• RV2003 Reunion Update

• A Trip Down Memory Lane _Detroit/Windsor 2001

• AIFR _ Rivard Association Report

• Anna Schlosser Voted November's FMOTM

• Autobio of Dorothy Geissler _ October's FMOTM

• French Footprints in Northwestern Wisconsin

• Eerie Research Experiences

• Oct. Forum Topic's & Highlights

• Oct. Chat News & Topic Highlights

• Chef Rivard

• Trivia & Humor Corner

• The Editor's Corner _ "Suicide, a Teen Speaks Out"

As most of you know Larry sent his RV2003 reunion update to the forum on November 7^th. He had a huge list of things that were going on, none of which had anything to do with the reunion. However, it would seem that besides from being chairperson of RV2003 Larry is definitely a busy man. Don't know about you … but I doubt if I'd be able to keep up with his agenda. Although we don't have anything we report on the reunion in 2003 this month, we do have a memory to share from the Forum's last reunion in Detroit/Windsor.

Friday was very hot. We were all out on the terrace. Below us was the park and some of the tall ships. The kids were running around and everyone was trying to say hello and find out who everyone was. We had our meal inside. Thank goodness for the air conditioning. After dinner everyone sort of mingled and talked. We met Bob Rivard and his son Mark. They are the closest relatives we met. Bob and Leo's mom would be second cousins and Mark and Leo are third cousins. The kids had a lot of fun with them Mark even took out his guitar a little later and the kids surprised him by knowing the Beatles' song "Blackbird". The kids also had a lot of fun with "The Bubble Lady" Janice Rivard. We had a great time the whole weekend, but as they say first impressions are important. [Mary Clor]

The 16^th AIFR Board meeting was held in Drummondville, Québec, on November 10th. Much time was spent on the final details on the November 24^th conference by René Kévesque. Other subjects discussed were: the next issue of La Rivardière, for march/April 2002. Some of the articles already announced are: the 350^th anniversary of the wedding of Nicolas Rivard and Catherine Saint-Père, by André Dufresne, and the 300^th anniversary of the arrival of the first Rivards in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade by Réal Lanouette. The next AGM could be held on the premises of the old Rivard-Lanouette house in Sainte-Anne, dating back to the early 1700's. Another anniversary in 2002 is the 340^th of the arrival of Robert Rivard, sieur de Loranger in New France in 1662. But this subject was covered by André Dufresne in the vol. 1 no. 3 of La Rivardière. The current issue is being put in the mail this week.

The AIFR is currently trying to convince the present owner of the artifacts found on the site of Nicolas Rivard's house in Batiscan to donate them either to the museum of the Old Rectory in Batiscan or to the AIFR for their permanent preservation and study.

Our November Forum Member of the Month is a remarkable gal who is in the process of compiling a book of all the Rivard obituaries that she can find and that are sent to her. Anna was one of the original cousins who started the forum with Mary Ann Mickey. She resides in Michigan and has been enjoying her lovely new home near the water. Anna has overcome some adversities in her life and is a very strong person. We look forward to reading about your life's story next month, Anna. Congratulations!

Dorothy Geissler, better known as Dot, is a true Rivard. She just spells her maiden name (Revor) funny and being funny is a trademark of hers. She is the cousin with all the trivia and humor on the forum. When asked how and when did she connect Revor to Rivard, she said that she has always known that her grandfather's original name was Rivard. He changed it when he was a young man so that he could get a job on the railroad because they were only hiring one person from each family. Her great uncles spelled the name Revoir and Rivard. Dot really isn't obsessed with genealogy like some of us are. She is really just interested in her roots and doesn't get carried away by it all so she has not encountered any resistance from her family. Her greatest joy is meeting all of the cousins that she never knew she had.

Dot doesn't do any genealogical research herself; she just leaves that to all of her cousins and says she just leeches off of them so she has no interesting documentation or stories to share that she has found. And as far as favorite research resources or URLs that were helpful, Dot lists the cousins on the forum. So if she doesn't do any research, how did she find her connection to Nicolas? Her dad's sister had a book about the Rivards that she had read. There was enough information from her aunt and the book that when she gave all this information to Mary Ann Mickey, Mary Ann was able to connect her to her ancestors.

