold were awarded in 1912.

*Badminton, table tennis, and handball are the only official sports in which the U.S. has never won a medal.

*It wasn't until 1900 that women were allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.

*The earliest Olympic athlete was 10 and the oldest 60.

*The 1936 Berlin Olympics (also known as the ‘Nazi’ Olympics) were the first Olympic games to be televised.

*The Olympic games have been cancelled three times due to war; 1916, 1940 & 1944.

* London is the first city to ever host a modern Olympics three times.

*For the London 2012 Games, each medal is approximately 3.35 inches (85 mm) in diameter, about a quarter inch (.28 inches or 7 mm) in thickness, and weighs between 375-400 grams (13.2 to 14.1 ounces). The medals will be the heaviest and largest medals in Olympic history.

*Also more than $193,250 will be used to plate the medals that will be given out in the 2012 London Olympic games.

* And one last fact that I am sure you are now aware of, Michael Phelps, is the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals, 18 being gold.  Did I mention he is an American? Go USA!!!!