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Girls Club awards ceremony

The Girls Club YMCA held its annual awards ceremony last week. Here's a look at some of the girls who were given awards.

We need your help!

WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Lifestyles has a lot of stories planned for the next few weeks, many of which need input from you.

Although I'm not sure how much of it will work out, here's a look at what we have planned, along with various pleas for help.

1. We're trying to have more content on the Web, like video and audio recordings. If you see something in the section that you have video, etc. of, send it in to starlifestyles@shelbystar.com.
   
2. Hair products – what do you really need? When’s enough enough?
   We're also getting samples of products for people to try out. You interested in being on the panel? If so, leave me a note in the comments section.
3. A tall, cold glass of sweet tea - all about the favorite southern drink. How do you like your tea? Leave your notes in the comments section.
   
4. Sounds of summer - what songs do you think reflect summertime the best?
5. Modern wedding gifts - What have you given/received that was really clever?
6. Summer skincare
7. Summer menu changes around the county - Do you know of any places with summer menu items? Leave responses in the comments section.
   
8. Drivers Ed - How parents and students can deal with each other. Got any tips? Leave them in the comments section.
   
9. We need July 4 happenings.
10. Does your church use a unique way of delivering the message?
11. 200 years of marriage - how four siblings have made it an average of 50 years. Do you have any tips on staying married? Put them in the comments section.
12. We're also looking for someone to test out the Snoopy Sno-Cone maker. Any volunteers?
    

Harder than it seems

We tried the Sno-cones and realized why our parents didn't like the contraption... it's too darn hard to put together, as Graham demonstrates here.

Here's video of the experience.

Sno-cones!

When those of us in the newsroom get the chance to bring back a pleasant part of our childhoods, we jump on it. Such was the case when we found out the makers of the Snoopy Sno-cone machines were bringing them back.

We determined that most of the younger crowd had one - Joy Scott, The Star's interactive editor, reporter Cherish Wilson and I each had one.

Allison Flynn, the assistant lifestyles editor always wanted one, but her mother never would buy it.

So we contacted the company that makes them.

After a week's waiting, our Snoopy Sno-cone machines have arrived!

I called my mother at work and hassled her about the one I had as a kid. She wouldn't let us use it. She claims today that our ice cubes were too large to go through the grinding mechanism. Lame excuse, mom. (Just kidding) I suspect that it was really because the darn thing was so messy.

In either case, we're going to break this thing out!

Oh yeah, we got a second one to give away to a lucky Star reader. So, if you're interested in winning one for yourself (or your kids), use the following requirements:

Did you have a Snoopy Sno-cone Maker as a kid? Do you want your children to experience it?
Are you willing to share what you or your children think about the reissued machine? If so, send us a card or e-mail telling us about yours as a child or about how you wanted one. We’ll give one away so you can review it.

Remember to include your name and phone number with your reason.

E-mail: starlifestyles@shelbystar.com

Mail: P.O. Box 48, Shelby, NC 28151, attn: Lifestyles Sno-cone

Freedom communications associates and their families are not eligible to win.

Memorial Day

When I left The Star Friday afternoon, I wasn't particularly looking forward to Memorial Day weekend. I anticipated a lot of family drama...

But to my pleasant surprise, I had a fabulous time.

The weekend was filled with family dinners, meeting new people and learning a lot about what it's like for soldiers in Iraq.

My cousin who just came back from Iraq brought her new fiance with her for my aunt's wedding. Mandy (my cousin) is an Air Force nurse and her fiance is also in the Air Force. They're both a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to a lot more family get-togethers with the future cousin-in-law.

The two of them put together a slidewhow of pictures they took while they were in a hospital in Balad, Iraq. Highlights of that photo show include a thermometer that read 120 degrees in the shade, a giant scorpion made out of scrap metal, patients' before and after photos and pictures of what it's like to work in a tent hospital. It's fitting that we watched the show on Memorial Day.

I also had the chance to have a few brief, but frank talks with my little sister about her future job and future husband, and got to have a little fun with my littlest sister.

We also had two births while I was home. One was a new cousin, and the other was a horse. I'm not sure which is cuter...

Overall, a good time... I wouldn't mind doing that about every weekend...

Anyone else do anything for Memorial Day they'd like to share? Post it in the comments section.

Ron Rash continued

I had a rough week last week and didn't have time to post this, but I received a surprise phone call about my blog and a column I put in the paper a few weeks ago.

The caller was Ron Rash - yay!

He said he was glad to be closer to home and said thanks for the coverage.

It made my day, but I was so surprised to get it that I flaked out and couldn't remember what I should say... I wasn't "star struck" in a traditional sense... I just lost my head...

Have you had a "star struck" experience or met a celebrity? Let me know in the comments section.

A sneak-peek at food

It's mid-afternoon on Tuesday and I thought it might be fun to give all the foodies out there a sneak-peek at what's going on in this week's Food section.

For one thing, there's Brazilian food - a unique mix of old-world food and new-world spicy flair.

The other thing is NASCAR food - Although the person writing about a new NASCAR cookbook is a little (in my opinion) harsh about the book's contents, its contents do seem to have a seriously southern flair. Some of the recipes would work well this weekend, considering there's a big race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. A book like this one may even get a few guys away from their Memorial Day weekend grilling... but I'm not sure the lure of NASCAR cooking is strong enough for guys to give up beer and pretzels... even during commercial breaks.

Let me know if you try any of this week's recipes.

great book

A few years ago, I read a book that changed the way I look at literature from Southern writers.

It's title: One Foot in Eden. It's author: Ron Rash.

I love the book because I can picture exactly how it happened. What makes it stand out is the fact that he wrote the book from several peoples' points of view. The reader advances through the story by seeing it from those different perspectives. It's my favorite book, which means that it has to stand up against other great American novels like The Color Purple, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Last of the Mohicans, Gone With the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye.

Rash's repertoire doesn't stop there. He's published several other books, including two novels, short stories and volumes of poetry.

I'm also a little biased toward him because (like me) he's a Gardner-Webb graduate.

We received media copies in the mail about a week ago for his newest book of short stories, "Chemistry and Other Stories." After reading it, I decided wholeheartedly that it lives up to my (extremely high) expectations of Rash's work.

I read it in several sittings because it's like fine chocolate - you want to savor it and make it last.

I don't want to give away too much of it, but the first story about the old men is one of my favorites.

The other advantage to these short stories (and his other work) is that it has a local setting. He actually mentions Shelby in one of the stories in the book.

Here's the link to his publisher.

Here's a link to some of his poetry.

Notably, Rash will be in the area on tour in the next few months. Read my column on Thursday's Spot calendar page to find out when and where.

Have you read Rash's other work? Did you like it? Hate it?

If so, leave comments.

Happy Birthday

With a little more than a week before the Cleveland County courthouse's centennial birthday celebration, I'm trying to put together some of the final pieces of The Star's coverage for the event. It's a big undertaking for us, and a monumental project for the Destination Cleveland County people like Brownie Plaster and Marta Holden (and many more) behind it. As I've worked on the project, I've come across scores of interesting historical photos. Hopefully, I can post one or two here every now and then. These first two images are postcards that were circulated during the last century. The one on the top has people looking at the confederate monument and courthouse on the square. The other is unusual because it's the view of the historic courthouse from a corner. Normally, postcards are looking straight-on at a building.

Do you have memories of the historic courthouse or courtsquare? If so, please share your stories in the comments section.