When comes to ghosts or pirates in the closet, she is not too sure about her maternal grandfather's legitimacy. It seems that Great grandmama may have fooled around a bit before she was married. Her grandfather Rivard did quite a bit of bootlegging. They had some huge hospital bills to pay and that was the only way to raise big bucks back then. Her grandmother would go with him on his routes when they pedaled the booze and of course they had to have a drink with the customers to be friendly and keep them happy. They both became alcoholics.

One day while reading the local paper, Dot saw an article that named a Rivard in Texas. This article listed the person's email address and so she sent him a message. She asked if they could be related. This person directed her to the Rivard Forum and she has been with us ever since.

Dot says that "Each and every one of you is precious and I couldn't possibly name one over the other" when asked if there was one member of the forum who helped her more than anyone else.

True to her nature, when asked what other surnames are being researched, her reply was, "What is a sur-name?"

Dot doesn't have any great plans for her future. She says she's been where she's going, but one never knows about the future. She is busy making crafts to sell for Christmas and may one day have to leave the big old house her grandfather built and where she has lived most all of her life. That could be the beginnings of a new adventure.

It was a cold and blustery day in January 1933 when I made my appearance into the world. The doctor brought me to the house in his little black bag. I was the second of six girls born to my parents, Lawrence and Theresa Revor.

We lived on a farm in Hallie, a small suburb of Chippewa Falls, W I. The house rested on a hill overlooking Lake Hallie. That lake was to become a place of horror in the summer of my fifth year.

A big family reunion was taking place. It was a hot, scorching day and all the children were sitting on the edge of the dock as it floated on the water. The dock stretched out a long way, but we were told to stay at the shallow end and were having a great time as we kicked and splashed the water. As we played, my little three-year-old sister, Esther slipped unnoticed beneath the green moss that floated on the surface of the lake. As supper time drew near, mother started calling us all to come and eat. We soon realized that Esther was no where to be found, and panic followed as a terrible dawning fear set in. A frantic search of the whole farm finally drew the searchers to the last place we could remember seeing her. Mother ran to the dock as the men started dragging the bottom. I can still hear my mother’s cries of anguish as they raised her tiny body up and lay her on the ground. All efforts to revive her were futile. The sobs of my mother echo in my mind and fifty years later, she still got tears in her eyes whenever Esther was mentioned.

We moved away from the farm shortly after that. I was five years old and the place that I had found so enchanting as a child, had become a source of constant reminder to my mother, of the danger and horror that lurked in that placid lake. She refused to stay there anymore. Beverly, my elder sister, and I had gone to a little one-room country schoolhouse until then. We transferred to Notre Dame Grade School in Chippewa and stayed at Aunt Mary’s for the first year because mother and the littler girls lived at Grandma’s house out in the country. Eventually, we all moved into this house (built by my grandfather) and my husband and I still live here today. Mother sold the house to us when it became to big for her to handle. This house is over 100 years old and we have done extensive remodeling over the years. There were five of us girls with Mother and Daddy: Beverly, Dorothy, Betty, Jo Ann and Darlene. Betty and Darlene are gone now.

When I was 12 years old, a car struck Daddy as he stepped from the curb downtown. He was an alcoholic and had been drinking heavily again. He died later that night as a result of the injuries sustained in the accident. I have few memories of my father, but, I am told he was well liked and a ‘jack of all trades'. I don’t recall him as ever being abusive when he drank and I know Mother loved him always, and never failed to ‘take’ him back and forgive and believe him when he promised never to drink again.

We grew up poor living on welfare. Mother hated that and got a job as soon as Darlene was out of school. We didn’t have money, but we had an abundance of love. Mother dedicated the rest of her life to us, and often went without herself, so that we could have some of the things that other girls had. The first thing I did when I got a job after school was buy her a blue dress with a white collar. She cried when I gave it to her. It was the first new dress she had in many years. She died at age 65 and I still miss her.

