Benefit for Alzheimers Advocacy / Patient Care (First Saturday in May, early evening) Peoria, IL

from List-serv -- ALZ dot-org


Support the fight to end Alzheimer’s on Saturday, May 7 at the Champagne & Champions Kentucky Derby Party in Peoria, IL. Guests will be able to bet on their favorite horses, watch the race, and enjoy derby-style dinner, drinks and live entertainment from Windy City Dueling Pianos. The funds raised support local programs and services. You won’t want to miss out on this great event. Call 309-681-1100 to purchase tickets today and ask for Janie Messmore.

Francis Asbury -- The Shape of American Methodism (General Council Archives & History) - March 31 anniversary

Francis Asbury and the Shape of American Methodism (http://gcah.org/history/asbury)

Featured Francis Asbury and the Shape of American Methodism

Francis Asbury, sent to the American Colonies by John Wesley as a Methodist Preacher, became the leading bishop of American Methodism as it transformed from renewal movement to church.  Through example and shear dogged-determination he established the shape of American Methodism for its first one hundred years.
When Asbury arrived in the American colonies, the Methodist movement was less than a decade old.  It had started among Irish immigrants in two parts of the country,  New York City and Maryland, in the early 1760s.   From New York it expanded onto Long Island and into New Jersey down to Philadelphia.  In Maryland it expanded around Baltimore and then moved south into Virginia. Asbury’s impact was in three key areas: itinerancy, the conference and the episcopacy.   This display emphasizes these aspects of Asbury’s leadership as well as the background of his life which may have influenced his character. 

Excellent resources:
Jonathan Wigger. American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Heritage Sunday Powerpoint on Asbury and Discussion Notes
Christian History Magazine on Methodism
Francis Asbury bulletin insert, also in black and white
Asbury Biography Bulletin Insert - Historic St. George's UMC, Philadelphia
SMU exhibit on Asbury
Remembering the deaths of Asbury and Wesley

Francis Asbury and the Shape of American Methodism Exhibit Asbury's England Asbury and Wesley Methodism's Arrival in America Itinerancy Conference Episcopacy

At Asbury’s death in 1816 the Methodist Episcopal Church had gone through one of its most significant expansions.  Between 1800 and 1810 its membership had increased by 168%.   From small beginnings in New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore it had 214,000+ members.    There were almost 700 pastors in 1816.   Many pastors joined the ministry only to leave because of illness or other difficulties.  But for every pastor that left there was another to fill the vacancy.  So there had been more than 700 pastors associated with the church during Asbury’s thirty-two  years of episcopal leadership.    There were now nine annual conferences which covered all of the existing states and much of the territories.    The Ohio Conference had a Kentucky District for example.  The Tennessee Conference had an Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana  and Missouri Districts.

The Methodists were taking the leadership in the camp meeting movement which would become the vehicle for church growth for most of the nineteenth century.    Asbury’s commitment to itinerancy, a traveling ministry, kept the church with the expanding population of the country.  The church expanded to the frontier and to the growing communities in every state.    Still the church was growing.  In the decade after his death the church would start publishing both newspapers and magazines.  These publications would take the place of the preacher’s journal.  The church would define and defend its mission through these publications.  The church would be buffeted by the same winds of change and challenge which also buffeted the country.  Yet it would not be until late in the nineteenth century that the models which Asbury set in motion would be changed.    Finally in 1816 the General Conference would pass the first legislation requiring basic educational requirements for his ministers.  The Course of Study, as it became known, would be managed by the bishops; thus highlighting the two centers of authority which Asbury worked so hard to create.

"Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" -- History of Hymn - spiritual song

