World Peace Day is Tomorrow!

Debbie Roney Smith on

Heads up people – tomorrow is World Peace Day!

The International Day of Peace (also known as World Peace Day) is celebrated annually on September 21st. It is a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace between all nations and all people. In this modern era (and an election year no less!), violence, war, and other negative themes often monopolize the news cycles. The International Day of Peace is an inspiring opportunity to not only remember the good people are capable of but also put peace and goodwill into the world through your own actions. 

The evolution of World Peace Day to the International Day of Peace is an interesting one. In 1981, the United Nations unanimously voted to sponsor a day in honor of peace. However, there was never an actual plea for people/countries to stop fighting and it had no specific date. Jeremy Gilley, an impassioned British citizen, began a campaign to create a more impactful annual celebration of peace. On September 7th, 2001, the UN officially created the International Day of Peace and dedicated September 21st to the new day, a day that asked all people and leaders of the world to agree to ceasefire in active conflicts and vow to pursue the path of nonviolence. As the official Peace Day website states, it is a day that “provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace” (source).

2020 is particularly significant for this established event because it is the 20th Anniversary of the UN Resolution on the Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. This specific program was a new concept that linked eight action areas for maximum impact and took ten months of negotiation to hammer out. The eight action areas are as follows: culture of peace through education; sustainable economic and social development; respect for all human rights; equality between women and men; democratic participation; understanding, tolerance and solidarity; participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge; and international peace and security.

Additionally, this year’s celebration is marked by the ongoing world pandemic. The UN declared the 2020 Peace Day Theme to be “Shaping Peace Together,” a theme that specifies “spreading compassion, kindness, and hope in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

How you and yours can celebrate/promote World Peace Day:

  • Observe the global “Minute of Silence;” the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Pathways to Peace inaugurated the Minute of Silence in 1984. At noon in each time zone, the Minute of Peace creates a moment of silent reflection, amplifying what NGO calls a “Peace Wave” around the world.
  • Light a candle in honor of peace
  • Read/write/share peace poems, stories, et cetera
  • Read about different peacemakers or watch a film (List of Peacemakers in History)
  • Make/write down peace promises in your own life (ex. smile more, let go of road rage, et cetera)
  • Plant a peace garden (more on peace gardens)
  • Give someone a peace lily
  • Share messages of peace on social networking sites (ex. share your creative peace projects, repost quotes on peace, et cetera)
  • Check out the Mosaic Children’s Project; listen to their music, donate, and share (Mosaic Project website)
  • Resolve to create more peace in your life with yourself and those around you (ex. reach out to a family member you recently had a disagreement with, practice pausing for three breathes before reacting/replying in trying situations, send a letter to a friend you haven’t talked with in awhile, et cetera)
  • Write to lawmakers to adopt more peaceful approaches to domestic issues and international relations
  • Organize or join a Peace March (event map for International Day of Peace)

Talk Like a Pirate about Florida’s Booty

Debbie Roney Smith on

A’hoy matey, today is Talk Like a Pirate Day! It has its origins in Oregon; in 1995, two friends from Oregon jokingly created the holiday while playing racquetball. It was celebrated amongst their friend group and community for years until columnist Dave Barry became the spokesperson for National Talk Like a Pirate Day in 2002. Since then, it has blossomed into a beloved faux-holiday that encourages the use of the vocabulary popularized by movies like Pirates of the Caribbean as “pirate lingo” to offer a fun opportunity to break out of your daily routine, learn some history, and celebrate a bygone era. So join me, maties on a brief adventure exploring the pirates that skulked about the Florida waters!

The earliest recorded pirate attacks began after China’s Han Dynasty fell in the 2nd century but piracy in Florida was prevalent in the early 1800s. This wave of piracy occurred after The Golden Age of Piracy, a period spanning the late 1600s to the early 1700s, the era that most people think of when the word ‘pirate’ is mentioned: think Black Beard, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tortuga, Anne Bonny, rum, and Calico Jack Rackham. Florida’s age of pirates came around a century after this Golden Age.

This secondary explosion of piracy occurred primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea as a result of increasing American sea trade. In fact, American ships, as well as Spanish and British vessels, were the targets of all manner of pirates, racketeers, and privateers. Pensacola’s first brush with piracy reportedly occurred in 1811 when a U.S. gunboat chased the French pirate ship La Franchise along the northern Gulf. The pirates, unable to outmaneuver the military, ran their ship onto the Pensacola coast, set it on fire, and fled into the woods. Then, in 1817, four years before Florida was relinquished to the US by Spain, notorious New Orleans pirate Jean Lafitte encouraged a group of privateers to raid Pensacola. Nothing came of the plan except a brief panic among Spanish settlers that led them to create a citizen militia.

