the road to excellence

June 13th, 2013

Successful summer program under way

By ANDREW PETERS

As you read today’s issue of the Big Bend Sentinel, the MISD Summer Shake-up program is half over. It is hard to believe. Anna Kreger and Jaylia Foster, MISD teachers, have coordinated a number of educational programs for our community’s children. We averaged over 60 students the first two …

¡ask a mexican!

June 13th, 2013

Learn the Spanish language so you’ll know what they’re saying about you

By GUSTAVO ARELLANO

Dear Mexican: In Philadelphia, where I live, there are three Spanish-language stations on regular broadcast television. None of them offer English subtitles. I bet plenty of people of all heritages would like to check out Spanish language television, or the news from …

steve’s column

June 13th, 2013

Navigating toward Father’s Day

By STEVE LANG

“Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected.” – Red Buttons

Even with an instruction manual, I estimated my chances of success as a father as 50/50 at best.

With or without my assistance, my son and daughter seem to be amounting to something.

Apparently both have …

library talk

June 13th, 2013

Summer reading program begins

By RENEE MICK

Today we will begin our Summer Storytime schedule. We will offer a fun Storytime for toddlers as well as for ages 5-12 at the library. Both events begin at 11am today with Nicki Ittner and Ashley Rowe conducting, today only.

After today, Kelly Webb and Marc DeClerq will conduct.

Storytime will be …

the idle american

June 13th, 2013

Who are you busier than?

By Dr. Don Newbury

A guess–not even an educated one–is that the average person these days believes himself or herself far too busy for engagement in conversational drivel about, uh, who we are “busier than.”

Where we live, quasi-retired, our busiest hours precede twice-a-month housecleaner visits.

My wife simply can’t abide the thought of …

make it fun

June 13th, 2013

Happy Father’s Day all happy fathers

By PAM YOUNG

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of your father? When I think of mine, I think of his smile. He was so in love with Mom, my younger sister Peggy and me that he seemed to always have a happy face. If you read …

here’s to your health

June 13th, 2013

Health regardless of lifestyle, diet, and genes

By KEITH WOMMACK

If you had lived in Roseto, Pennsylvania, between 1955 and 1965 most likely you’d be Italian. Roseto’s residents, during this time period, were mostly immigrants from Roseto Valfortore, Italy.

Not only were most of the residents in Roseto, Pennsylvania, Italians, they were consistently healthy.

During that same time period …

steve’s column

June 6th, 2013

Parades and how not to escape them

By STEVE LANG

“If you’re not in the parade, you watch the parade. That’s life.” – Mike Ditka

Mike Ditka, based on his football achievements, could be his own parade. Perhaps he could even be a summer community celebration that prompts a lineup of creativity, horseback riding, siren-blowing and restored …

¡ask a mexican!

June 6th, 2013

The muy caliente summer column

By GUSTAVO ARELLANO

Dear Readers: U.K.’s spectacular Guardian newspaper has asked if I could field some questions for their readers as part of the paper’s summer travel package – turns out Brits want to know more about Mexican food! Let’s be benevolent toward those buggers: their idea of what our comida constitutes …

high desert sketches

June 6th, 2013

An inquiry from across the pond

By GEORGE A. COVINGTON

How many local columnists get a phone call from London concerning the content of one of their columns? (Lonn Taylor doesn’t count, because he has relatives in England who read his column.) When the voice on the phone said he was calling from London, I assumed it …