Author: SeniorWomenWeb

Plum Tree Epiphany

by Ferida Wolff

The seasons change and with it my perspective. My garden is a meditation on the interconnectedness of all things. Every growing thing, people included, has its own cycle and reaction to life’s challenges.

During the spring our flowering plum tree puts out beautiful leaves and buds, always a joy to see. In the summer the branches fill out and spread giving our front lawn shade and elegance. It is truly lovely to look at though its unbridled growth was beginning to cause problems. I have always had trouble pruning plants; it somehow seemed to be an assault on the plant’s natural development. But this tree was getting out of hand, reaching out over the lower roof and heading toward our neighbor’s house. We all had to duck to walk toward our backyards. So as autumn approached, we trimmed the tree hoping to keep the next spring’s growth away from both houses. I had to admit that it looked neater when the trimming was done.

Only now that winter is just about here, we discovered some other consequences of unbridled growth. The tree had created so much shade that the Japanese cutleaf maple growing several feet away was affected. It was hard to tell in the summer as both plants put out reddish leaves but in the bareness of fall it was startling. The maple was full and bushy on the right and sparse and pathetic on the left, nearest the plum tree. The growth of one inhibited the life expression of the other.

When I leave my house I see the full side from my driveway so it took me a while, until I drove up on the other side of the street, to see the other. It was a shock. I love that little tree and I had harmed it.

Oh, how I wish I had trimmed the plum years ago. It obviously had not hurt the tree and it would have prevented the asymmetrical growth of the maple, which was doing its best to survive. An example of unintended consequences. But even more than that, here is a reminder of how everything we do has an extended effect. If it is so dramatic with plum and maple trees, how much more so with people? I know it isn’t possible to be aware of the full impact we have through our actions but it gives me pause to realize that each of us has the power to change the world we live in one thought, one action, one child, one plant at a time.

Here is some information on Japanese cutleaf maple trees, truly a lovely garden feature:

http://www.qscaping.com/NetPS-Engine.asp?CCID=20000011&page=pdp&PID=5838

©2011 Ferida Wolff for SeniorWomen.com

December 6, 2011

Public Opinion Snapshot: The American Public Still Backs Health Reform

The best way to track how Americans feel about the Affordable Care Act is to follow the monthly Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. The latest edition of this poll shows that, despite Americans’ contradictory feelings about the new health care reform law, conservative attempts to repeal it are likely to be met with resistance from the public.

On the one hand, more Americans are not in favor (44 percent) than in favor (37 percent) of the new law. But on the other, as the chart below shows, by majorities ranging from 57 percent to 84 percent, they approve of almost all provisions included in the law. The sole exception is the individual mandate to purchase insurance, where just 35 percent are in favor.

Chart 1

These views explain why 50 percent of respondents in the same poll say they would like Congress to either expand the Affordable Care Act or keep it as-is rather than repeal or replace it with a Republican-sponsored alternative (39 percent). It is also worth noting that since February, the number wanting to keep or expand the law has never dropped below 50 percent, while the number wanting to repeal or replace has never exceeded 39 percent.

Chart 2

Conservatives are sworn enemies of the Affordable Care Act. These data suggest that their obsessive drive to dismantle the law is unlikely to generate high levels of public support and in fact may yield the contrary.

Ruy Teixeira is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, the source for this article.

December 6, 2011

Stroke Risk Factors Linked to Cognitive Problems
A new study found that high blood pressure and other known risk factors for stroke may also raise the risk of developing cognitive problems. The finding suggests that keeping blood pressure under control might help preserve cognitive health.

Strokes occur when blood vessels that supply the brain rupture or become blocked. When blood can’t bring nutrients and oxygen to brain cells, the cells stop functioning and die. A stroke can cause a host of cognitive disabilities. These include effects on memory, speech and language, and everyday problem solving.

