FOOD DRIVE ON SATURDAY, MAY 14

Carthage Area United Way encourages community members to donate a sturdy bag of non-perishable items (canned foods, pasta, rice, cereal, etc.) to be collected by letter carriers as they deliver mail along their postal routes this Saturday.

"Stamp Out Hunger" is a national partnership between NALC, the U.S. Postal Service, United Way, the AFL-CIO, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, Campbell, Feeding America, Valpak, AARP and Uncle Bob’s Self Storage. Carriers will take the donations to the local Post Office and then it will be delivered to Carthage Crosslines, a Carthage Area United Way agency that assists in meeting emergency needs of persons and families in the community by providing assistance with food and clothing.

Those unable to get their donation out on Saturday morning can drop off any donation, all year long, at the Crossline’s office, 600 E. 6th Street between 8 and noon or call 358-1577 for more information.

Bags should be left next to the mailbox.

According to the Carthage Area United Way each year, millions of Americans join the effort to help meet the needs of nearly 50 million Americans who live in families that lack sufficient food. One in seven adults and nearly one-quarter of all children are hungry and not receiving the basic nutrition they need. Moving into the summer months, 22 million students are at risk of going hungry when the school year ends. For many children, school meals are the only complete and nutritious meals they eat.

Jasper County Jail Count

No Statistics today

May 9, 2011

From what I’ve read, retirement ain’t what it used ta be. They say a lotta folks just keep on goin’, and goin’ and goin’.

By the year 2050, there are supposed ta be over twice as many over the age of 65 livin’ in the U.S. as there are now. That means that a large block of voters will be old enough ta know better I suppose.

They say that the big business types are tryin’ ta figure out what this enlarged mass of maturity will be buyin’ and what their eatin’ habits and such will be. I’d have ta guess that like most groups of consumers, they’ll know it when they see it.

Women seem ta be noticeably outlivin’ the men folk and difference seems ta be increasin’. I won’t make any speculation on that statistic at all.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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Weekly Column

HERE’S A TIP

By JoAnn Derson

• "Fill a quart-size zip-lock bag with water and double-bag it, making sure there is no air in the bag. Place it inside the toilet tank, on the opposite side from the pump. Secure it there, if you can. This will displace some of the water when you flush, and you will use less water as a consequence." -- E.S. in Florida

• If you have a stained porcelain sink, try using it to soak your stained garments. The presoak can do double duty on the stained sink and washables alike.

• To make your own breadcrumbs without a chopper or blender, place dry bread pieces in a plastic bag. Use a rolling pin to "roll" them into crumbs.

• Save water in the shower by using your kitchen timer, set for no more than 5 minutes. If you can find a digital one, you will know better how much time you have left. After a little while, you almost don’t need the timer.

• "If you seal your jelly jars with wax, here’s a good tip: Place a small piece of string into the wax before it hardens. Then, you’ll be able to pull on the string to remove the wax when you’re ready to enjoy your homemade goodies!" -- U.L. in Maine

• Laundry stain removers can be good to remove stains from concrete drives. For instance, my relatives’ car was leaking, and I was able to get the stains from my pavers by using a spray-and-wash stain remover I borrowed from the laundry room. It worked very well. -- S.E. in Arkansas.