I first met Hank when he came to our school as a freshman in high school. He was called Sonny then and I thought he was the cutest thing I had ever seen. He didn’t notice me though. It was my best friend who caught his eye. For two years, I let her have him, but all things come to those who wait. One night, on the corner where the gang all gathered, I picked up a handful of snow and threw it at him to get his attention. We were juniors then and suddenly he looked at me differently. I think he finally realized what a gorgeous creature I was and we have been together ever since. It was destiny.

He joined the Air Force right out of high school in 1950 and we got married a year later. We lived in Baltimore for two years and after an early ‘out’ from the Air Force, we moved back here to Chippewa Falls to raise our family of six: three boys and three girls. Hank eventually became the Vice President of Anchor Bank. He is supposedly retired now, but still goes in to the office every day. It gives him something to do each day. Our children are listed below.

1. Gary, electrical engineer, married Susan and they have three boys. Live here in Chippewa Falls, WI

2. Mark, plastic surgeon, married Holly and they have two girls. Live in Marquette, MI.

3. Gail, nurse, married Tim Sullivan and they have two boys. Live here in Chippewa Falls, WI.

4. Cheri (twin) accountant, married Rachamim Raymond and they have eight boys and one girl. Live in Brooklyn, NY

5. Rene (twin) several degrees, none of which she uses, married Dr. Michael Flanagan and they have two girls and one boy. They live in Norwich, VT.

6. Steve, electrical engineer, married Terri Bertsch (divorced) has two girls and one son. Lives in Fort Collins, CO.

So, if you add them all up, we have 22 grandchildren. We count our many blessings. Hank and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary this October 13^th with a Mediterranean Cruise in August. The kids gave us that trip and it was a fabulous.

It is well known that the French early penetrated into the territory which is now Wisconsin. From that quarter came the best beaver brought down by the Indians to Canadian trading posts, and it was natural for traders to fix themselves as near as possible to the source of that fur which they coveted much. With this view some of them as Des Groselliers, appear to have traversed the region between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi before the year 1660. The same district was almost as long ago the scene of missionary labor. Missions were tried around Quebec, but soon given up in despair, owing to the nomadic habits of the aborigines there. They were at once transferred to Lake Simcoe, a little east of Lake Huron _ when it was ascertained that the tribes were there, during most of the year, sedentary in permanent dwellings. One Father was saying mass in that distant recess of the West in 1615, five years before the Plymouth pilgrims landed, _ and the mission grew and throve until 1649, when it was broken up by the New York Iroquois, who burned all its buildings, slaying or scattering priests and converts.

The fugitives in great part fled to Mackinaw, and some of them into Lake Superior, and towards its Western extremities, settling at LaPointe, and the Apostles Islands. But shepherd's follow their sheep, and so the Jesuits did not forget their converts. They were soon upon their track, and thus entered Wisconsin from the North. The first of these men was René Menard in 1660.

There is reason to think that French "fun-lovers" were on Wisconsin soil as early as any fur-traders, or ghostly fathers. Even in the second year after CHAMPLAIN had founded Quebec, one of this class, actuated by pure love of frolic and adventure, _ went home with Indians from the heart of the continent, near Lake Huron, and wandered with them a year where no white man's foot had even trod.

I am now reminded of the first French pioneers in Wisconsin by having visited an "earthworks", which may by possibility have been one of their foot-prints. The remains to which I refer to are in Barron County, about one mile southeast of the village of Rice Lake, _ in township 35 range 11 west, and section 27. They were visited by me, on the seventh of October 1880.

I found a ditch about a foot wide and a little less in depth, enclosing a square plot of ground fifty feet square. At two diagonal corners, _ namely, southwest & northwest, _ there are projections, indicating the sites of two flanking turrets. Near two sides of the enclosure are small heaps of flat stones, which may mark the spots where fires were made. Digging in the ground at various points, we discovered that it was under-laid everywhere with charcoal dust, at a depth of about three inches. Near the fireplaces we turned up a great quantity of bones. It seemed clear that a palisade had stood in the ditch. A resident of the neighborhood, Mr. JOHN BRACKLIN, told me he once dug up a stump of one of the poles or stakes, which was sharpened at the lower end, and that plainly, with a white man's ax.