Even without suffering a stroke, people at risk for stroke might experience cognitive problems as their blood vessels deteriorate. The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study was funded by NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to analyze stroke risk and cognitive health. Since 2003, the nationwide study has followed more than 30,000 African American and Caucasian participants who were age 45 or older at enrollment. The study is led by Dr. George Howard at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

For the latest analysis, the research team examined data on the nearly 24,000 study participants who had no history of cognitive impairment or stroke and no evidence of stroke during the study. At the start, the researchers assessed each person’s stroke risk with the Framingham Stroke Risk Profile. The profile considers age, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems. The scientists assessed cognitive health with a 6-item screening test that required participants to give the year, month and day, and to remember 3 items from a list after a short delay. The test was repeated annually for an average of 4 years. Results appeared in the November 8, 2011, issue of Neurology.

Over the course of the study, more than 1,900 people without an evident stroke showed cognitive impairment. Baseline Framingham Stroke Risk score was associated with impairment. Age and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH, an enlargement of the heart) independently predicted cognitive decline. Each 10-year increment in age doubled the risk of cognitive impairment. LVH increased the risk by about 30%.

Since LVH can result from high blood pressure, the researchers did a separate analysis excluding people with LVH. In this smaller group, high blood pressure proved to be an independent predictor of cognitive decline. Each systolic blood pressure increase of 10 mm Hg bumped up the risk of cognitive decline by 4%.

Consistent with a prior finding from the study, demographic risk factors for stroke were also risk factors for cognitive decline. Men, African Americans of both sexes, and residents of the Stroke Belt (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee) had a higher risk of cognitive decline. Education was also a factor, with a higher level of education linked to a reduced risk of cognitive decline.

Those who experienced cognitive decline may have had silent strokes or other undetected changes that affect the brain’s blood supply, says first author Dr. Frederick Unverzagt of the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. “Our results emphasize the importance of early intervention to treat high blood pressure and preserve cognitive health prior to a stroke or other cerebral event,” he says.

The article is from the National Institutes of Health; photo from Wikimedia Commons

RELATED LINKS:
- Stroke:
  http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/stroke.htm
- In US Southeast, Cognitive Decline Could Identify Those at High Risk for Stroke:
  http://www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/news_articles/
  cognitive_decline_stroke_belt.htm
- NIH Study Finds Stroke Risk Factors May Lead to Cognitive Problems (NIH Radio):
  http://www.nih.gov/news/radio/nov2011/20111110NINDSstroke.htm
December 5, 2011
NYPL Digital Collection of Apartment Houses; Shop Their Finds

From the Althorp to the Ansonia, the New York Public Library’s Digital Collections holds image folios of the Classic 6: New York City’s Apartment Building Living, 1880s – 1910s.

(Above is The Langham, located at 73d Street and Central Park West, just north of the Dakota building. The image illustrated one-half of the plan of the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th floors. The other half is similar. Image ID number at the NYPL is 464826)

More than 1,300 digital images depict elevation views and floor plans for middle and upper class apartment buildings from New York City’s pre-World War I residential building boom.

The collection contents contain items, diagrams and photographs from volumes such as 1908’s Apartment Houses of the Metropolis, modern plumbing, fixtures for laundry, kitchen and butler’s pantry. There is also a loose leaf album of apartment houses includes views and ground plans of the principal high class apartment houses in New York City, together with a map showing the situation of these houses from 1910.

Collection Contents | Related Subjects

While you’re at the Library, do explore their shop:

December 3, 2011
Children’s Books for Reading, Collecting, Enjoying: Reviewers Select Their Favorites

It’s the time of year that reviewers make selections for holiday gifts. For CultureWatch, we’ve narrowed the field to children’s books. But often, adults chose these books as gifts for themselves nowadays. Because of their age, it’s sometimes difficult to find newly released editions, and so the hunt begins online.

