FDA Warns Consumers Not to Eat Certain Jars of Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Great Value Peanut Butter

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to eat certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter or Great Value peanut butter due to risk of contamination with Salmonella Tennessee (a bacterium that causes foodborne illness).  The affected jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter have a product code located on the lid of the jar that begins with the number "2111."   Both the Peter Pan and Great Value brands are manufactured in a single facility in Georgia by ConAgra.  Great Value peanut butter made by other manufacturers is not affected.

If consumers have any of this Peter Pan or Great Value brand peanut butter in their home that has been purchased since May 2006, they should discard it.

Note: This is real - a child in my mothers church in Athens, Ga is one of the people affected - Mark

 The news release on the FDA site is here:

FDA Warns Consumers Not to Eat Certain Jars of Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Great Value Peanut Butter

TAASC Outdoor program in Asheville

My three homeschooled children were privileged to have experienced TAASC when there was a chapter in Black Mountain in 2001. At that time, their ages were 11, 10 and 8. The highlights were: rock climbing (blind folded!), a 5 day canoe trip in heavy downpour, wilderness first aid, caving over night, and the weekly meetings where they learned new adventure skills, worked together as a team to problem solve, or planned their next service project. Our family endorses TAASC and would recommend it to any homeschool families looking for enriching experiences for their kids. Fortunately, it is right here in Asheville now!! There is more information about the program below with contact numbers. Or feel free to contact me: Janet Hart ( jhart7@bellsouth.net)

The American Adventure Service Corps (TAASC) uses an innovative approach to youth programming.

Where else have you heard of young people helping paraplegics climb a 600 foot rock face, or kids paddling over 700 miles in two expeditions to the ocean and raising over $6,000 for Habitat for Humanity and flood relief efforts, or youth members climbing a team total of 75,000 feet to raise $4,000 for the Nature Conservancy?

The above examples and so much more are actually happening! The American Adventure Service Corps (TAASC) is an incredible opportunity for youth to learn valuable life lessons such as compassion for others, mental and physical fitness, teamwork, leadership, community service, respecting and caring for our environment, and a sense of adventure and zest for life. One of the greatest outcomes of TAASC is the continual injections of self-esteem that occur over the years to really build a solid foundation of self-confidence.

TAASC is a year-round, non-profit organization that utilizes adventure education and community service to enhance young people's development of values, character traits and life skills. It is a co-ed program for ages 8 through 18 and is open to those who are motivated and committed to active participation in a weekly meeting, one weekend adventure trip per month and a summer wilderness expedition.

Throughout the year the youth will participate in outdoor adventure activities like climbing, caving, paddling, hiking, map and compass and much more. Service projects like river clean-up, volunteering at Manna Food Bank, visiting with the aged in our community and helping the animals at Habitat for Humanity, add up to a long list of dynamic opportunities for youth to develop a strong service ethic.

TAASC has been running successfully for 10 years in Morganton, N.C and has been operating here in Asheville for the past 7 months. The Asheville program is currently looking for new members. If you are
interested please contact me for more information.

Thank you,

Greg Gillett
Director TAASC
(w) 828-299-9844; (cell) 248-346-3902;
evergreentaasc@bellsouth.net

Roller Skating Reminder

Roller Skating in Franklin, Saturday 2/17, 1-4p.m., $4/per person.

Bring a friend!

Upcoming Events at Mountain Heritage Center

Nature's Tracks for children
Birds of Prey
Sunday, February 18
2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Reservations required.

Appalachian Folklife Series: Telling Mountain Stories
The Queen Family and Neal Hutchinson
Tuesday, February 20
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Appalachian Cultural Lunchtime Series
Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History
Anne Mitchell Whisnant
Wednesday, February 21
12:15 – 1:00 p.m.

All programs are free. Call 227-7129 for more information or visit the Mountain Heritage Center Website

Mission Statement and Website Continued...

I want to clarify that the proposed updated mission statement for the Aces group isn't cast in stone, I was simply floating a trial balloon and hoping to generate some discussion. My personal thoughts are that the group should expand past our traditional homeschool focus in order to retain (and recruit) a critical mass of kids and families going forward, but I understand that not everyone may agree or feel comfortable with changing the focus.  One of the beautiful things about the web is if  we decide as a group that something else works better, it can be changed nearly instantly. So let me know what you think...

Also, about the website...for those of you who don't know, we (the Tyson's) are planning on taking another extended camping trip (this time going out west) , leaving late March and returning sometime in the early fall. While on the road, we're obviously going to be focusing on things other than events in Western North Carolina(!).... plus as we learned on our last trip, Internet connectivity is spotty at best when on the road. Therefore, once we've left, other than responding to any technical issues with the site, we won't personally be able to continue posting events in the local area. There are several other Aces families that  regularly post to the website, and hopefully everyone will feel the site is valuable enough to pitch in and post events they feel other members of the group would find interesting.

