Spring Open House Tomorrow.

Downtown merchants are preparing for the Spring Open House ‘Round the Square scheduled for tomorrow. Specials by merchants to attract shoppers to the Square for spring and Easter shopping include:

Sports World - a big blow out sale on all winter merchandise. Bee’s Variety & Ben Franklin - all spring items will be on sale. Oldies & Oddities - door prizes and refreshments. Dollar’s Worth - refreshments and door prizes. Young’s Terrific T’s - register to win a "I love historic Carthage" t-shirt. Carthage Deli - special discounts and house lunch specials. Dry Gulch - with a $10 purchase you may register to win a $115 quilt. Goad’s Antiques - special discounts and lots of new items for spring. Carthage Hardware - spring plants and vegetables will be in and a St. Patrick potato special. From the Heart Craft Mall - register to win a barnwood wishing well, free demonstrations all day, in store specials. Front Page - 75% off all green dots. Corner Cupboard - discounts throughout the store. Maple Leaf Marketplace - in store specials on oak & primitive furniture. Lou’s News - everyday and Christmas items on sale and Lunch specials.

Letter to the Editor

Opinions expressed reflect those of the writer
and not necessarily those of the Mornin' Mail.

Good Morning,

I would like to share my thoughts on the fireworks controversy. I have lived in Carthage nearly my entire life, and have participated in or observed the tradition of shooting fireworks all of those years. In my neighborhood, fireworks are set off constantly from the time they are available for sale until a few days after the fourth. I have also noticed an increase in celebrating New Years with the shooting of fireworks. This year, in fact, my family watched some nice aerial works that were being shot several blocks south of our house. I am sure this happens all over our city. My point is why have laws that are unenforceable, all it does is create frustration for both the police and the populace. The number of people, which I believe is significant, who are celebrating Independence Day by shooting off fireworks should be a message to the City Council. I believe that Chief Veach would confirm that this occurs city wide, which in itself speaks of the wishes of the populace. I know for a fact that while some of the perpetrators are "those young men" a lot are also families enjoying an American tradition.

Secondly, I am always cynical when any form of government is wanting to take one more thing away from me in the interest of my safety. I am quite capable of deciding if a particular endeavour can be done by me or by my family in a safe manner. A classic example is the fact that my family can no longer enjoy ice skating on Kellogg Lake. This is a tradition that goes back to my school days, a long time ago. In those "good ole days," the Fire Department provided lights, and would even spray water on the ice late in the evening to insure a smooth surface for the next day. Imagine my surprise to find that a cherished activity that my family and I have enjoyed for at least 50 years is so unsafe that the City had to call a halt to protect its citizens.

While I respect the rights of the "safetycrats," I would rather enjoy my life and teach my children the thrills you can enjoy by calculating the risk involved, then successfully accomplish a risky endeavour, as opposed to hiding in your cocoon waiting for your government to find some way to make your sterile life even safer, at my expense.

Thanks for listening,

Mike Harris

603 E. 3rd, Carthage

Fundraiser in Near Future...

by Robin Putnam, artCentral

We get a lot of phone calls on Mondays.....when we're closed. Folks usually leave us messages which is great.

However........if you're wanting information about our organization or a membership form it is best to state that and then leaveyou address......clearly. As an organization that lives day to day on donations and membership dues we can't afford to return long distance phone calls. We will gladly mail out any and all of our promotional materials if we have a name and address.

Another thing..........we are not in the habit of giving out our member's home phone numbers. Nine times out of ten these people can be found in your local phone book. When messages are left and someone is looking for one of our members it is our policy to give our member the number of who ever is looking for them. So if you need this kind of info leave us your name and number and we will pass it along.