Before we move on to specific reviewer lists, we wanted to acknowledge Amber Alexander’s work. The archival print on the right of an original watercolor, A Good Read, * embodies the whimsy, appeal and originality we seek from the childrens’ books we gift or keep for ourselves. In order to see Amber’s work, log onto Etsy and put her name into the search capability.

We discovered that there was a re-release of Beyond the Pawpaw Trees: The Story of Anna Lavinia by Palmer Brown, a book two of our daughters had loved when young but were regretful that our copies had not traveled when we moved from the east coast. The New York Review Books Children’s Collection has republished this book and anticipates the release of The Silver Nutmeg in April of 2012. Purple House Press is another publishing house that is ‘bringing back the finest in children’s books.’

A New York Times article recently reminded their readers that: “Print books may be under siege from the rise of e-books, but they have a tenacious hold on a particular group: children and toddlers. Their parents are insisting this next generation of readers spend their early years with old-fashioned books.”

Joan L. Cannon’s List

Kate Seredy’s The Good Master, The White Stag, The Singing Tree

St. Exupery’s The Little Prince.

Andrew Lang’s fairy books series and The Book of Romance, preferably old Longmans Green English editions with marvelous illustrations by Henry Ford.

Jan Brett is another dependably gorgeous illustrator, especially The Mitten and Fritz and the Beautiful Horses.

E.B. White, Stuart Little; Charlotte’s Web; Trumpet of the Swan: Ages 8 – Adult

Shel Silverstein, especially The Giving Tree

M. Jean Craig, Boxes

Laurence Housman: What O’Clock Tales

*©2011 Amber Alexander on Etsy

November 30, 2011
Infinite Jest and Met Museum Shopping

Credits:

Exhibition “Stare” Case, Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London. 1811 (?), Etching, hand colored 18 3/4 x 13 1/16 in. (47.6 x 33.2 cm) The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959

The exhibition, Infinite Jest, explores caricature and satire in its many forms from the Italian Renaissance to the present, drawn primarily from the rich collection of this material in the Museum’s Department of Drawings and Prints. The show includes drawings and prints by Leonardo da Vinci, Eugène Delacroix, Francisco de Goya, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Enrique Chagoya alongside works by artists more often associated with humor, such as James Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson, Honoré Daumier, Al Hirschfeld, and David Levine. Many of these engaging caricatures and satires have never been exhibited and are little known except to specialists.

In its purest form, caricature — from the Italian carico and caricare, “to load” and “to exaggerate” — distorts human physical characteristics and can be combined with various kinds of satire to convey personal, social, or political meaning. Although caricature has probably existed since artists began to draw (ancient examples are known), the form took shape in Europe when Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings of grotesque heads were copied by followers and distributed as prints.

Galleries 691–693

The exhibition’s title derives from Hamlet, which is quoted in a Civil War print that uses the famous line: “I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest” to mock Lincoln.

Director Thomas P. Campbell discusses Infinite Jest with the exhibition’s curators, Nadine Orenstein and Constance McPhee:

The exhibit is accompanied by a catalog,
Infinite Jest: Caricature and Satire from Leonardo to Levine (Metropolitan Museum of Art) by Constance C. McPhee, Nadine M. Orenstein.

And for shopping, we heartily recommend the children’s gifts. We’ve bought them for grandchildren over the years with great success; they’re entertaining, instructive and connected with the museum’s special attractions. You can find gifts here that unlike any others in the stores. And for others, the book selections are unique.

Museum shopping:

November 26, 2011
Growing Quality of Life: Urban Trees, Birth Weight, and Crime
Science Findings, Pacific Northwest Research Station*

“No town can fail of beauty,

though its walks were gutters and

its houses hovels, if venerable trees

make magnificent colonnades

along its streets.”

— Henry Ward Beecher

IN SUMMARY

City dwellers can find many reasons to value neighborhood trees. Urban greenery provides relief from the built environment that many people find appealing. In fact, a previous study found that a tree in front of a home increased that home’s sale price by more than $7,000. Two new studies explore the measurable effects that urban trees and green spaces have on human health and crime rates.