This stockade stands on an eminence with an outlook on Rice Lake and a lake-let. The locality is called Pocagamah, a Chippewa word said to signify "Confluence". There is some underbrush on the site, but no tall trees are near.

On the saddle or isthmus between the lake and lake-let, there is a grading, or roadway, which was, as it is now is, when the oldest inhabitant came into the region. The embankment is about 600 feet in length, its width thirty feet at the base, and fifteen at the summit, its height from six to seven feet.

Regarding the causeway, I have no opinion, but think the fortification on it to be of French origin.

Indian works were irregular _ this is an exact square. They had no flankers, as may be seen in pictures of them drawn by CHAMPLAIN. Aztalan I consider a pre-Indian work. But here nothing is plainer than the provision for a flanking fire . Indian defenses were always larger than this, being intended to protect whole tribes. This, like many Hudson Bay posts today, is so small that it could shelter only one or two dwellings. My hope is to procure another stump from the palisade with ax marks _ still bearing witness of French pioneers. At the time of my visit the digging was all done with a broken ax-helve. The antique remains I have described stand in a section where beaver dams are still common, and beavers themselves are trapped every year. They would form a convenient midway station for voyageurs who, like Nicolas Perrot, more than two centuries ago, were often passing from the great lake to the great river, and back from the great river to the great lake.

Early settlers in Barron county _ where the first white child was born twenty-five years ago _ heard from the oldest Indians that the post of which I have given some account, was long occupied by a French fur trader named Augustin Corot, who was killed there by the Sioux well nigh a century ago. So much credit was given to these stories by many Barron County whites that they have dug into into the earth in several neighboring places as sanguine of unhoarding the buried cash of the murdered Frenchman, as any Yankee has been of excavating the strong box in which Captain KIDD buried his treasure along Long Island Sound. On JEFFEREY'S map of 1763 a fort is set down far up the St. CROIX and south of it, not far from the Rice Lake post.

In 1831, SCHOOLCRAFT, then Indian agent at Mackinaw, was ordered with Lieut. CLARY, and some forty men to explore the region south of the river St. Croix. On the 6^th of August, they found the trading house (no doubt a stockade) at Lake Chetek, burned. Now Chetek is only about a dozen miles from the ruin, which I explored and have been speaking of.

Some three years ago I visited LA SALLE'S castle _ Starved Rock, or the Rock of St. Louis _ on the Illinois river. My passage thither from Ottawa, like LA SALLE's, was in a row-boat. After climbing the cliff, we discovered on the plateau to the rear of it, clear signs of a stockade similar to that of which I have spoken in northern Wisconsin. Here the French under LA SALLE and his Lieutenant, the Italian TONTY, were established for more than thirty years onward from 1683.

The source for the above article is the Wisconsin Historical Library, Madison, Wisconsin.

About twenty years ago, sometime prior to 1983, the only information I had on my husband's family (Naze from Belgium) was that his great grandfather, Prosper Naze, had settled in the very small village of Rosiere in Door County, Wisconsin, in 1856. Glen's cousin's wife had found that out for me. There was little chance that I would learn any further information on this line at that time.

Our middle daughter lives in Pennsylvania. We had driven out there to visit her family and were on our way back home. Our plan was to stop in Savanna, Illinois, to visit friends who had moved there from Hopkins, MN. As we drove through eastern Illinois, Glen said that he was getting a terrible migraine headache and didn't feel much like visiting with anyone. We decided not to stop in Savanna but to continue on home. We stopped for the night in Madison, WI.

I usually look in the telephone book for names that I am researching whenever we stop. So I looked up "Naze". Sure enough, there was a "Brenda Naze". I called her, identified myself, and asked her if she knew who her ancestors were. She said yes as she had to make a 4-generation chart when she was in high school, and her father was Michael, her grandfather was Jean Baptiste, Jr., and her great grandfather was Jean Baptiste, Sr. As we talked, she asked me if I knew a Byron Glime from Inver Grove Heights, MN. He was her cousin, and his mother was a Naze. I said no, I didn't know him. She gave me his address and his telephone number.