Things were rather quiet onshore in FL until 1822 when the pirate ship Carmen was brought to court in the recently established U.S. District Court of West Florida in Pensacola. The Carmen was charged with firing on the Louisiana off the coast of Cuba. It’s likely that the pirates on Carmen mistook Louisiana for a merchant ship when it was actually a federal Revenue Cutter Service vessel. The U.S.S. Peacock was present and pursued Carmen. Mike Thomin, a staff member at the Florida Public Archaeology Network, reports that “The Carmen did what most pirate ships did when they saw a naval ship; they tried to run away as fast as possible…pirates did not try to engage a Navy ship. If they did, it was because they mistook it for a merchant ship. As soon as they found out they were dealing with a heavily armed Naval ship; they usually ran away.” (source) The crew was caught, tried, and found not guilty by January of 1823 because of U.S. sympathy for ongoing political struggles across the sea.

Sadly, most of the dramatic, booty creating piracy in Florida occurred farther down the coast near the Keys. Luckily, you can still spend today having pirate-themed fun regardless of the intensity of Florida’s pirate history. Watch your favorite pirate-themed movie or TV show, read up on interesting figures of pirate culture, make a toast to pirates long-gone with your favorite rum, or make pirate hates with your kids and have a wooden-stick sword fight!

Thank Florida for AC

Debbie Roney Smith on
Dr. John Gorrie

Dr. John Gorrie of Florida is the man behind, arguably, humanity’s most impressive invention for daily use: the air conditioner.

Gorrie was a physician, scientist, inventor, and humanitarian living in South Carolina. His study of tropical diseases led him to move to Florida when he noticed that people in the north weren’t getting yellow fever. He decided to see if the climate had something to do with it, moving down to Apalachicola, then a large cotton market on the Gulf Coast. 

He became convinced that cold was a healer. He noted that “Nature would terminate the fevers by changing the seasons.” Dr. Gorrie began urging draining the swamps, clearing weeds, and maintaining clean food markets in the city. He also recommended sleeping under mosquito netting to prevent the disease. He had been cooling rooms with ice in a basin suspended from the ceiling which allowed cool air to flow down across the sick patient. However, it was a clunky system that was incredibly limited by the fact that ice had to be brought by boat from the northern lakes; ice came packed in sawdust from the northern lakes between the United States and Canada. Furthermore, ice was incredibly expensive at nearly $1.50 a pound – that’s $44.81 a pound in 2020 (source)!

Gorrie’s design

Thus, Dr. Gorrie began to experiment with making artificial ice. He worked to design a machine that creates ice using a compressor powered by horse, water, wind-driven sails, or steam. This earliest effort to create a practical method of manufacturing ice would guide future inventors in developing the cold-air process of refrigeration necessary for everything from the AC in your house to the AC in your car, and many things in-between. Dr. Gorrie successfully demonstrates the ice-making machine in 1848. However, he wasn’t granted the U.S. patent until May 6, 1851. His design, the foundation of future air conditing designs as well as modern refrigerators, was filled under Patent No. 8080. 

During his residence in Apalachicola, Gorrie served as mayor, postmaster, city treasurer, council member, bank director, and founder of Trinity Church. To honor his impact on the town and the world, the city created the Gorrie Ice Museum in order to explore the doctor, his creation, and his life; be sure to check their website to keep up-to-date with their hours and events (John Gorrie Museum and State Park website). Additionally, Gorrie represents Florida with his statue placed in the National Statuary Hall in Washington D. C., and you can also view the original model of his ice-making machine and the scientific articles he wrote at the Smithsonian Institution.

Responsibly Choose Your Chocolate for This National Holiday

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National Choose Your Chocolate Day is a brand new celebration of chocolate sponsored by See’s Candies. The company hopes the event will be held annually on September 16th. It’s a celebration that corresponds with the birthday of Mary See, the woman behind the foundational creative chocolate recipes the company has been using for over 100 years! Alongside introducing their new holiday honoring chocolate and Mary See, See’s Candy Shops Inc. is releasing two new candies for the upcoming October season. The new candies are individually wrapped, a design impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Sour Jelly Beans Trick-or-Treat pack contains a mix of Sour Tangerine, Sour Grape, and Sour Apple flavors. Milk Molasses Chip Trick-or-Treat Minis are molasses honeycomb wafers covered in smooth milk chocolate. 