Geoffrey Donovan, an economist and research forester with the Pacific Northwest Research Station, used public health data, crime statistics, tax records, aerial photos, and other information in the two recent studies. He found that women who live in houses with more trees are less likely to have underweight babies. The study on crime revealed a more complex relationship. Larger trees, including trees located near the street, are associated with a lower incidence of property crimes. Larger numbers of smaller trees — especially trees planted near the home, which may provide a screen for burglars — are associated with higher crime.

Cities within the Portland, Oregon,

metropolitan area are using this

information as they rewrite street

tree regulations. Likewise, local

crime prevention programs and tree

planting advocates are sharing the

findings with urban residents.at a tree in front of a home increased that home’s sale price by more than $7,000.

Cities within the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area are using this information as they rewrite street tree regulations. Likewise, local crime prevention programs and tree planting advocates are sharing the findings with urban residents.

Key Findings

Scientists found a positive association between urban trees and birth outcomes:
- Greater tree canopy cover within 50 meters of the mother’s house was associated with a reduced risk of having an underweight baby. Proximity to private open space also appeared to reduce this risk. Past research has shown that exposure to the natural environment can reduce stress levels, so it may be that trees improve birth outcomes through stress reduction.
- Houses fronted with more street trees experienced lower crime rates, as did houses with large yard trees. These results hold for total-crime rates as well as specific property crimes such as vandalism and burglary. Trees may reduce crime by signaling that a neighborhood is well cared for.
- Yards that contained many small trees had higher crime rates, perhaps because small trees and shrubs can obstruct views, making it easier for criminals to hide. Other view-obstructing features, such as fences, were also associated with higher crime rates.
The complete report can be found at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/sciencef/scifi137.pdf and is written by John Kirkland who has been writing about science, higher education, and business for more than 20 years. He lives in Portland, Oregon

*PNW Science Findings is published monthly by Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, P.O. Box 3890, Portland, Oregon 97208

Science Findings is online at:

http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/scifi.shtml

http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/subscription.shmtl
November 24, 2011
In Case We Forget: Centennial of Women Suffrage in California

The San Francisco Public Library is featuring an exhibit celebrating the long fight for California woman suffrage with use of historic documents, photographs and other ephemera. Among the documents: Argument Against Women’s Suffrage, 1911/ Prepared by J. B. Sanford, Chairmen of Democratic Caucus:

Argument Against Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 8

Suffrage is not a right. It is a privilege that may or may not be granted. Politics is no place for a women consequently the privilege should not be granted to her.

The mother’s influence is needed in the home. She can do little good by gadding the streets and neglecting her children. Let her teach her daughters that modesty, patience, and gentleness are the charms of a women. Let her teach her sons that an honest conscience is every man’s first political law; that no splendor can rob him nor no force justify the surrender of the simplest right of a free and independent citizen. The mothers of this country can shape the destinies of the nation by keeping in their places and attending to those duties that God Almighty intended for them. The kindly, gentle influence of the mother in the home and the dignified influence of the teacher in the school will far outweigh all the influence of all the mannish female politicians on earth.

The courageous, chivalrous, and manly men and the womanly women, the real mothers and home builders of the country, are opposed to this innovation in American political life. There was a bill (the Sanford bill) before the last legislature which proposed to leave the equal suffrage question to women to decide first before the men should vote on it. This bill was defeated by the suffragettes because they knew that the women would vote down the amendment by a vote of ten to one.

The men are able to run the government and take care of the women. Do women have to vote in order to receive the protection of man? Why, men have gone to war, endured every privation and death itself in defense of woman. To man, woman is the dearest creature on earth, and there is no extreme to which he would not go for his mother or sister. By keeping woman in her exalted position man can be induced to do more for her than he could by having her mix up in affairs that will cause him to lose respect and regard for her. Woman does not have to vote to secure her rights. Man will go to any extreme to protect and elevate her now. As long as woman is woman and keeps her place she will get more protection and more consideration than man gets. When she abdicates her throne she throws down the scepter of her power and loses her influence.