When I got home, I called him. He asked me if I had ever seen the series of newspaper articles from the Algoma (WI) Record-Herald newspaper that told the whole story of the Belgians that settled in the area. I said no, and he said he would send me some copies. I did not know what a treasure of information was in store for me. The articles told how handbills had been distributed to taverns in Belgium telling about the advantages of settling in Wisconsin. One particular man had walked from his home in Grez-Doiceau, Belgium, to the City of Antwerp to transact some business. Since it was quite a trip and he was thirsty, he stopped in an inn for a glass of beer. He saw a pamphlet on another table nearby, picked it up and read it, even though it was written in Dutch. It told about the fertile land that could be bought for $1.25 an acre. It was the dream of every peasant in the Old World to own his own land, cultivate it, plant it and reap the harvest for himself. He put the pamphlet in his pocket and carried it home

After many weeks of talking with his neighbors and relatives, nine families made the decision to come to Wisconsin. When they arrived in Green Bay, the men walked south to look at the land that was for sale. It was very good, level land. They thought they would settle there. Fate was to intervene, though, for while the men were gone, one of the young boys died...a boy of five years. When the men got back home, the funeral arrangements had already been made. However, on the day of the boy's funeral, the local priest was visited by his friend, Father Edward Daems, who was pastor of a settlement in northeastern Wisconsin, an area known now as the Upper Peninsula of Wisconsin (Door and Kewaunee Counties). He talked them into visiting his parish. He said the soil was excellent and there were many French-speaking people already there. The decision was made to settle in Father Daems parish.

The articles continued and the whole story was told of the Belgians who settled in Door, Kewaunee and Brown Counties. Byron told me that he thought a booklet had been printed with all these articles in it. I was able to purchase one. The articles and booklet told of the arrival of Prosper Naze, the terrible fire of 1871 and how almost everyone lost their buildings and farm animals.

This was the beginning of an extensive search for more information on Glen's ancestors. We joined the Belgian-American Club of the Upper Peninsula of Wisconsin, went to Belgium twice, staying with members of the club there and finding Glen's cousins. At the time, and even now, this seemed almost eerie, almost as though it was all supposed to happen in just such a manner. Who knows?

This month was one of the slowest ever for messages sent over the forum. The only months that had a lower number of messages were the very first month the forum was in operation, February 1999 when only 2 messages sent, followed by May of 1999 with 194, June 1999 with 229 and July of 1999 with 194 messages. There was only 364 messages sent during the month of October 2001. We have one new cousin this month for a total of 307 cousins online with us on the forum.

BIRTHS: We have three new family members this month.

• Janelle Deanne Debaeke was born on Oct. 21 to Nina Jackman's grandson, John Douglas Debaeke and his wife, Kris. Janelle weighed in at 9 pounds 14 ounces.
• Brion Patrick Daby was born on Oct. 25 to the nephew of Ann Surprenant. The proud grandma is Ann's sister. Brion weighed in at 9 pounds 15 ounces.
• Philip Edward Cutherbertson who was 7 pounds 6 ounces at birth was born 30 Oct 2001 at Lansing, MI, to James and Beatrice (Jackman) Cuthbertson, the 48th grandchild for Nina Jackman.

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS went out to Marlyss Hernandez who turned a year older on October 22.

ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS went to Dorothy and Hank Geissler who celebrated their 50 years together on October 13.

PRAYERS AND CONDOLENCES were sent to Helen Hlavinka on the death of her mother-in-law, Lillian Hlavinka and just two weeks later on the death of Lillian's sister. Sarah Keerie also received condolences on the lost of her great uncle, Omar, who was 86 years old.

OBITS: Henri Lanouette sent in 65 obituaries this month. Nickie Cheney sent in four and Larry Lacoursiere sent in one. Anna Schlosser has asked for more obituaries from cousins in the United States for the book she is compiling. A great big thank you was sent to Alain Gariépy for his work in translating the obituaries that have been sent in French.

VIRUS: A reminder was posted that "A Virtual Card for You" is a hoax.