As such, I encourage everyone to feel free to contribute to the website. It's easy to post something - simply send an email to:  swainaces.homeschool@blogger.com

That's all it takes. Don't be shy ;-)

- Mark Tyson

Movie listings now on website

I got tired of constantly having to look up the Sylva and Franklin movie listings, so I added them to the website. Just the movies are displayed, but if you click on the link for any movie it will show the times for all of them.

They are in the right sidebar down toward the bottom. Hope you find it useful...

- Mark

Friends of MBL Book Sale

 

To find out more on the Friends Of Marianna Black Library contact Jennifer (see e-mail below) or talk with a staff member next time you visit. 

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From: Jenniferohly@aol.com

Dear Friends,

 

        Here is a quick note to remind all of you to take advantage of our "two-dollar-a-bag" pre-sale at the Friends Bookstore on February 22, from 2:30 to 5:30 PM. Open to members of the Friends of MBL only, this is a great chance for all of us to find some really wonderful books at a low price. We are always getting new books at the Friends Bookstore, so make sure to stop by and see what we've gotten since your last visit.

 

     And in case you can't make it on that day, there is the public sale on February 24 and March 3, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Make sure you don't miss this great sale! 

 

Hoping to see you there,

 

Jennifer Ohly

Membership Chairman

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Arts & Environment Weekend at Tremont

Arts & Environment Weekend

April 27-29

This spring weekend brings together a wide variety of adults who are interested in exploring the connection between the arts and the natural world through educational workshops. Legendary singer-songwriter BILL STAINES will kick things off with a Friday evening concert at the Palace Theater in Maryville. Concurrent hands-on sessions (see below) will run Saturday. Our annual Open Mic Night will commence Saturday evening in a relaxed coffee shop setting, giving everyone an opportunity to share their talent with others. Sunday activities are traditionally reserved for spontaneous ideas that emerge over the course of the weekend from the collective creative juices of the group.

Program lasts from Friday supper through Sunday lunch. Cost: $220. One hour of graduate credit is available for an additional fee. Cost for people wishing to attend Saturday sessions alone: $125 (includes meals). Group rates are available.

Concurrent hands-on sessions include:

"Songs from the Heart" with Bill Staines – You don't have to be a musician to explore your creativity through song with this legend who created "The River", "Place In the Choir (All God's Critters)" and many other memorable songs.

"Installation: Solar Possums" with Gerry Moll, Public artist and educator – Create a solar-powered ice sculpture in this collaborative art project that will culminate with an installation outdoors on the Tremont campus.

"Writing From the Outside In" with F. Lynne Bachleda, Nashville-based author – Explore the self and the natural world through the written word.

"Sense-sational Snakes" with Jeff Menzer, Asheville-based artist – Invent your own personalized specie through drawing, sanding, painting, while learning some natural history about our reptilian friends.

"Delight Is In the Details" with Wren Smith, Bernheim Forest, Kentucky – Weaving together art, history and science this workshop offers you opportunities to hone and integrate observation skills, reflection and creation – plus a visit to the land of "fairy folks".

"Following the Thread: Handwork from Fleece to Fiber" with Carolyn Rogers & Sheri Liles – Card and spin sheep's wool and other fibers. Make your own knitting needles or drop spindle and learn how to knit a simple hat or scarf so you can hand the joy of this creative experience down to our children.

Check out www.gsmit.org to see longer descriptions as well as other sessions as they're added in the coming weeks. Come join us and explore your personal creativity at the height of springtime!

Plug in Hybrids

For those of you who enjoyed the documentary 'Who killed the Electric Car' (it's at Ingles if you want to rent it), this is an interesting video on some work being done in California on modifying a Toyota Prius to make it run longer on pure electricity - the Plug in Hybrid concept. A good forerunner of what our cars may look like 5-10 years down the road.

Plug in Hybrid Cars

Capital Fest 2007

NCHE is sponsoring Capital Fest 2007 which will be held on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh. The main goal is to give home educators an opportunity to meet with their Legislators, learn more about state government and tour many of the outstanding museums and visitor sites in downtown Raleigh. The best way to meet your legislator is to make an advance appointment their office for that day. In addition, NCHE plans to invite several legislators that have interest in speaking to their home schooling constituents in the auditorium of the Legislative Building. NCHE has also arranged other activities for that day to make your visit a full day event. The Capitol area visitor center has blocked off for NCHE members several time slots in the afternoon for tours. The blocks include tours at the History Museum, Science Museum, General Assembly and the Capital Building. You can call Jackie Parrish at 919-807-7947 to make your reservations. Please tell her you want to schedule a tour in the NCHE block. You will want to respond quickly. We could lose the blocks if there is not enough interest.

PLEASE NOTE: whether making reservations for your family or your support group PLEASE only reserve the number that has confirmed they are coming. Do not block off spaces for people that have not committed to come. Space is limited and we want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to participate.