Woman suffrage has been proven a failure in states that have tried it. It is wrong. California should profit by the mistakes of other states. Not one reform has equal suffrage effected. On the contrary, statistics go to show that in most equal suffrage states, Colorado particularly, that divorces have greatly increased since the adoption of the equal suffrage amendment, showing that it has been a home destroyer. Crime has also increased due to lack of the mothers in the home.

November 23, 2011
The Clutter Killer

by Rose Madeline Mula

“And you’re saving this why??”

So asked my friend Alex, pulling a perfectly good coffee pot out of one of my kitchen cabinets. Granted, the handle had fallen off seven years ago; but I was sure I’d get it fixed eventually. And so what if I had three other coffee pots? It’s always good to have spares. I didn’t admit to Alex that I seldom used any of them. I brew coffee only for company. For myself, I use instant. Okay, okay! I know most people consider that an abomination; but my unsophisticated palate can’t tell the difference between Starbucks and imitation-coffee-flavored hot water.

“A rolling pin?” Alex continued, still rummaging, “When did you last use this?”

Actually, never. I have to admit the closest I’ve ever come to baking a home-made pie is to throw some instant pudding into a store-bought crust. And pizza? Why would I try to compete with Papa Gino, especially when he delivers? But the rolling pin had belonged to my mother (who actually used it to make pies, pizzas, pastas. and dozens of other delicious delicacies). She died twenty-five years ago. How could I throw it out? Ditto the flour strainer, the fat separator, the cookie cutters, and a dozen other thing-a-ma-jigs that have been languishing unused since her passing. Why keep them, Alex wanted to know. Not only because they were my Mom’s, I said; but, also, you never know when I might get the urge to bake a cake or a batch of cookies — and if I miraculously decide to roast a turkey some day, that fat separator would certainly be useful for making gravy. Furthermore, if I can figure out what the other gizmos are, I might find them very handy.

Lest you think that Alex has some nerve invading my kitchen and criticizing my utensils, I had invited (in fact, begged) him to do exactly that.

I’ve always prided myself on keeping my home neat and clutter-free, you see, at least on the surface. But lately I’ve had a recurring nightmare: I leave home some day for a mundane errand and never come back because I have a heart attack or stroke, or I’m carted off to psycho ward because I snap and go berserk when I can’t remember where I parked my car (which actually happened to a friend). But that’s not the worst part of my dream. Next I see my relatives coming into my home, admiring it — and then opening my cabinets, drawers, and closets … At that point, I wake up in a cold sweat.

Alex never has such a nightmare, I’m sure. His kitchen, for example, is pristine — no duplicate wooden spoons, no pot covers that don’t fit any pots, only one cutting board (“Why do you need five?” he asked.), and no cabinets that spill their contents when their doors are opened. In fact, he actually has two completely empty cabinets and a refrigerator with gleaming bare shelves. I covet his kitchen. I want mine to look like that. But I don’t want to have to give up anything — including the toppling pile of plastic containers and mismatched lids that fit none of them — to achieve that goal. Clearly, I had a dilemma.

November 22, 2011
Facts and Figures for Thanksgiving Day: Nov. 24, 2011

The US Census Bureau in Washington, DC wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving; SeniorWomen.com does, too, in our twelfth year of the website’s presence.

CB11-FF.21

Oct. 26, 2011

Thanksgiving Day: Nov. 24, 2011

In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims, early settlers of Plymouth Colony, held a three-day feast to

celebrate a bountiful harvest, an event many regard as the nation’s first Thanksgiving. Historians

have also recorded ceremonies of thanks among other groups of European settlers in North

America, including British colonists in Virginia in 1619. The legacy of thanks and the feast have

survived the centuries, as the event became a national holiday in 1863 when President Abraham

Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. Later,

President Franklin Roosevelt clarified that Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the

fourth Thursday of the month to encourage earlier holiday shopping, never on the occasional

fifth Thursday.