From U.M. News Service (History of Hymns):
Included in almost every major hymnal of the last thirty years, “Were You There” is one of the most prominent and popular of the African-American spirituals. Yet, like most spirituals, the origins of “Were You There” are impossible to trace, borne not from the pen of an individual but out of the communal slave experience. As Paul Westermeyer notes in the companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship, its first published iteration came in 1899 in William E. Barton’s Old Plantation Songs in the section “Recent Negro Melodies.” There, it included four stanzas: 1) Were you there when they crucified my Lord?; 2) …when they nailed him to the cross?; 3) …when they pierced him in the side?; 4) …when the sun refused to shine. The United Methodist Hymnal, along with many other songbooks, includes a fifth: “…when they laid him in the tomb.”
The series of questions that forms the basis of the song is obviously not meant to be taken literally; none of us were physically present at the passion of Christ. Rather, the questions are meant to function as a form of anamnesis. From the Greek, anamnesis literally means to remember. Yet, it is much more than simple mental recall of an event. It calls the community to re-member the past to the present, to bring these historic events to bear on the now and make them part of our story. When Moses tells the second generation of Hebrew people about to enter the promised land, “Not with our ancestors did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today,” it is anamnesis; when Jews continue to proclaim at the Passover Seder, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord our God took us out,” it is anamnesis; and when the Christian community celebrates the Lord’s Supper “in remembrance” (and the Greek word here is anamnesis!) of Christ, it is anamnesis. “Were You There” is then an anamnetic song that is meant to bring the past events of Christ’s suffering and death into the present and transform us in its light.
Yet, if our anamnetic exercise only includes Christ’s passion, it is incomplete. The song also calls us to re-member the African-American slave experience out of which the song arose. As James Cone notes in The Cross and the Lynching Tree, the cross is central to the African-American experience: “During my childhood, I heard a lot about the cross at Macedonia A.M.E. Church, where faith in Jesus was defined and celebrated. We sang about ‘Calvary,’ and asked, ‘Were you there?’, ‘down at the cross,’ ‘when they crucified my Lord.’ ‘Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.’…There were more songs, sermons, prayers, and testimonies about the cross than any other theme. The cross was the foundation on which their faith was built.”
For African Americans, this re-membering of the cross allowed them to claim the Christ who knew their suffering and stood in solidarity with their oppression. Again, Cone notes, “In the mystery of God’s revelation, black Christians believed that just knowing that Jesus went through an experience of suffering in a manner similar to theirs gave them faith that God was with them, even in suffering on lynching trees, just as God was present with Jesus in suffering on the cross.” The spiritual thus re-membered the suffering of Christ to the suffering of the African-American community, with its inherent promise of God’s presence and resurrection power.
Yet, like any hymn or song that has achieved such prominence, the message of “Were You There” quickly expanded beyond its initial context. African American pastor, author, and civil rights leader Howard Thurman gives one poignant example in his memoir, With Head and Heart. On a trip to India, he and his wife, Sue, had the honor of meeting with Mahatma Gandhi. After a wonderful conversation, the talk took a surprising turn as the Thurmans prepared to leave. Thurman notes, “But before we left, he asked, ‘Will you do me a favor? Will you sing one of your songs for me? Will you sing “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?”’ He continued, ‘I feel that this song gets to the root of the experience of the entire human race under the spread of the healing wings of suffering.’”
While the story could be told simply to marvel at the image of Howard and Sue Thurman singing “Were You There?” with Gandhi in his ashram tent, it also shows the power and affect of the spiritual. While the influence of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the burgeoning Civil Rights movement has been well documented, perhaps we see here how the influence was reciprocal, as this song borne from the crucible of suffering spoke to any and all around the world who faced oppressions of every kind.
As we continue our journey through Lent and prepare for a Good Friday where many of our congregations will no doubt sing “Were You There,” anamnesis calls us not only to remember Christ’s death but also the stories of all those who suffer at the hand of oppression. As mass incarceration, discriminatory drug policies, and police brutality continue to disproportionately target African Americans and other people of color, the song continues to give comfort to the oppressed that they serve a suffering Savior especially present in their suffering. Yet, it also asks those of us in privileged positions of comfort not only if we “were there” at the cross of Christ, but if we are there in the suffering of the oppressed where Christ’s cross still stands.
About this month’s guest writer:
David Bjorlin, a minister of the Evangelical Covenant Church, is a doctoral student in Liturgical Studies at the Boston University School of Theology. He teaches worship courses at North Park Theological Seminary and is a pastor at Resurrection Covenant Church in Chicago. He recently co-authored Incorporating Children in Worship: Mark of the Kingdom with Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom.
http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-were-you-there

Incumbent U.S. Senator (R) to meet with SCOTUS nominee

Washingtonpost Dot-com =
Illinois's Mark Kirk will become the first Republican senator to sit down with Garland today (Tuesday March 29).