We are pleased to announce that the angry creature with all the sharp teeth that was trying to eat it's way out of our new storage area has left the building !! Unfortunately not before it ate through a new two by four, threw insulation all over the place, knocked down three ladders and wee-weed all over our stuff.........now guess who gets the lovely job of removing all that stuff and washing it off.......... it's a good thing it was such a cute little thing or we'd be really mad !! Take heed........racoons locked up without food or water can get very nasty !! Cute little faces.......but a nasty temperament !!

Our new computer is awesome !! Jason was truly our knight in shining armor !! We thank him again for all his help !! This shiny new black machine really purrs !! Even better Jason was able to hook it up to our old printer !! Yay for Hewlett

Packard printers......hard working and long lasting !! We print out everything we possibly can from this machine and it keeps chugging along !! Between our quarterly newsletters, calendar of events, activities flyers and literally thousands of invitations this baby has been there for us !! Now if we can just get the hang of the new computer we will be back in the fast lane !!

On a more serious note.......we are looking to have a fund raiser in the near future. We have what we feel is a very good idea and want to pursue it. But alas.......we need volunteers.

We have a few kind and generous souls who have already enlisted ( and some who are indentured ) but would love to have a lot more warm and willing bodies.......so.......if anyone out there would like to help please call and sign yourself up !! We haven't started any meetings yet so you aren't missing anything.

What do you say.......give a little bit...... April 12th will be the next exhibit opening and we will have Clydine Ridenhour, Springfield, in the main gallery and Janet Carpenter, Kansas City, in the Member's Gallery.

More next week......For more info call 358-4404. Hours : Tuesday - Saturday 9am - 3pm. 1110 E. 13th Street and www.ozarkartistscolony.com

A couple a clarifications to finish off the week.

I continue to type not what I’m thinkin’ for some reason. J.D. Whitledge is Chair of the Public Safety Committee, not the Public Services Committee as was reported in yesterday’s paper. Larry Ross is Chair of Public Services. The two don’t look alike, nor do the Committee’s do similar jobs, but if my memory serves me right, J.D. was at one time Chair of the Public Services Committee. Old habits die hard.

I was also assured that the start up funds for the CVB for incorporating the not-for-profit organization will come from private sources, not the Lodging Tax funds. A good start for a promising endeavor.

Stop by the Square tomorrow, somethin’ goin’ on all day.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Oak Street health & herbs

Natural Nutrition

by Mari An Willis

The dry air is playing havoc with peoples sinuses these days. People are complaining of dryness and/or dripping. Either way, it is an uncomfortable feeling.

One of the easiest ways to help with the dryness is to get a saline solution and spray it up your nostrils. I have personally mixed a wee bit (drop or two) or tea tree oil in the bottle with the spray as it has a reputation for helping to kill off the stuff that grows in dark damp places! My method, which may or may not work for you, is to shake the bottle VERY well and then spray. The first time I mixed this up I put in too much tea tree oil and it irritated my nostrils. Another example of: if a little is good, a lot is not necessarily better. Also keeping dampness in the air makes a considerable difference. If you are stuffed up and just can't get any relief from that stuffy pressure, horseradish will help to open them up and has some antibacterial properties. Eat a little on a cracker or, better yet, get a formula like ALJ which has a wonderful combination of horseradish to open the sinuses; boneset, which has traditionally been used to help stop pain and aching "in the bones" associated with flu-like symptoms; mullein, which is a primary lung herb and a natural pain reliever; fennel and fenugreek which are well known for their ability to remove mucous from the system. This formula is a most popular remedy.

Now that dripping thing. Among the naturalists, it is said "better out than in," which would mean not to dry up the sniffles. This can be a test of character and pretty inconvenient at times. If you must dry it up, you may want to try a formula like SN-X or many of the homeopathic remedies especially formulated for sinus conditions.

Do remember that these conditions will require blowing and with blowing comes the necessity for proper disposal of tissues. It is imperative that we practice good hygiene during these times. Washing ha hands is a top priority ... hey, they re even saying that on TV now! Prevention is much easier than curing. If you have to pass on something contagious ... MAKE IT A SMILE.