The annual Caraway Volunteer Ambulance Service auction raised over $9,000 Saturday, April 23, as townspeople and area donors came out to support their local ambulance service.
"As usual our people came out in force for us, making donations and bidding on items," Ambulance Service Director Roger Adcock said. "We had good weather and an excellent attendance."
Some of the items donated included blankets, framed pictures, miniature farm equipment, toys, table lamps, floor lamps, and farm chemicals. There were many choices of items for every age group.
"We cooked 140 boston butts for pre-auction sales," said Adcock. "We sold barabecue sandwiches at the concession stand, along with other auction favorites. Everyone pitches in to help where they can, and we couldn't make it without that. This is a community event, for a community based ambulance service. We depend on the revenue from this event to keep us going all year."
Auctioneers for the day were Bill Harrell of Monette and Gregg Stallings of Manila. Ambulance personnel, EMTs and drivers helped encourage bidding during the auction. Bernard Berry and Mayor Barry Riley assigned bidding numbers at the entrance. Sandy Adcock served as secretary and collection agent for the event.
2011年4月20日星期三
If it glows indoors, you can find it outdoors too
A trend toward creating "outdoor rooms" has dramatically increased lighting options for homeowners who want to extend their time outside.
Most indoor lighting fixtures -- chandeliers, pendant lights, table lamps -- now have a counterpart designed for patios or decks.
"We have seen outdoor lights absolutely replicating indoor designs," said Anne Robert of The Outdoor Stylist, a website that focuses on home trends.
"Outdoor lighting is a mood setter. It can make or break a design just like it can indoors."
The abundance of products lets you make outdoor spaces more functional, said Rich Young of Outdoor Living Brands in Richmond, Va. "It allows families to extend the square footage of their home," he said. "With the right light, you can extend the evening for dining or reading or other activities outdoors."
When choosing fixtures for outdoor entertaining areas, consider how much light is necessary, said Alene Workman, a spokeswoman for the American Society of Interior Designers. A table needs to have sufficient light so diners can eat, whereas a conversation area may need only soft mood lighting.
Be creative with table lighting, recommends Krissa Rossbund, a senior style editor at Traditional Home Magazine.
"Gone are the days when people hang a chandelier over a table and call it lit," she said.
She suggests hanging two small chandeliers instead of one large one, or buying a chandelier at a flea market and painting it a bright color.
Outdoor chandeliers come in a variety of styles, from mission to modern. Manufacturers also offer many candle chandeliers for outdoor areas that don’t have electricity.
For seating areas, choose a weighted outdoor floor lamp, said Workman, who owns an interior design firm in Hollywood, Fla. "There are wonderful new outdoor lights that are almost art pieces themselves," she said.
Colored lights, illuminated furniture, and subtle fixtures designed to blend with nature will be popular this year, according to design professionals.
Workman expects to see the use of color increase, and "I don’t mean Christmas lights," she said. Landscapers are starting to incorporate subtle red, blue, and pink lights into their work, she said.
Color is particularly appropriate if you are planning a party, Rossbund added. It’s "a fun way to change things up," she said.
Some homeowners are adding a bright pop of color with light-up patio furniture, Robert said. The battery-powered chairs and tables are available in a variety of colors.
International designers like Modoluce and Neoz have created lines of plastic tables and chairs that are lit from within.
Avanzini has a line of wood furniture made with glowing light strips. It helps create a lounge look that Robert thinks will be popular this summer.
"With the rise of staycations, we will see a lot of designs adopting a real bar-type lounge attitude, with perhaps more extravagant and festive pieces," she said.
Moonlight USA sells decorative outdoor illuminated globes, which can glow white like the moon or cast light in a rainbow of colors. The company also makes a tabletop for the globes. The clear acrylic disc has a cut-out center that allows it to rest on top of the globe so it can function as a table.
"The color is very robust," said owner Anke Kondek. "It’s a wow effect."
Homeowners wanting to light a more natural setting may go for a softer, more layered look, said Beth Webb, an interior designer in Atlanta. She favors the custom copper-and-wood pieces made by The Outdoor Lights in Cumming, Ga.
Company president Chris Wakefield has created lights that cast a warm glow around fire pits, dining areas, or outdoor living rooms. Some of his more popular items include punctured copper cylinders that create a firefly effect, stamped copper lanterns, and illuminated, artificial birdhouses. The lanterns can hang from a shepherd’s hook or a tree branch.