Where is a Festival of the Hummingbird? Grafton, IL has Pere Marquette Lodge

June 26, 2016

The Hummingbird Festival at Pere Marquette has been a crowd pleaser for years, and this year will be no exception. Join the Lodge in celebrating a creature full of mystery and beauty – the hummingbird. Live entertainment, presentations from naturalists on the hummingbird, catching and banding, plus craft vendors and activities. The event is free. For more information, call (618) 786-2331, or go to www.PMLodge.net

https://www.enjoyillinois.com/en-us/thingstodo/details/6035656

Mushroom Hunting (April 2016) - Shelbyville, IL Forest Park

April 22-23, 2016

Come and enjoy the thrill of the hunt for the elusive morel mushroom or come and bid at the auction. Friday night kicks off the event with a welcome dinner, reception and speaker in Windsor, IL. Saturday morning, come and join the hunt for a fee. If you like morels but not the hunt, come to the auction and bid for your winning batch. The 2016 hunt and auction will be based out of Shelbyville's Forest Park.

https://www.enjoyillinois.com/en-us/thingstodo/details/6042946

Eastertide is the time of new life

from Catholic Culture dot-org:


Eastertide is the time of new life. Our Savior's in the first place, living for ever a life which belongs no more to the earth and which one day we shall share with Him in heaven. And then our own lives — from Christ to us — for we have more than the assurance of rejoining Him; snatched by Him from the power of the devil we belong to Him as His by right of conquest and we share His life.


https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1073

Jewish feast (14th & 15th of Adar) - Purim

www.jewfaq.org / Judaism 101


The primary commandment related to Purim is to hear the reading of the book of Esther. The book of Esther is commonly known as the Megillah, which means scroll. Although there are five books of Jewish scripture that are properly referred to as megillahs (Esther, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations), this is the one people usually mean when they speak of The Megillah. It is customary to boo, hiss, stamp feet and rattle gragers (noisemakers) whenever the name of Haman is mentioned in the service. The purpose of this custom is to "blot out the name of Haman."
We are also commanded to eat, drink and be merry. According to the Talmud, a person is required to drink until he cannot tell the difference between "cursed be Haman" and "blessed be Mordecai," though opinions differ as to exactly how drunk that is. A person certainly should not become so drunk that he might violate other commandments or get seriously ill. In addition, recovering alcoholics or others who might suffer serious harm from alcohol are exempt from this obligation.
In addition, we are commanded to send out gifts of food or drink, and to make gifts to charity. The sending of gifts of food and drink is referred to as shalach manos (lit. sending out portions).


For this year, sunset of March 23 up to Nightfall on March 24.

Honoring the victims of the March 22, 2016 attacks on Belgium (White House dot-gov)

White House Statement and Weekly Address:
HONORING THE VICTIMS OF THE ATTACK IN BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

The American people stand with the people of Brussels.  We will do whatever it takes, working with nations and peoples around the world, to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice, and to go after terrorists who threaten our people
As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on March 22, 2016, in Brussels, Belgium, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, March 26, 2016.  I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/22/presidential-proclamation-honoring-victims-attack-brussels-belgium

POTUS and FLOTUS statement on Easter 2016

www.whitehouse.gov/ STATEMENTS

Statement by the President on Easter

Michelle and I join our fellow Christians in observing Good Friday and celebrating Easter this weekend. This is a time to remember the sacrifices made for us and hold all who suffer close to our hearts. Yet it is also a time to rejoice, give thanks for the Resurrection, and unite with Christians around the world in proclaiming, "Christ has risen; He has risen indeed." We wish all who celebrate a blessed and joyful Easter.

On this date in 1979 -- Middle East Treaty between Israel and Egypt signed

from NY TIMES list-serv:

ON THIS DAY

On March 26, 1979, the Camp David peace treaty was signed by Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt at the White House.

Patrick Henry famous oration in 1775 -- anniversary day

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media: Garrison Keillor):
It was on March 23 in 1775 that the lawyer Patrick Henry spoke at the Second Virginia Convention in Richmond, a meeting of American colonial leaders that included George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The four-day assembly turned into a fierce debate about whether or not to raise a militia and arm Virginia in the fight against the British. On the topic, Patrick Henry delivered a famous speech that probably included the line "Give me liberty or give me death!" At least, some people thought he did.
There was a problem with Henry's speeches. They were charismatic and passionate, but afterward, no one could remember what he had said. Thomas Jefferson said of Henry: "When he had spoken in opposition to my opinion, had produced a great effect, and I myself had been highly delighted and moved, I have asked myself when he ceased: 'What the devil has he said?' I could never answer the inquiry."
The speech wasn't written down until 1816, by Henry's biographer, William Wirt. Wirt talked to people who had been present at the speech and had them reconstruct it from their memories.

