All Day Long.

The City sponsored July 4th celebration, promoted as "Red, White, & Boom," was an all day event for many families according to Parks Administrator Alan Bull.

Activities were planned from Wednesday morning until the $20,000 fireworks display at dark. The expanded celebrations was begun as a special millennium tribute last year and the City Council felt the community wanted it to continue and appropriated the money for this year also.

According to Bull, approximately $20,000 in additional funds were donated by various organizations and businesses to offset the expense of promotions, all day entertainment, and other various activities.

The hot weather is one factor attributed by some organizers to the lower than expected turnout during the day. Some vendors still were happy with the crowd and the days sales reported Bull.

Although there are no official estimates of the number of people attending the fireworks display, the time needed to exit Municipal Park after the show, compared to former years, would indicate a larger than normal turnout.

MGA Information Out Already!

by Robin Putnam, artCentral

We hope everyone enjoyed their little holiday earlier this week. As usual the fireworks display was unbelievably beautiful !! And weren’t we lucky to have a little rain early to wash the dust off of everything and then have such a wonderful afternoon and evening.

Our Membership Show will be over as of July 14th so if you haven’t gotten by yet there is still some time to do so.

Some of our members will be participating in an art show and sale at the Ronald McDonald House this weekend. There are quite a few artists in the show this year so be sure and swing by there on Saturday or Sunday and see all the talented local folks and their work !!

A lot of info is already out about this year’s Midwest Gathering of Artists. Sandy has supplied all the participating artists with packets providing all the details such as where, when and who. This September 8 and 9 the show will be set up at the Precious Moments North Convention Center ( same place it has been for the last few years) . The art auction is on Saturday evening and begins at 7pm with the preview beginning at 6pm. There will be wine and hors d’oeuvres and tickets are sixteen dollars each. Tickets can be purchased through Sandy Higgins anytime between now and the day of the auction.

There are 37 artists this year with at least 18 of them being "local". One of the mediums this year will be ceramics by Jack Sours. He spends hours and hours carving intricate Celtic designs on his massive, hand-thrown storage jars, bean pots and urns. It takes him three full days to fire one kiln load !! Truly awesome art !! Other artCentral members will have oil paintings, stained glass, stone sculptures, antler sculptures, watercolor, color pencil, pastel and mixed media !!

Sam Butcher will have a special exhibit and there will be artist demonstrations. Admission to the show on Saturday and Sunday is free. This is the 24th annual MGA and we hope everyone will come out and support the artists !!

Our next opening will be July 27th. Paula Giltner and Donna Still.

More.........next week. 358-4404. 1110 E 13th & www. ozarkartistscolony.com

Tues. - Sat 9am - 3pm.

Whether or not you appreciate the expanded acclivities and expense of the July 4th celebration, the folks who worked for the last six or eight months planning and organizing the event are to be congratulated.

As is typically the case, a handful of folks dedicated themselves to weekly meetings and hours of other commitment to the project. Nearly all details from budget to last minute decisions were carried out by the Red, White and Boom Committee chaired by Gloria Lawrence.

Also to be commended are the City employees who work the holiday so the rest of us can enjoy the day. Police, Fire, and Parks Department personnel put in long hours in the heat and help make the event a success. Salute.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Oak Street health & herbs

Natural Nutrition

by Mari An Willis

This is a great time to drink your healthy green drinks. Among my favorite is the simplist...blend 1/3 bunch of parsley with 1 cup of pineapple juice (preferably from a glass bottle) with some ice and enjoy. The ease of this drink is that you can also add a variety of your other powered supplements and not have to swallow a mornings worth of capsules. The parsley serves as a source of chlorophyll which freshens the body, it is rich drink with lots of natural potassium. Many herbalists have found that it can be used as an alternative to water retention drugs.

Pineapple is not only refreshing, but has beneficial properties of it’s own. It is a source of bromelain which is an effective anti-inflammatory and digestive aid. Bromelain is a digestive aid, so definitely go for the glass jars as the taste can be affected by the container. If you cannot deal with the water retention in this hot and humid weather.

There are several powdered green drink available on the market today. You may think yuk! but until you have tried some, don’t discard the idea. It makes it easy to get a good days nutrition and to get vegetable fiber. Our lives are changing and these drink may be come as common as the hamburger, I remember when the first McDonald’s came to Springfield. I bet until then, most people weren’t eating a hamburger a day! Eating habits can and are going to be changed as our times change. Just like my 4 year old grandson who has developed a liking for salad just because he started to eat it, we can begin to add "unusual" things to our diet and soon we will be used to the taste and feeling our bodies have when they are nourished properly.