248 million

The number of turkeys expected to be raised in the United States in 2011. That’s up 2 percent

from the number raised during 2010. The turkeys produced in 2010 together weighed 7.11 billion

pounds and were valued at $4.37 billion.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service,

<http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/TurkRaisSu/TurkRaisSu-09-23-2011.pdf>,

<http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/PoulProdVa/PoulProdVa-04-28-2011.pdf>

46.5 million

The preliminary estimate of turkeys Minnesota is expected to raise in 2011. The Gopher State

was tops in turkey production, followed by North Carolina (30.0 million), Arkansas (30.0

million), Missouri (18.0 million), Virginia (17.5 million) and Indiana (16.0 million). These six

states together account for about two-thirds of U.S. turkeys produced in 2011.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service,

<http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/TurkRaisSu/TurkRaisSu-09-23-2011.pdf>

Culinary Delights

750 million pounds

The forecast for U.S. cranberry production in 2011. Wisconsin is expected to lead all states in the

production of cranberries, with 430 million pounds, followed by Massachusetts (210 million).

New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are also expected to have substantial production, ranging

from 17 million to 54 million pounds.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service,

<http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/Cran/Cran-08-16-2011.pdf>2.4 billion pounds

The total weight of sweet potatoes — another popular Thanksgiving side dish — produced by

major sweet potato producing states in 2010. North Carolina (972 million pounds) produced

more sweet potatoes than any other state.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service

<http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/results/E8F91E0D-30B4-305E-AA3C-0ABADBFB95A2>,

<http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProdSu/CropProdSu-01-12-

2011_new_format.pdf>

1.1 billion pounds

Total production of pumpkins in the major pumpkin-producing states in 2010. Illinois led the

country by producing 427 million pounds of the vined orange gourd. Pumpkin patches in

California, New York and Ohio also provided lots of pumpkins: Each state produced at least 100

million pounds. The value of all pumpkins produced by major pumpkin-producing states was

$117 million.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service,

<http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/VegeSumm/VegeSumm-01-27-2011.pdf>

If you prefer cherry pie, you will be pleased to learn that the nation’s forecasted tart cherry

production for 2011 totals 266.1 million pounds, up 40 percent from the 2010 production. Of this

2011 total, the overwhelming majority (210.0 million pounds) will be produced in Michigan.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service,

<http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/nass/CherProd//2010s/2011/CherProd-06-23-2011.pdf>

2.01 billion bushels

The total volume of wheat — the essential ingredient of bread, rolls and pie crust — produced in

the United States in 2011. Kansas, Montana and North Dakota accounted for about 33 percent of

the nation’s wheat production.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service,

<http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/SmalGraiSu/SmalGraiSu-09-30-2011.pdf>

656,340 tons

The 2011 contracted production of snap (green) beans in major snap (green) bean-producing

states. Of this total, Wisconsin led all states (258,320 tons). Many Americans consider green

bean casserole a traditional Thanksgiving dish.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service,

<http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/Vege/Vege-09-02-2011.pdf>$7.8 million

The value of U.S. imports of live turkeys from January through July of 2011 — 99.7 percent

from Canada. When it comes to sweet potatoes, the Dominican Republic was the source of

60.1 percent ($3.2 million) of total imports ($5.3 million). The United States ran a $3.6 million

trade deficit in live turkeys during the period but had a surplus of $41.7 million in sweet

potatoes.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/>

13.3 pounds

The quantity of turkey consumed by the typical American in 2009, with no doubt a hearty

helping devoured at Thanksgiving time. Per capita sweet potato consumption was 5.3 pounds.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture as cited in the Statistical Abstract of the United States:

2012, Tables 217 and 218, <http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>