Additionally, the company launched a quiz that can help you decide which chocolate candy matches your personality. “In these difficult times, chocolate can brighten someone’s day, which is why See’s will make a donation to worthy organizations for every quiz taken,” the company says. Interested in doing good and having fun? Click the following link and scroll down to ‘National Choose Your Chocolate Day Activities’ to take the quiz for yourself:

https://nationaltoday.com/national-choose-chocolate-day/

International Dot Day isn’t for the Dot You Think

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How do you feel about polka dots? Polka dots, as a pattern, gained traction in Europe in the mid-1900s after the Czech dance and Bohemian folk music genre were introduced in Paris and spread rapidly across North America. In fact, Europeans were so taken with the invention that they named the phenomena “Polkamania,” and proceeded to capitalize on the trend by throwing dots on clothes until they – literally – stuck. Supposedly, the dots represented the short bursts of energy that were required by the polka dance. Never seen a traditional Czech polka dance? Follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dONXZBrje2w

The polka dot exploded in the USA in 1926 when a Miss America was spotted (haha!) wearing the pattern on a swimsuit, likely the result of a nod to vintage Victorian dresses which often included some sort of dotted material. Then Walt Disney decided to capitalize on the growing trend by supplying fuel to the fire Miss America ignited.  Just two years later in 1928, Minnie Mouse debuted wearing her signature red polka dot dress. Since the 1930s bloom in polka dot goods, it has remained a consistent, popular pattern in fashion. The trend is so influential that it’s ever inspired songs: remember Frank Sinatra’s Polka Dots and Moonbeams” or Brian Hyland’s “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini?”

But today’s International Dot Day isn’t a day to celebrate polka dots…

…it’s a day of global celebration honoring creativity, courage, and collaboration!

International Dot Day started on September 15, 2009, when teacher Terry Shay introduced his classroom to Peter H. Reynolds’ book The Dot. It is the story of a student named Vashti and her caring teacher. Vashti felt like she couldn’t draw but her teacher encouraged her, saying “Just make a mark, and see where it takes you.” Vashti made a small dot on her paper, and it was only the beginning of her journey of self-discovery through art. It was a breakthrough of confidence and courage inspired by the encouragement of a kind adult. Terry Shay introduced a movement that would go on to inspire the countless children and adults that celebrate it: nearly 16 million people in 181 countries!

    How to Observe #InternationalDotDay:
    • Read The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
    • Donate art supplies to worthy organizations like schools, community centers, Boys & Girls Clubs, local transitional housing, et cetera
    • Foster creativity by participating in a fun form of self-expression including but not limited to: writing, drawing, painting, photography, videography, dancing, and singing
    • Share your/your kid’s creativity by sending the art to friends/family or post on social media
    • Encourage others to re-discover the power and potential of creativity in all they do 

     

    Check out http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/ for more info and free resources!

    New Eatery in Tallahassee Owned/Operated by 3 Preteen, Philanthropic Sisters

    Debbie Roney Smith on

    Three Tallahassee sisters have stepped into the realm of entrepreneurship despite the daunting circumstances produced by a global pandemic and their young ages. Sisters Lyrica (age 13), Zaira (age 12), and Nadira Leo (age 9) own and operate their own vegan eatery named “Bourne Brilliant.” As of July 25, 2020, the trio is located in the rapidly expanding Railroad Square in one of the small, vibrant nooks that line the Breezeway Market. 

    Officially, the newly opened patisserie shop is leased by their mom, Syrheda La Shae, but the young girls are the power behind the cute shop and its’ products. The sisters’ have very supportive, proud parents: their father was the first to invest in their business ($50 many years ago when they were competing in competitions and selling goods at festivals) while their mother works with them as a family team. Syrheda explains that each of her daughters “bring something unique to the business. I like to encourage that uniqueness. They’re working together as one business entity but they have their individual skills” (source). 

       

      While they have gained a reputation based on their amazing baked goods, they offer a range of brilliant products including holistic items like teas and bath soaps, juices, their grandmother Ella’s preserves (pickled okra, squash relish and jams), and natural hair products. Additionally, they offer a rotating hot-n-ready menu with mouth-watering options like roti, Indian flatbread, Caribbean vegetable callaloo, and mac ‘n cheese. They are a vegan and plant-based source of food for the community. They also act as an environmentally, socially conscious LLC: they use paper packaging in place of plastic, are members of community organizations like the Big Bend Minority Business Chamber of Commerce, and regularly donate their goods and time to various people and organizations in need. 

       

      Lyrica, who has an auto-immune disorder, was the initial force behind the sister business; she started a bread ministry in 2013 to bake bread and other goodies that she and her family then distributed to their community. Bourne Brilliant LLC was the result of Lyrica pitching the business venture to their parents to support their frequent donations, supported by her younger sisters. They currently go to school online and have COVID precautions in store: staff and visitors wear masks and they only allow five people in the shop at a time.

      Sisters Nadira, Zaira, and Lyrica (left to right) Photo by Alicia Devine

      Located on McDonnell Drive at Railroad Square at 618 McDonnell Drive B-3. They are open Thursday-Saturday. Their hours are 9AM to 5PM on Thursday and Friday; 11AM-6PM on Saturday. Consider visiting them this weekend to support these innovative, kind girls in their newest endeavor! For more information, please visit their website: https://www.bournebrilliant.com/

       

       

      Today is Grandparents Day

      Debbie Roney Smith on

      Grandparents Day is an annual celebration here in the USA, held the first Sunday after Labor Day. This year, it falls on September 13th, today!