Kingdom Animalia (Brainard Gallery, 2010 Ninth Street, Charleston, IL )

Opening Saturday March 26 at 1 p.m. is an Exhibition of Animals in Folk and Indigenous Art.  Eastern Illinois University's publicity states that "this exhibition focuses on the subject of animals - both real and imagined - folk and indigenous art forms from the Americas, Haiti, India, and West Africa.  Sculpture, ceramics, paintings, textiles, and more will be featured from the Tarble Arts Center's Educational collection as well as SIU - Edwardsville, IL.  Admission is free and the show runs from late March to Sunday, June 5, 2016.
www.eiu.edu/

Wind Advisory (11 a.m. for Shelby County, Illinois) : Tuesday, March 22

WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 A.M. THIS MORNING TO 7 P.M. CDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 11 A.M. THIS MORNING TO 7 P.M. CDT THIS EVENING.

* TIMING... THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP BETWEEN 11 AM AND 7 PM CDT TODAY.

* WINDS... SUSTAINED WINDS WILL RANGE FROM 20 TO 25 MPH... WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH AT TIMES.

* IMPACTS... STRONG WINDS WILL MAKE FOR DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS... ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES ON EAST-WEST ORIENTED ROADWAYS SUCH AS I-70. WINDS COULD ALSO CAUSE MINOR DAMAGE. ANY LIGHT WEIGHT OUTDOOR OBJECTS SHOULD BE SECURED OR BROUGHT INDOORS.

https://weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/l/62422:4:US?phenomena=WI&significance=Y&areaid=ILZ061&office=KILX&etn=0004

March led by MLK - Selma, Alabama 51 years ago

from NY TIMES list-serv: On This Date
On March 21, 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators
led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their
march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama (state Capital).

Earliest for Vernal Equinox in 120 years !

from Old Farmer's Almanac (www.almanac.com) :
Astronomically speaking, the equinox (March 19 or 20 this year) marks spring’s beginning in the Northern Hemisphere (whereas it announces fall’s arrival in the Southern Hemisphere). The equinox happens at the same moment worldwide, even if our clock times reflect a different time zone.

• Did You Know: 2016 will bring the earliest arrival of spring of our lifetime (thus far!) in the Northern Hemisphere.

"Places We Love" (Earth Hour theme 2016) Saturday March 19, 2016 between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. local time

from Christian Science Monitor article / op-ed:
The worldwide lights-out event “Earth Hour,” scheduled for Saturday, has taken place every year since 2007.
But do we still need it?
A Gallup poll released this week found that an all-time high of 65 percent of Americans accept that humans are driving climate change, while 64 percent said they worry "a great deal" or "a fair amount" about climate change.

 

Organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Earth Hour takes place every March on a day selected by the organization. Participants, which include cities, individuals, and famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, turn off their lights between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. local time to demonstrate the importance of saving energy and conserving resources.

 

"Earth Hour reminds us that while people are on the front lines of climate change, they are also our first line of defense,” said Earth Hour global director Siddarth Das this week. “Our actions today, as individuals and the global community, have the power to transform what the world will look like for generations to come."
More than 350 world landmarks in 178 countries are scheduled to take place in Earth Hour this year. This year's theme is “Places We Love,” a reminder that unchecked climate change threatens to destroy beloved natural places such as beaches and mountains.
Event organizers say that this year’s Earth Hour is particularly important because of the recent Paris agreement on climate change, which includes worldwide efforts to reduce carbon emissions and spread green technology.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0319/Earth-Hour-Do-we-still-need-the-lights-out-protest?cmpid=TW

Prayer of Confession for PALM SUNDAY - Discipleship Resources (Rev. Nathan Decker)

from Online material posted by United Methodist denomination agency:
http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/the-master-needs-your-donkey-a-prayer-of-confession-for-palm-sunday


The Master Needs Your Donkey: A Prayer of Confession for Palm Sunday

A 21st Century Worship Resource

by the Rev. Nathan Decker

Lord, we are too nervous to ask for help from one another.
The Master needs your donkey, but we're afraid to ask.