The Price is Right

$1.38

Retail cost per pound of a frozen whole turkey in December 2010.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as cited in the Statistical Abstract of the United States:

2012, Table 733, <http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>

Where to Feast

4

Number of places in the United States named after the holiday’s traditional main course. Turkey

Creek, La., was the most populous in 2010, with 441 residents, followed by Turkey, Texas (421),

Turkey Creek, Ariz. (294), and Turkey, N.C. (292). There are also 11 townships around the

country with Turkey in their names, including three in Kansas.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census <http://factfinder2.census.gov/>

9

Number of places and townships in the United States that are named Cranberry or some spelling

variation of the acidic red berry (e.g., Cranbury, N.J.), a popular side dish at Thanksgiving.

Cranberry township (Butler County), Pa., was the most populous of these places in 2010, with

28,098 residents. Cranberry township (Venango County), Pa., was next (6,685).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census <http://factfinder2.census.gov/>

37

Number of places and townships in the United States named Plymouth, as in Plymouth Rock, the

landing site of the first Pilgrims. Plymouth, Minn., is the most populous, with 70,576 residents in

2010; Plymouth, Mass., had 56,468. There is just one township in the United States named

Pilgrim. Located in Dade County, Mo., its population was 132 in 2010. And then there is Mayflower, Ark., whose population was 2,234 in 2010, and Mayflower Village, Calif., whose

population was 5,515 in 2010.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census <http://factfinder2.census.gov/>

116.7 million

Number of households across the nation — all potential gathering places for people to celebrate

the holiday.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census <http://factfinder2.census.gov/>

Following is a list of observances typically covered by the Census Bureau’s Facts for Features

series:

African-American History Month (February) Labor Day

Super Bowl Grandparents Day

Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15)

Women’s History Month (March) Unmarried and Single Americans Week

Irish-American Heritage Month (March)/ Halloween (Oct. 31)

St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month (May) (November)

Older Americans Month (May) Veterans Day (Nov. 11)

Cinco de Mayo (May 5) Thanksgiving Day

Mother’s Day The Holiday Season (December)

Hurricane Season Begins (June 1)

Father’s Day

The Fourth of July (July 4)

Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act (July 26)

Back to School (August)

Editor’s note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling

variability and other sources of error. Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an

observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. Questions or comments should be directed to

the Census Bureau’s Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; fax: 301-763-3762; or e-mail:

<pio@census.gov>.

In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims, early settlers of Plymouth Colony, held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest, an event many regard as the nation’s first Thanksgiving. Historians have also recorded ceremonies of thanks among other groups of European settlers in North America, including British colonists in Virginia in 1619. The legacy of thanks and the feast have survived the centuries, as the event became a national holiday in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. Later, President Franklin Roosevelt clarified that Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month to encourage earlier holiday shopping, never on the occasional fifth Thursday.

248 million

The number of turkeys expected to be raised in the United States in 2011. That’s up 2 percent from the number raised during 2010. The turkeys produced in 2010 together weighed 7.11 billion pounds and were valued at $4.37 billion.

46.5 million

The preliminary estimate of turkeys Minnesota is expected to raise in 2011. The Gopher State was tops in turkey production, followed by North Carolina (30.0 million), Arkansas (30.0 million), Missouri (18.0 million), Virginia (17.5 million) and Indiana (16.0 million). These six states together account for about two-thirds of US turkeys produced in 2011.

Culinary Delights

750 million pounds

The forecast for US cranberry production in 2011. Wisconsin is expected to lead all states in the production of cranberries, with 430 million pounds, followed by Massachusetts (210 million). New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are also expected to have substantial production, ranging from 17 million to 54 million pounds.

2.4 billion pounds

The total weight of sweet potatoes — another popular Thanksgiving side dish — produced by major sweet potato producing states in 2010. North Carolina (972 million pounds) produced more sweet potatoes than any other state.

November 22, 2011

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Author: SeniorWomenWeb

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