Before buying lights for reading, lounging, or dining, the professionals recommend making sure that pathways and steps are properly lit for safety.
"You want light to help you navigate spaces near or around steps," said Jeff Dross, director of education and industry trends for Kichler Lighting.
He and the other experts warned against making outdoor spaces too bright. They suggest using subtle light that is aimed towards the ground wherever possible.
"For most tasks you only need low light," Dross said. "Avoid that glare. Glare forces you to think you need more light than you do."
Most indoor lighting fixtures -- chandeliers, pendant lights, table lamps -- now have a counterpart designed for patios or decks.
"We have seen outdoor lights absolutely replicating indoor designs," said Anne Robert of The Outdoor Stylist, a website that focuses on home trends.
"Outdoor lighting is a mood setter. It can make or break a design just like it can indoors."
The abundance of products lets you make outdoor spaces more functional, said Rich Young of Outdoor Living Brands in Richmond, Va. "It allows families to extend the square footage of their home," he said. "With the right light, you can extend the evening for dining or reading or other activities outdoors."
When choosing fixtures for outdoor entertaining areas, consider how much light is necessary, said Alene Workman, a spokeswoman for the American Society of Interior Designers. A table needs to have sufficient light so diners can eat, whereas a conversation area may need only soft mood lighting.
Be creative with table lighting, recommends Krissa Rossbund, a senior style editor at Traditional Home Magazine.
"Gone are the days when people hang a chandelier over a table and call it lit," she said.
She suggests hanging two small chandeliers instead of one large one, or buying a chandelier at a flea market and painting it a bright color.
Outdoor chandeliers come in a variety of styles, from mission to modern. Manufacturers also offer many candle chandeliers for outdoor areas that don’t have electricity.
For seating areas, choose a weighted outdoor floor lamp, said Workman, who owns an interior design firm in Hollywood, Fla. "There are wonderful new outdoor lights that are almost art pieces themselves," she said.
Colored lights, illuminated furniture, and subtle fixtures designed to blend with nature will be popular this year, according to design professionals.
Workman expects to see the use of color increase, and "I don’t mean Christmas lights," she said. Landscapers are starting to incorporate subtle red, blue, and pink lights into their work, she said.
Color is particularly appropriate if you are planning a party, Rossbund added. It’s "a fun way to change things up," she said.
Some homeowners are adding a bright pop of color with light-up patio furniture, Robert said. The battery-powered chairs and tables are available in a variety of colors.
International designers like Modoluce and Neoz have created lines of plastic tables and chairs that are lit from within.
Avanzini has a line of wood furniture made with glowing light strips. It helps create a lounge look that Robert thinks will be popular this summer.
"With the rise of staycations, we will see a lot of designs adopting a real bar-type lounge attitude, with perhaps more extravagant and festive pieces," she said.
Moonlight USA sells decorative outdoor illuminated globes, which can glow white like the moon or cast light in a rainbow of colors. The company also makes a tabletop for the globes. The clear acrylic disc has a cut-out center that allows it to rest on top of the globe so it can function as a table.
"The color is very robust," said owner Anke Kondek. "It’s a wow effect."
Homeowners wanting to light a more natural setting may go for a softer, more layered look, said Beth Webb, an interior designer in Atlanta. She favors the custom copper-and-wood pieces made by The Outdoor Lights in Cumming, Ga.
Company president Chris Wakefield has created lights that cast a warm glow around fire pits, dining areas, or outdoor living rooms. Some of his more popular items include punctured copper cylinders that create a firefly effect, stamped copper lanterns, and illuminated, artificial birdhouses. The lanterns can hang from a shepherd’s hook or a tree branch.
Before buying lights for reading, lounging, or dining, the professionals recommend making sure that pathways and steps are properly lit for safety.
"You want light to help you navigate spaces near or around steps," said Jeff Dross, director of education and industry trends for Kichler Lighting.
He and the other experts warned against making outdoor spaces too bright. They suggest using subtle light that is aimed towards the ground wherever possible.
"For most tasks you only need low light," Dross said. "Avoid that glare. Glare forces you to think you need more light than you do."
2011年4月18日星期一
OPINION: LINDA GITTLEMAN: Lamp is a bit of Venice in St. Louis
It is, after all is said and done, just a lamp.
A genie won’t pop out, granting you three wishes if you should rub it.
It also didn’t sit in the boudoir of Marie Antoinette or Madame Pompadour.