WHAT WE LEARNED:

• The Senate passed a bill making October 2001 Family History Month.
• That Larry is being nursemaid to wife Lorraine who is recovering from foot surgery.
• That, according to a reliable source of Larry's, we should not go to the bathroom on October 31 as there are reports that a major plot was planned for that day. Anyone who does will be bitten on the butt by an alligator.

BOOKS FOR SALE:

From Caron Canadiana, price $35 Canadian dollars (about $22 US + postage):NUTE, Grace Lee -The Voyageur. Published by the Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul), 1955 reprint, 289 pages, illustrated. HB with dust jacket. Email address: caron6x@globetrotter.net*NOTE: The Voyageur Book is no longer available from the above source. However, copies of this book and others written by Grace Lee NUTE can be purchased via Book Finders.com.

The famed "Red Drouin", which used to be a 3-volume set is now a 4-volume set, with the recent addition of a new volume listing all known (to Drouin) marriages of the French Regime, by women's alphabetical order. It is a very useful tool and a nice complement to the previous volumes. The 4th volume sells for $150 CAN, or about $100 US. The complete, 4-volume set is probably still available from the publisher.

ORPHAN LINES FOUND:

• Rivard/Baribeau

• Rivard, Edouard m. Sophie Biller bef 1833

• Ulric Rivard (François, Aurélie Odélie Paquet) m. (1) Fall River MA 15 March 1880 Georgina Mailhot (Rémi, Julie Coutu) (2) St-Henri, Montréal 3 Aug. 1904 Eméline Beaudet (Moïse, Adéline Pérus)

• Hormidas Rivard (Joseph, Célanire Boisvert) m. St-Jean-Baptiste Warwick, RI 22 Aug. 1892 Emma Garceau (Théodore, Della Lafrance)

INQUIRIES:

• Raoul Revord is seeking information about his maternal great-great-great-grandmother on his maternal grandfather's side whose name was Sallie Augusta Nestle, b. Quebec on July 4, 1848 m. John Colby Thornton. Email Raoul at rrevord@up.net

• From the message board at Ancestry.com comes the following inquiry. Any information on or about Marie Leontine Lavigne whose father was Francois Lavigne and her mother was Julie Poisson. Respond to docedo40@yahoo.com

Nickie Cheney posted copies of the actual land deeds for the following individuals:

• Ed Loranger's land patent from Monroe, MI dated 4-5-1825 can be seen in message # 23362
• Alexis Loranger from Raisin River, MI dated 7-24-1811 can be seen in message # 23364
• Alexis Loranger from Raisin River, MI dated 8-5-1811 can be seen in message # 23365
• Abraham Rivard from Detroit, MI dated 12-1-1827 can be seen in message # 23377
• Edmond Loranger from Crookston, MN dated 8-15-1884 can be seen in message # 23379

CONNECTICUT DEATH RECORDS:

Nickie Cheney posted death records for the following persons from Connecticut.

• Arman(d) Lacoursiere and wife Alma Robert from 1968
• J E Walter Lacoursiere and wife Lea from 1980
• Raymond L. Lacoursiere from 1986

GOOD NEWS … Serge returned home 18 October 2001 after spending several months in Rehab. Some of you may remember that Serge was stuck with a severe stroke at the end of June. The doctors didn't expect him to live, let a lone, survive with any quality of life. But Serge's surprised them all with his sheer will, determination, faith & the devotion of his loved ones. Today, he is a walking miracle. Welcome Home, Serge!

A FEW GOOD LAUGHS … Jacques & Peggy LaCourciere had a few good laughs this month when a friend sent Peg a few photos of her hubby "hard at work". There were three photos in all and the comments even had Jacques giving a few hardy belly laughs. One of these comments being; "Now, that is truly a picture of undaunted courage".

Jacques LaCourciere on his lunch break è

THE MARINE MARATHON … A more ambitious member of the family, Gerard LaCourciere [son of Jacques & Peggy LaCourciere ] was among 16,000 runners in the Marine Marathon on Sunday the 28^th of October. He made his parents very proud when he ran the 26 plus miles in 3 hours & 44 minutes. Overall Gerard place 1797 among the 16,000 runners.

