Today's Feature

YMCA New Approach To Day Camp.

News release

The Fair Acres Family YMCA will offer some new and interesting activities for children ages 4-12 in its Summer Day Camp program. The Y’s Day Camp program starts July 3 and runs through August 11. Parents may sign children up for a week or the entire six weeks.

In addition to the traditional camp activities of swimming, sports, games, and field trips, the Y will introduce two new activities to its program: art & theatre and fitness and nutrition.

Art and Theatre: Jacque McDonald who recently moved to this area from Florida, and who has written children’s books and is an excellent artist in her own right, will work with children to create plays, skits, crafts and a variety of activities that will help kids gain a greater appreciation of arts and theatre. McDonald will help children create skits and plays that will be performed for parents as part of the Day Camp curriculum. "We want to make art and theatre fun and interesting for children," McDonald said. "We will involve all participants in a variety of ways, including writing scripts, building backdrops and props, learning songs to go along with the skits, and doing craft projects that are tied into the skits and plays as well."

Fitness and Nutrition: Jeri Sailor, a recent graduate in Health & Physical Education at Missouri State in Springfield, will head up the fitness and nutrition component of the Y’s Day Camp program. The Y received a grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks to be able to develop this program. "I am excited to work with the children this summer at the Y to help them see that exercise can be fun and is something that they should pursue throughout their lives. Likewise, we’ll incorporate fun ways to teach them about the importance of good nutrition as well."

Cost for the Y’s Day Camp program is $85 per week. Children may be dropped off as early as 7:00 a.m. and picked up by 6:00 p.m. For more information, please call the Fair Acres Family YMCA at 358-1070 or visit the Y’s website at www.fairacresymca.org.

Stench Report:
Friday,
6/9/06

No Stench Detected On Carthage Square

Like havin’ to live with one knife short of a full set ‘cause it got stuffed in the sink disposal. Nothin’ more aggravatin’ than a knife with the tip chewed up. Specially when you’re eatin’ peas with it.

‘Course those same ancestors never had ta worry ‘bout the electricity goin’ off in the middle of their favorite tv show. Like they say, it’s a good thing Edison developed the light bulb, or we’d have ta watch tv in the dark.

They also never had ta worry ‘bout runnin’ outa gas. From what my grandad told me, the biggest problem with horse drawn carriages was the opposite, too much gas. He said a little perfume in the oats didn’t help that much.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

This Is A Hammer
By Samantha Mazzotta

Heavy Wall Hangings Need Strong Anchor

Q: I put up a wood strip with several pegs in the entrance hallway of our apartment last fall so we could hang up coats and scarves to dry. Over the winter the strip went from being tight against the wall to drooping and loose, so we can’t hang anything heavy on it. Why did it do this? -- Tammy, Topeka, Kansas

A: It’s a case of the screws not being anchored properly to the wall, Tammy. Heavy wall-mounted objects, including coat hangers, large pictures, plant hangers and so on, can’t be held in place by drywall, which is designed to cover up the framing and electrical/plumbing work of a home.

Several methods of anchoring items to the wall -- from lightweight towel hangers to heavyweight wooden shelves -- are available at the home-improvement store. You just need to figure out which anchor to use.

For very light objects, a plastic wall anchor tapped into a pre-drilled hole, followed by the screw, should be enough. Heavier objects can be anchored by Molly bolts or toggle bolts, which expand behind the drywall to provide greater surface coverage and a stronger hold. Very heavy objects, including your coat pegboard that holds varying degrees of weight, should be anchored directly to a stud, if possible.

A stud is a vertical wooden support behind the drywall. The side against the drywall is usually 1 to 2 inches thick. Studs are typically spaced 16 inches apart. Locate the stud by tapping sideways along the wall; a hollow sound means you are between studs. For a more precise indicator, purchase an electronic stud sensor. Mark the location and width of each stud in the area.

A stud is much more difficult to drill into than drywall, so you will need to pre-drill the holes and then place the screws. If the studs are located farther apart than the width of your peg hanger, anchor one end of the board to a stud and use a Molly bolt to anchor the other end. If the pre-drilled holes in the peg hanger don’t match the studs exactly, but the board is long enough, drill a new hole where the board will meet the stud.

HOME TIP: Rub beeswax onto the tip of a screwdriver so that screws will stick to it. This works especially well for small brass or stainless-steel screws.