Lord, we are afraid to give you what you ask.
Help us realize that what we have is just a gift from you.
Lord we are too proud to lay our cares before you.
Help us to lay our cloaks on the colt, on the road, on your way.
Lord, we have been quiet in our praise,
our shouts of Hosanna sound like mice whispering.
Put palms in our hands; help us in grace to stand.
Lord, we have looked from the pinnacle of the temple,
craving, protecting, and manipulating power.
We have told you time and time again,
make the crowds pipe down!
Break our hearts of stone; let us see your steadfast love,
and bring forth your Kingdom in this place.
Lord, forgive us for what we have not asked;
forgive us for what we have asked that was not needed,
for what we have kept that was needed,
and for what we have given that was unjust.




[  The Rev. Nathan Decker is the pastor of the South Sussex Charge of the Petersburg District of the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Nathan has great love for the diversity and inspiration of God's creative nature in worship.

21st Century Worship Resources for Palm Sunday" Copyright 2008, 2010 Rev. Nathan Decker. All Rights Reserved. Posted with Permission ]

History of Space Travel -- first Space Walk lasted 20 minutes on this date 51 years ago

from NY TIMES list-serv:

ON THIS DAY

On March 18, 1965, the first spacewalk took place as Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov left his Voskhod 2 capsule and remained outside the spacecraft for 20 minutes, secured by a tether.

Easter Egg Hunt (Shelbyville Manor - N. Home) for kids up to age 12 - Sat. 3/19 -- Bike Giveaway - 1 p.m. Rain or Shine

The Easter Bunny has been busy gathering goodies for all the little boys and girls in town for the Annual Shelbyville Manor & Hawthorne Inn Easter Egg Hunt. Come out to the High School Practice Football Field at 1:00 p.m. We will have a bike drawing for three age groups: 0-3, 4-7 and 8-12 years old. Entry forms can be found in the Daily Union newspaper or you can get one the day of the hunt. Please come early to get registered for the bikes! The Easter Bunny will be there to get pictures and visit with all the kids!
https://shelbyvillemanor.com/

Fifty-one years ago, Voting Rights Law supported by then-President Johnson

from NY TIMES list-serv:

ON THIS DAY

On March 15, 1965, addressing a joint session of Congress, President Johnson called for new legislation to guarantee every American's right to vote.

Global Teacher of the Year - Hanan al Hroub (Palestine) -- Ceremony at Dubai - March 13, 2016

Congratulations to Hanan Al Hroub the winner of the 2016 Global Teacher Prize.

Congratulations to this year’s Global Teacher Prize Winner, Hanan Al Hroub from Palestine! In a society torn apart by conflict where children are regularly exposed to violence, Hanan is building trust and supporting children suffering psychological trauma – from the heart of her classroom.

About the Nancy Reagan Memorial and Funeral at REAGAN LIBRARY - Simi Valley, California March 11, 2016

from NY TIMES online article by Alessandra Stanley (March 10, 2016):

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — In death, Nancy Reagan is drawing the kind of public warmth and adulation that her husband received for much of his life.

"We love how much they loved each other,” Doris Baltgalvis, 69, said. She and her husband of 50 years, Marty, 70, traveled from Corona, Calif., on Wednesday to view Mrs. Reagan’s coffin at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library here. The couple keep a framed photograph of the Reagans in their study. Mr. Baltgalvis added, “The way they loved and respected and were loyal and faithful to each other projected into the way he ran the country.”Several thousand well-wishers who waited in a hot parking lot to board buses and pay their respects were not there just to celebrate the romance of Ron & Nancy. Republicans, especially older ones, also say they are in mourning for the dignity and class the Reagans brought to the White House, at least as it appears in memory and in comparison with a Republican primary campaign roiled by vulgarity, crudity and division.

Politicians, former heads of state, celebrities and a dwindling circle of old friends will gather on Friday for Mrs. Reagan’s funeral at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, a majestic send-off that Mrs. Reagan planned with her customary vigilance and concern for detail.

Mrs. Reagan, who died Sunday at 94, was lucid until the end, according to friends. “She was very engaged in the funeral planning,” said John Heubusch, the executive director of the Reagan foundation and library. “She wanted it to reflect well on his legacy.”

Mrs. Reagan was a behind-the-scenes operator, but her intense devotion to her husband was obvious and unwavering throughout his presidency and his long battle with Alzheimer’s. After he fell ill, Mrs. Reagan rarely left him to go out, but she proudly burnished their love story. (The Reagan Library website likens it to more ill-fated pairings, including Antony and Cleopatra and Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.)