INVESTMENT TIP FROM DENISE… I just received this from my adviser. I normally don't pass stock tips on, but I thought this exception would be ok. If you hold any of the following stocks, you may want to review them again: American Can Co., Interstate Water Co., National Gas Co., & Northern Tissue Co. Due to the uncertain market conditions at this present time, we advise you to sit tight on your American Can, hold your Water, and let go of your Gas. You may be interested to know that Northern Tissue touched a new bottom today, and millions were wiped clean!!

HALLOWEEN PRANKS … When I was young and foolish - I can remember some great parties and high-jinx's on Halloween .... good memories. We actually hung a 'mannequin' off the water tower once, scared the heck out of the surrounding neighbors, the police and fire department arrived. It was great fun for us even though they didn't seem to see the humor in it. They never did find out who did it! … CAN ANY OF YOU GUESS WHO???

PERPETUAL CALENDARS … Two URL's were passed on to the chat for those interested in Calendars for past & future years. In addition to them were also two URL's to check for hoax's …

This perpetual calendar link works great.

http://alabanza.com/kabacoff/Inter-Links/cgi/cal.cgi
http://www.cmmei.com/calendar.htm

On myths, rumors, plain bunk...

http://www.purportal.com/

Check out this site for hoax's.

http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/

WHAT ELSE DID WE LEARNED …

• That Nickie Cheney has "bin very busy" both on and off the chat.

• Why men should never dress their kids

• Reasons Why You Should Never Under Estimate The Power of a Woman

• 10 reasons why "trick or treating" is better that a few other activities cousins may indulge in.

• Signs that you might be "trailer trash"

• There is a new "Barbie" on the market that depicts growing old gracefully

• Baking soda … scours stains, extinguishes fire, whitens appliances, removes refrigerator odors.. BONUS......Relieves sunburn.

• Alcohol (rubbing) removes spots on stainless steel appliances.

• Vegetable oil lubricates scissors, can openers....BONUS....lubricates garden shears

BEEF STEW

2 lbs. beef chuck, cut in cubes

2 tbsp. fat to brown the meat for about 20 minutes

Add 4 cups boiling water

1 tsp. worchestershire sauce

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. paprika

dash of cloves

1 tsp. sugar

Simmer for 2 hours. Add 6 carrots, several small onions and cubed potatoes. Cook until vegetables are done and then thicken gravy. [Marlyss Hernandez shared this month's recipe with us. It was one of her mother's favorites.]

Because Napoleon believed that armies marched on their stomachs, he offered a prize in 1795 for a practical way of preserving food. The prize was won by a French inventor, Nicholas Appert. What he devised was canning. It was the beginning of the canned food industry of today.

History of Canning

Canning started in jars. The process was invented in France in 1795 by Nicholas Appert, a chef who was determined to win the prize of 12,000 francs offered by Napoleon for a way to prevent military food supplies from spoiling. Appert canned meats and vegetables in jars sealed with pitch and by 1804 opened his first vacuum-packing plant. It was a French military secret that soon leaked across the English Channel.

A man has a serious car accident and goes into the hospital. After many days of coma, he suddenly wakes up. So he asks, "Am I in heaven ?"

His wife is standing on his side and says,

"No, no dear, be reassured, I am here...."

As many of you may recall my 13-year-old granddaughter, Cassie attempted to take her young life last August by over dosing on Tylenol. Like most families we asked, WHY? It was hard to believe that this was even happening in our family. But the truth be-known, it happens far more often than anyone might realize. Cassie is doing well today. She is undergoing counseling, and is on an anti depression drug. She is also helping other troubled teens who are traveling down the road that she has been. One of the ways she is doing this is by sharing her story. If you know of someone that may be helped by Cassie's story … Please share!
 
 

Have you ever gone through the experience of a real suicide attempt? If you are thinking about trying to commit suicide I hope this will help you change your minds by me telling you about my personal experience of my suicide attempt.