But it’s a safe bet to say that few lamps with a design known as “Ca’Rezzonico” have been seen around here.
It now sits in the window of the Bustle and Grind antiques store on North Mill Street in St. Louis. Price is $2,200.
The two-tiered candelabra type table lamp came from the Seguso family glass works on the island of Murano in Venice.
Art Smith and his wife Carra Jones Smith, both now deceased, picked up the lamp in Italy in the 1970s.
It’s given that name because “it is based on a highly naturalistic design of a chandelier created by the renowned glassmaker Guiseppi Briati in the 1700s for the palace of a wealthy noble family of Venice with the name Rezzonico,” said Diana Hulme, who used to work at Sotheby’s and now, with her husband and family makes her home in Alma.
Hulme said the family palace still stands in Venice.
A genie won’t pop out, granting you three wishes if you should rub it.
It also didn’t sit in the boudoir of Marie Antoinette or Madame Pompadour.
But it’s a safe bet to say that few lamps with a design known as “Ca’Rezzonico” have been seen around here.
It now sits in the window of the Bustle and Grind antiques store on North Mill Street in St. Louis. Price is $2,200.
The two-tiered candelabra type table lamp came from the Seguso family glass works on the island of Murano in Venice.
Art Smith and his wife Carra Jones Smith, both now deceased, picked up the lamp in Italy in the 1970s.
It’s given that name because “it is based on a highly naturalistic design of a chandelier created by the renowned glassmaker Guiseppi Briati in the 1700s for the palace of a wealthy noble family of Venice with the name Rezzonico,” said Diana Hulme, who used to work at Sotheby’s and now, with her husband and family makes her home in Alma.
Hulme said the family palace still stands in Venice.
Big Values for Antiques Featuring Bugs
Since ancient times, bugs have had their rightful place in art and decorative objects. For instance, in ancient Egypt, bugs were revered in culture and religion. The Egyptians believed that a divine scarab beetle actually pushed the rising sun above the horizon every morning at sunrise. The scarab was responsible for the daily sunrise and thus associated with the process of regeneration, too. With its close association to the sun’s powers, scarabs were used as protective amulets and worn as jewelry. In addition, inscriptions were engraved onto the undersides of the scarab beetles and used as seals.
Ancient Scarabs
Scarabs appear as carvings on furniture, subjects of paintings, details on lamps and in jewelry designs. Of course, possibly the most famous scarab jewelry was fashioned by Cartier and worn by Elizabeth Taylor, who played the young Egyptian queen Cleopatra in the 1963 film of the same name. A Cartier scarab brooch, circa 1924, made of gold, platinum, blue Egyptian faience (used in Egyptian jewelry beginning about 5,500 years ago), round cut diamonds, emerald cabochons, smoky quartz, and black enamel was featured in the exhibit “Cartier and America” and valued in the high six figure range. In 2009, a Cartier scarab belt buckle with a cobalt blue scarab with turquoise faience wings studded with cabochon sapphires and diamonds set in platinum, measuring 5 inches long, sold for an astonishing $302,500.
Creepy Crawly
Fine artists, artisans, and designers throughout the history of art and antiques did not overlook creatures of the insect world in their compositions and constructions. For instance, insects were the subject for such pieces of art and antiques as Italian side tables, French sculpture and Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass lamps. For example, a Tiffany Studios dragonfly table lamp with matching base circa 1905 sold recently for $266,500. Some of the most commonly seen insects are bees, butterflies and dragonflies. Bees, butterflies, and dragonflies all refer to immortality, rebirth and the power of the supernatural. In the 19th and 20th centuries, they were common elements in the objects of the art world.
Many costume and fine art jewelry designers worked with the form of the spider in their designs. A pair of earrings in the shape of a spider, crafted in18-karat yellow gold with a coral body and emerald melee eyes, sold for nearly $500. Also, the pottery firm of Van Briggle attracted collectors with a 5-inch tall apple green spider vase from 1902. The firm’s antique spider vase cost $2,200. Personally, I’d still select one of Van Briggle’s other designs that do not feature spiders.
When it comes to art and antique design, forget about the can of Raid, as bugs of all types are in style and in high demand.
