Annual Maple Leaf Festival Activities.

The Carthage Chamber of Commerce will host the 36th Annual Maple Leaf Festival beginning Saturday, Oct. 12th and running through Saturday, Oct. 19th. The annual event, which brings over 60,000 visitors to the local community, is being cosponsored by the Carthage Press, KMXL/KDMO, Leggett & Platt, Inc., McCune-Brooks Hospital, and Southwest Missouri Bank.

"Maple Leaf is always a wonderful time of year for Carthage," said Cheryle Finley, Maple Leaf Chair. "And we have lots planned for the entire week."

As in past years, the week-long festival will kick-off with the Maple Leaf Queen, Junior Miss and Little Miss and Mr. Pageant on the 12th and will conclude with the day-long celebration on the 19th. Special activities will be held throughout the week including a Fun Walk, talent show, and baby contest. Activities planned for the 19th include the Maple Leaf Parade, car show, over 80 craft booths and vendors, band competition, live entertainment, dog show, and plenty of games and high-adventure fun!

The theme for this year’s festival is Patriotic Carthage. The festival design, which is featured on the festival brochure and shirts, was created by Jean Smith of Dynamic Signs and features a pen and ink drawing of the courthouse by Chris Brown, owner of the Carthage Deli.

"The courthouse is one of the key attractions known to Carthage," said Betty Saferite Maple Leaf Co-Chair. "Tying the landmark into festival design I think will help promote the city and the festival all in one."

Applications for craft and vendor booth space for the festivities on the 19th, Maple Leaf Parade, baby contest, queen pageant and car show are available at the Chamber office. Also festival brochures. For further information about the Carthage Chamber or upcoming Chamber events, contact the Chamber office at 358-2373.

artCentral Members Participate in MGA.

news release from artCentral

ArtCentral’s opening for the Tom Edward’s exhibit, "Soul Food to Go," was well attended and everyone appeared to have a good time. This show will continue to be on display until September 27. Then in October, Verneil Roper’s watercolor and mixed media paintings will be on exhibit. We are looking forward to seeing more of her work.

The pottery room is continuing to see good use, especially by some of our younger members. Thanks to Kim Kissel for sharing her knowledge and time.

September is almost here and the next event will be the Midwest Gathering of the Artists at the Samuel J. Butcher North Convention Center on September 7th and 8th. ArtCentral has eight members who are participating artists. If you look around town, you may see a preview of some of the pieces which will be included in the art show and auction. Some of the types of work offered by our members include watercolor, antler art, oil, acrylic, sculpture, and pottery. The art show and sale on Saturday and Sunday is free and open to the public. If you come by you’ll be able to meet the artists and you might even see me there, Lee, a real person on staff at artCentral.

New Hours: Tuesday – Friday 11-5
Sunday Noon to 5 • Closed Mon. & Sat.
1110 E. 13th 358-4404
ozarkartistscolony.com

After years of listenin' to the variety of telemarketers give their patter durin' supper time, ya start to give 'em ratings.

The easy ones to hang up on are the pushy type. They always start with some cute remark about the weather. 'Course most of 'em are in different time zones and don't have a clue 'bout the climate in these parts. The real friendly ones get shot down the quickest.

There are some ya gotta feel a little sorry for. They stumble over the words as they try to get enthused about the product they are pushin' today. I've even listened to a complete pitch from a couple, just ta give 'em practice. I give 'em a few kind words and tell 'em not to get too discouraged. They have a tough job and are goin' to get a lot of no's. Then I tell 'em to take me off the list and not to call again. Figure they might as well get the full lesson.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Oak Street health & herbs

Natural Nutrition

By Mari An Willis

In 1994 the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was passed to regulate the dietary supplement industry. Part of this Act was to be sure that the labeling of natural food products was accurate and did not make false claims on labels under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration or FDA. So, contrary to what you may frequently hear, the supplements are FDA regulated. Funding was increased to the FDA by $1.5 million for the enforcement of the dietary labeling laws, and $3 million to upgrade the Adverse Event Reporting system used by the FDA to document labeling violations.

According to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who lobbied for passage of this bill, "there are adequate laws in place to stop the few unscrupulous manufacturers who are casting a shadow over the consumer marketplace." These products can show up in some odd places where businesses are not concerned about the quality of herb and supplements as it is not a primary business for them, or, worse yet, they do not care to know. What I do know as an "olde timer" in this natural food industry is that it is "hot" now and there are way too many upstarts who do not care about quality, or overall effect of the product. However, I do not believe more regulation is the solution. As in all good things, knowledge is the key component. We do not need new regulations, which may ultimately limit our access to many key nutrients and alternative modalities, we just need to support the law that is already in place. If you want more information on the direction the industry may be led to...check CODEX and find out for yourself.