She published his charmingly and unapologetically mushy, over-the-top love letters, and a few are on permanent display at the library, as are Air Force One and their favorite table from Chasen’s restaurant.

Mrs. Reagan’s taste — and stagecraft — was just as evident after she died. The coffin, burnished mahogany topped with a mass of yellow and white peonies, freesia and roses, was laid out in the main hall of the library, in the same place where her husband’s coffin was on display in 2004.

March 27 -- a Holy day of 2016 -- a day to pray for the quadrennial General Conference (Portland, OR between May 10 - 20)

Blanketing the General Conference with prayer; 

IGRC's Day of Prayer is Easter Sunday

When the 864 delegates arrive for the 2016 United Methodist General Conference, each one of them comes blanketed in prayer.

From every corner of the world, people are speaking their names and praying for The United Methodist Church as the denomination's top policy-making body prepares to meet at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland on May 10-20.

Before all that begins, the Rev. Tom Albin, dean of The Upper Room Chapel, invites all United Methodists to prepare and blanket the entire proceeding with intentional prayer.Keep your message brief, friendly, and to the point.

In memory of former First Lady Nancy Reagan - notes of tribute from Alzheimer's Association USA

Alz dot-org mourns death of former first lady and Alzheimer's disease champion

The Alzheimer's Association was saddened to learn of the passing of former first lady and Alzheimer's advocate Nancy Reagan. Mrs. Reagan was a long-standing honorary member of the Alzheimer's Association National Board of Directors, and her involvement in the cause inspired the Alzheimer's community of families, caregivers and researchers.
In 1994, President Ronald Reagan shared that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, with an open letter to the American people, writing, “In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.” Following this brave announcement of the diagnosis, Mrs. Reagan used her voice to represent families and increase awareness for Alzheimer's disease.
“The Alzheimer's Association mourns the loss of first lady Nancy Reagan. Mrs. Reagan and President Reagan bravely shared his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease with the world in 1994. This was at a time when Alzheimer's disease was truly in the shadows and together they began to change the conversation about Alzheimer's disease for millions,” said Harry Johns, Alzheimer's Association president and CEO. “The public disclosure of their Alzheimer's experience created an enormous and much-needed upsurge of interest in the disease from the general public and government officials. It was our honor to work with Mrs. Reagan over the years to raise awareness and inspire progress in Alzheimer's research.”
The Alzheimer's Association offers sincere condolences to the Reagan family. We do not take for granted the amazing influence Mrs. Reagan had as an advocate for the Alzheimer's cause, and we will continue to aggressively pursue greater awareness, support for families and research that will slow, stop and, ultimately, cure Alzheimer's disease. (March 6, 2016)

Dermatologist Thomas Herald Rea - analyzed and cured / treated Leprosy [ Hansen's Disease } brought sufferers into public life

Obituary (March 5, 2016 issue of Los Angeles Times)
Dr. Thomas Rea, a dermatologist whose discoveries led to treatments that allowed patients with Hansen's disease — leprosy — to live without stigma, has died. He was 86.
Rea died in his home in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains on Feb. 7, 2016 after a battle with cancer, said his son Steven Rea.

Rea and his colleague Dr. Robert Modlin nailed down the precise role played by the immune system in Hansen's disease symptoms such as skin lesions and growths. The immune connection had long been suspected but never previously explained.
Their work opened the door to new treatments that rendered the disease non-contagious and allowed patients to live normal lives." It was huge," said Dr. David Peng, head of the dermatology department at USC's Keck School of Medicine.
The disease went from largely untreatable to "entirely controllable," he said. No more would sufferers be exiled to colonies, as they had been since biblical times.
Rea was also an early champion of the drug thalidomide in treating a complication of leprosy. The drug had been banned for its role in causing birth defects, but Rea successfully lobbied the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to allow its limited use.
Rea was head of the USC's dermatology division between 1981 and 1996, and kept working at the Hansen's disease clinic at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights until a few months before he died.
The clinic is the largest of its kind in the nation and tracks several hundred cases of Hansen's disease. It was renamed for Rea last year.
For years, Rea worked with patients who suffered from leprosy's stigma and felt they had to avoid human contact. "He'd come straight in and shake their hands, no gloves on, and it would empower them to realize that they could get better," Peng said.
He wanted them to live normally and did much of his work outside the laboratory, helping patients learn to function day-to-day.
Rea's efforts changed the narrative for leprosy patients. Once, the disease forced them to hide. Now, they can hide their disease and live among people.