I started out as a young innocent girl who never did anything seriously wrong. I had a loving family and a great life. Over the summer I started hanging out with a group that were known as druggies, sluts or otherwise known as pure trouble. My family was pretty well respected until I came around and messed it up. I started picking up bad habits like smoking and drinking. I got into this one group and I started thinking that I wasn’t good enough for this world or anyone in it. All my friends were cutting their wrists and overdosing trying to kill themselves so I figured why can’t I?

Well one night things got completely out of control and I wasn’t thinking clearly. It was about 3:30 in the morning and I got a feeling that I wanted to die because of everything that was happening and going wrong in my life. I took 50-60 Tylenol and then I started to realize what I had done to my body because Tylenol messes up your liver and with the amount I had taken I could have died in six hours, as you should know with out your liver you die. I stayed up till 4:00am because that was the time my mom got up to go to work. When she awoke I told her what I had done. I was immediately taken to the emergency ward. They rushed me in and immediately took precaution. They had to pump charcoal into my stomach to get rid of some of the Tylenol. After they were all done I had to try and hold the charcoal in my body for 1 to 2 hours. After that was over I got to talk to my mom and I never seen to much pain in her eyes. Seeing it made me cry realizing what I had done to family and friends. The hospital sent me up to the intensive care unit where you are being watched 24/7. They hooked me up to a heart monitor, an oxygen monitor, and an IV. They put me on a medication called mucumist to wash the rest of the Tylenol out of my system. Anytime I needed to get up to go to the bathroom I had to have a nurse come in and unhook all the monitors and make sure I didn’t fall. My mom and my friend Krystal were the only ones that got to see me while I was there so I went through the pain of missing my friends and not knowing what would happen to me and how it could be resolved. It hurt having the fact stuck in my head that I might have not ever been able to experience all the fun that I have had up until now and not being able to meet new people or do new things. Dying young is something I thought I wanted but while I was lying in a hospital bed with nothing to do I got to thinking about what the next however many years of my life is going to bring to me. I had to live with the fact of those whom I thought were my friends never showed up or even called to see if I was all right. I was put on a seventy-two hour hold which means custody is taken away from your parents and given to the police department and for seventy-two hours you can not go outside not counting weekends.

I was finally transferred to St. Elizabeth mental health in the back of an ambulance with no one to talk to or anything. When I got there I found out about other people and their problems. At St. Elizabeth I was not allowed to go anywhere with out supervision by a nurse because I was diagnosed with deep depression and self-mutilation. I had no privacy what so ever. Anytime I was in my room the door had to be open and I would be checked on every fifteen minutes at night. Anytime my mom came to visit everything she brought for me had to be checked before it was allowed in my room. I hod no time to myself because I had scheduled days and everything was planned for me with a certain amount of time and I had to go to sleep at 8:30pm. You are only allowed to see your relatives for one hour a day and you have to have a certain amount of points. If you only had one point you could only have you parents come to see you, 2 points you could have aunts and uncles see you, and 3 points you could have friends see you but only certain ones. You had to clean your room everyday. You could not have anything that could harm you in your room like things that normal people would take for granted such as towels, mirrors, curtains, pillowcases, rubber bands for you hair or even certain types of conditioners that have alcohol in it and they think you might drink it. You had to do class projects everyday otherwise you would get graded down. After being locked up for six days not being able to go outside I was sent to court, transferred in a police car, to see if they wanted to release me from the hospital. They put me on a ninety day hold which means that you can not get in trouble for ninety days or hurt yourself or they have the power to take you out of your home and replace you in a hospital. When I got out of court I went to see my friends but it didn’t seem like anything was the same. Ever since I overdosed I ruined my life, I am not able to do a lot of things anymore and people judge me because at one time I didn’t think about what I was doing before I did it.

After reading through my experience, but not reading even half of the emotional pain I went through, I hope that I have helped you not to do something you will regret, because it is not the person you are trying to hurt that suffers it is you and you only. So when you think about suicide don’t do it for anyone else because all you are doing is letting them win. Don’t even do it if you think it is the best thing for you because there are better ways to solve your problems other than suicide. If anything take it from someone who knows about it and has lived through it and reconsider your thoughts. I was always told to think before you act, so I am hoping that you will think before you act. Think about whom you are really hurting because it is no one in the end, no one but you.