      Grandparents Day became an official holiday in 1979 by proclamation of Jimmy Carter. Research has proven that the bond between grandparents and children not only helps grandparents live longer but also helps children grow more emotionally resilient. The best way to celebrate this national holiday is to spend some quality time together as a family, celebrating and talking about the special relationships shared by the various grandparent(s) and kid(s) in your family.

      Despite any distance between your children and their grandparents, this day is an important opportunity to recognize and celebrate the connection between them. Some activities you can complete to acknowledge the important role of the grandparents in your life are as follows:

      • Check-in with your elders via phone, text, or video-chat 
      • Write a thank-you note on the back of a drawing done by your kid(s) to mail them 
      • Send them an edible arrangement or flowers

       

      So remember to take a few moments to express your love and gratitude for the grandparents in your life today!

      The “Phantom of Electricity”: The Silent Sucker Stealing 9 Percent Of Your Utility Bill!

      Debbie Roney Smith on

      Want to save money and reduce the heat indoors this scorching hot summer? According to new research conducted by Alliant Energy, you can reduce electric use in your home by up to 9%, which saves you money, by checking everything plugged in and selectively shutting down unused, always-on devices. All electronics put off heat even when idling, so turning off unused electronics will also help lower the temperature indoors. 

      John Beard of Focus on Energy says Alliant did a pilot study on ‘phantom electricity’. Phantom electricity is the energy that is used by your electronics as they draw power even though they are turned off or in standby mode. “These people can save up to 9 percent on their energy use by taking an inventory of everything that is plugged in and making sure things they’re not using are turned off. These ‘always on’ devices like your DVD player or remote top box that you have for your streaming service or your television or PC…”

      Beard says there are a few free ways to save up to 9% on your electric bill. While the most obvious is turning devices off when not in use, there is an easier wat: advanced power strips. 

      Includes premium-quality, fireproof surge protection; reduces standby power waste; features an adjustable threshold switch; improves connected electronics’ performance through EMI/RFI noise filtering.

      They are just like the ones you might already have in your home, only they have circuitry that senses when your device is not being used or is in standby mode. It automatically shuts off the power at no effort to you! With the average Florida home spending around $130 a month, that 9% is $11.70 a month in savings (Source). A 7 outlet advanced strip with a standard 3ft cord like the one pictured below is $25-$30 (online vs in-store), and would pay itself off within only three months!

       

      Lightbulbs can save you money on your power bill

      Debbie Roney Smith on

      Did you know replacing five of your home’s most frequently used lights with energy-efficient ENERGY STAR bulbs could save you $75 per year in energy costs? One of the many costs of owning a home is replacing light bulbs and paying your power bill. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to save money with a bill that comes every month? 

      Earning the ENERGY STAR certification means the product meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Lighting products that have earned the ENERGY STAR label deliver exceptional features, while using less energy. Saving energy helps you save money on utility bills and protects the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

      ENERGY STAR Certified Light Bulbs:

      • Use up to 90% less energy than standard bulbs
      • Last at least 15 times longer and saves about $50 in electricity costs over its lifetime per bulb
      • Meet strict quality and efficiency standards that are tested by accredited labs and certified by a third party

      Woman from Sneads~1st female to vote in Florida

      Debbie Roney Smith on

      August 26th, one hundred years ago, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in America. The next day, Aug. 27, 1920, a woman in Sneads made history by becoming the first to exercise that right in Florida, and one of the first in the country to do so, as well. Her name was Fay Gibson Moulton at the time and she was a widow with seven children. She would go on to marry a widower who had six children of his own, and from that point was better known as Fay Bridges. She was in her 20s and had come to work early on Aug. 27. She was sweeping floors when her boss came in and gave her leave to walk over and cast her ballot in a local election.

      She and her second husband lived primarily in Miami, where they owned and ran a general store and coffee shop. She would lose that husband, too, in 1946, and from then on she ran the store alone, living in their apartment above the shop until advanced age and the dangers of a declining neighborhood propelled her to move far away, next door to her youngest son, the only child she and her second husband had together. It was back in Sneads that she’d learned about business. She worked at Liddon’s general store in what is now often referred to as “old Sneads,” the part of town that had once been the hub of commerce, before U.S. Highway 90 was relocated a bit north of its old pathway. That section of U.S. 90 is now Old Spanish Trail.

      Her granddaughter, Melanie Barton, says her grandmother was proud of having made that milestone. She was interviewed by newspapers several times. Barton said her grandmother retained an abiding respect for Mr. Liddon because of his making accommodations that morning to let her leave duty to go vote.