Thomas Herald Rea was born in 1929 in Three Rivers, Michigan. He went to Oberlin College and to medical school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He completed his dermatology residency at University Hospital in Ann Arbor.He worked in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army in Korea and in the dermatology department at New York University, where he first began treating Hansen's disease patients, and moved to Los Angeles in 1970.His son said he loved books, was a fan of William Robertson Davies and Kurt Vonnegut, and could recall everything he'd learned in school, even the lineage of the British royal family. He collected figurines of armadillos — the symbol of leprosy because they can carry the disease . . .www.latimes.com/

225 years ago -- anniversary of John Wesley's death at age 88 -- also Francis Asbury died March 31, 1816

Remembering the deaths of Wesley and Asbury

NEW YORK (UMNS) — After John Wesley died - 225 years ago this week - Francis Asbury noted in his journal that he probably would never read the works of the founder of Methodism again “without reflecting on the loss which the Church of God and the world has sustained by his death.” Asbury himself died 200 years ago at the end of March.

http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/remembering-the-deaths-of-wesley-asbury

Famous closing sentence (First Inaugural of A. Lincoln: March 4, 1861) : imagery of "better angels"

from www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/


The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.


http://abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/1inaug.htm

Archaeology of the N. American Fur Trade (Niles and SW Michigan) - Prof. Nassaney of W. Michigan University - March 2, 6:30 p.m.

The Dowagiac (MI) Area History museum (201 E. Division Street) announces its Spring 2016 Lecture Series, which will kick off with Dr. Michael Nassaney of Western Michigan University Today =
March 2: Archaeology of the North American Fur Trade, by Dr. Michael Nassaney of Western Michigan University Archaeology Department, Kalamazoo, MI - head of Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project (an ongoing dig).
April 6: The 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition, by Karen Nicholson, World’s Fairs Historian
April 27: Southwest Michigan Eats: Food and Culture in Southwest Michigan, by Daysha Amster, Chef and Owner of Olfactory Hue Bistro in Niles, MI.
http://www.dowagiacmuseum.info/spring-lecture-series-announced/

Civil War Roundtable March 9, 2016 (Cleveland, OH group with annual lecture)

March 9, 2016
Hon. C. Ellen ConnallySalmon P. Chase and Reconstruction            
The demise of the Confederacy left a legacy of legal arrangements that raised fundamental and vexing questions regarding the legal rights and status of former slaves and the status of former Confederate states. Few individuals had greater impact on resolving these difficult questions than Salmon P. Chase, chief justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1865 to 1873.
In his rulings on cases brought before the court Chase combined his abolitionist philosophy with an activist jurisprudence to help dismantle once and for all the deposed machineries of slavery and the Confederacy. Chase sought to consolidate the gains of the Civil War era, while demonstrating that the war had both preserved the precious core characteristics of the federal union of states and fundamentally improved the nature of both private and public law. (From the publisher's description of The Reconstruction Justice of Salmon P. Chase.)
Our speaker: Judge C. Ellen Connally is a Cleveland native and a long time member of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.  She received her B.S. degree in social studies from Bowling Green State University in 1967, and her J.D. degree from Cleveland State University in 1970. In 1998, Judge Connally received her M.A. in American history from Cleveland State University and went on to complete all coursework towards a Ph.D. degree in American history at Akron University.
After serving in multiple roles at Ohio’s 8th District Court of Appeals and the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Ms. Connally was elected judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court in 1980 where she served until retiring in 2004.  Following retirement, Judge Connally worked as an adjunct professor of history at Ursuline College and of law at the University of Akron College of Law. She was appointed special prosecutor for the City of Cleveland in 2009 and in 2010 was elected to the Cuyahoga County Council where she served as president.

from 3 a.m. Tuesday March 1 to 1 a.m. March 2, 2016: Weather Advisory

HAZARDOUS WEATHER...

* A WINTRY MIX OF FREEZING RAIN AND SNOW WILL CHANGE TO ALL SNOW BY LATE MORNING AND CONTINUE INTO THIS EVENING.

* TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE BY EVENING. ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH ARE POSSIBLE.

IMPACTS...

* ROADS WILL BECOME SNOW- AND ICE-COVERED THIS MORNING.

* THE MORNING COMMUTE WILL BE HAZARDOUS ESPECIALLY OVER NORTHERN BERRIEN COUNTY.