Today's Feature

Both Muddy and Fun.

Mudstock, the annual mud obstacle course for kids, will be held Saturday, July 22nd from noon to 3:00 p.m. Parents interested in enabling their children to become caked in mud will be pleased to know that Mudstock is the appropriate venue to accomplish this feat.

The obstacle course includes swings (for initial entry into the mud), hills of mud (for climbing over), trenches (for swimming through) and many large pits of mud which must be navigated in order to reach the other side. Once the other side is reached, children may feel compelled to start over.

A large fire-hose, historically, is sprayed from a firetruck ladder raised up to the sky, so that children may partially clean themselves prior to re-entering the family car.

Mudstock is a free event for Carthage kids, and is held in the field behind Wal-Mart.

The slogan for this year’s Mudstock is "Good clean drug-free fun". A signed permission form is required to attend, as well as a shirt, shorts (or jeans), shoes (no sandals or flip-flops) and socks.

Participant’s shoes are taped to their feet with multiple layers of duct tape, to decrease the chances of shoe-loss in the mud pits.

Parents and guardians of kids 12 and under must stay on the grounds.

Stench Report:
Thursday,
7/20/06

No Stench Detected on Carthage
Square

In our family at least, there is as much care given in the placement and quantities of ice and salt, the speed of the crankin’ and the ideal time to quit turnin’ as ever is considered in the kitchen. ‘Course the men have traditionally taken care of the mechanical end of the process, but the women have never been bashful about advice on the matter.

I say care is given, that’s because ever’one seems to - care that is. This last batch I was involved in, we didn’t put the traditional burlap sack on top. Don’t know if it made much difference, it just seemed to be missin’ somethin’, but they ate it anyway.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Soy foods have been making the headlines for their important role in hormonal balance and part they play in the prevention and protection of various cancers. Soybeans are a powerhouse of proteins and among a few legumes considered a complete protein, meaning they contain all the essential amino acids. Soybeans are relatively high in fat, the necessary, I repeat, necessary unsaturated fats. The following are just a few items readily available to get your daily dose of soy.

Soy Sauce, also known as shoyu, is an Asian condiment made from soy, wheat and salt. Wheat-free is called tamari (delicious)! Reduced sodium types are available at health stores.

Textured vegetable protein (TVP) is a high protein food produced by processing defatted soy flour to extract most of its soluble sugars. Try using TVP in place of meat in chili, stews, and casseroles. Very easy to use, cheap and most people can’t tell the difference in "taco" meat and the like. Several ready mix packages are available or try soaking the large chunks in spaghetti sauce for several hours...instant meatballs. Cookbooks available.

Tofu can be used in many ways. The important thing about tofu is to be sure you store it right so you can love the flavor! Always store in water in the refrigerator any unused portion and rinse daily. Best used within 3 - 4 days. Tofu will pick up the flavor of marinade and is excellent in stir fry.

artCentral
Art Notes from Hyde House
By Sally Armstrong, Director of artCentral

A wild week has passed at the Hyde House, but we are catching our breath a little now! A new quarterly newsletter went out last Thursday to the 200 members and will now be available to pick up here or at a few locations in town. Friday was the official Opening of the fourth show of this year’s calendar, and quite a nice group came out for refreshments and to meet the artist, Josie Ferrantelle, who is from Kansas City. The show is entitled "Elegant Abstractions" and is primarily oil and encaustic wax paintings and a group of hand built and colored ceramic tiles. Josie’s art is very colorful and large, so it has appeal I think to our young people who are holding their children’s artCamp here all this week, and the next. And so that brings me to the third and last big event we have been planning for a long time, that being children’s artCamp. Today featured a clay class called "Animal Vessels" and was taught by Randy Wright, from Joplin, a veteran artCamp teacher since 2001. Our other class today, taught by Anne-Marie Gailey of Joplin. "Oz and Castle Building" included the study of several whimsical structures famous from literature and the movies, and models are being constructed by the kids. Both classes today were full, with 12+ students each, but other days this week will be calmer and a bit smaller. We do still have some openings in classes next week, so call for information if you are interested in knowing what might still be available. Classes are held every day but Sunday until the 29th, and include many mediums and themes, as well as a great team of 5 different teachers. This is a tradition of artCentral, and is a great offering to the community, enabling children to explore different areas of art in a fun setting. It’s 12 days, 17 different class choices--- a great opportunity!