Ancient Scarabs
Scarabs appear as carvings on furniture, subjects of paintings, details on lamps and in jewelry designs. Of course, possibly the most famous scarab jewelry was fashioned by Cartier and worn by Elizabeth Taylor, who played the young Egyptian queen Cleopatra in the 1963 film of the same name. A Cartier scarab brooch, circa 1924, made of gold, platinum, blue Egyptian faience (used in Egyptian jewelry beginning about 5,500 years ago), round cut diamonds, emerald cabochons, smoky quartz, and black enamel was featured in the exhibit “Cartier and America” and valued in the high six figure range. In 2009, a Cartier scarab belt buckle with a cobalt blue scarab with turquoise faience wings studded with cabochon sapphires and diamonds set in platinum, measuring 5 inches long, sold for an astonishing $302,500.
Creepy Crawly
Fine artists, artisans, and designers throughout the history of art and antiques did not overlook creatures of the insect world in their compositions and constructions. For instance, insects were the subject for such pieces of art and antiques as Italian side tables, French sculpture and Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass lamps. For example, a Tiffany Studios dragonfly table lamp with matching base circa 1905 sold recently for $266,500. Some of the most commonly seen insects are bees, butterflies and dragonflies. Bees, butterflies, and dragonflies all refer to immortality, rebirth and the power of the supernatural. In the 19th and 20th centuries, they were common elements in the objects of the art world.
Many costume and fine art jewelry designers worked with the form of the spider in their designs. A pair of earrings in the shape of a spider, crafted in18-karat yellow gold with a coral body and emerald melee eyes, sold for nearly $500. Also, the pottery firm of Van Briggle attracted collectors with a 5-inch tall apple green spider vase from 1902. The firm’s antique spider vase cost $2,200. Personally, I’d still select one of Van Briggle’s other designs that do not feature spiders.
When it comes to art and antique design, forget about the can of Raid, as bugs of all types are in style and in high demand.
2011年4月15日星期五
Indicted capitalist Carlow crushed businesses, spirits
A day after he and his housemate were indicted on federal tax evasion charges, Michael P. Carlow was at his sparse office in a closed Neville Island cement plant.
In the past 20 years, Carlow has gone from the heights of the Frick Building, Downtown, to a federal prison in Morgantown, W.Va., to the drab office near Neville Island's southeastern tip.
Along the way, he went from being called a savior of several struggling companies to the man responsible for their corpses, including the D.L. Clark Co. of Clark Bar fame, Pittsburgh Brewing and its Iron City Beer, and City Pride Bakery -- viewed as the model for a rebirth of manufacturing in Pittsburgh.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted Carlow, 60, of Upper St. Clair and his housemate, Elizabeth G. Jones, 50, on charges of tax evasion and conspiracy. The nine-count indictment claims the pair used a series of companies to hide Carlow's assets to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from seizing his money and properties to satisfy the $6.4 million he still owes in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest from his 1990s business dealings.
The news elated some and dredged up bitter memories for others.
Chuck Geiger, 67, of Brighton Heights is still angry about Carlow's role in the demise of City Pride, an employee-owned Lawrenceville business that grew out of the closure of 100-year-old Braun bakery.
Geiger and 43 other former Braun employees had pooled their money and their sweat to line up public and private investors, get letters of intent from Giant Eagle, Shop 'n Save and other potential customers, and build the bakery from the ground up. Investors included the state, which kicked in about $1.1 million, and a group of nuns, he said.
"We spent a couple of years working around the clock to build it up," he said.
Then, almost overnight, Carlow gained control of the company in 1993, Geiger said. Eleven months later, Carlow shut it down.
"He ruined everything," Geiger said.
Carlow spent six years in prison after he pleaded guilty in May 1996 to eight charges, including bank fraud, tax evasion, wire fraud and embezzling from an employee benefit fund. The charges came out of a $31 million check-kiting scheme Carlow used to fuel his purchases.
Sitting in a paper-strewn office powered by a portable generator, Carlow on Thursday declined to talk on the record. Wearing a long-sleeved Ralph Lauren polo shirt, bluejeans and running shoes, he politely fended off questions while sitting at a worn meeting table.
The office lies a couple of hundred yards from a padlocked double gate watched by a security guard. The guard and Carlow were the only two people in evidence at the plant that GMI Land Co. bought from Kosmos Cement Co. in June 2007.
Several of Carlow's more recent business ventures, allegedly orchestrated through Jones, have suffered similar fates.
In 2008, Platinum Funding Group of New York funneled $25 million to Jones for the purchase of Cumberland Valley Fabricators, a metal shop in Maryland, and Waddell Construction, a Northern Virginia contractor -- two firms that annually combined for more than $20 million in revenues, records show.
Both companies soon plummeted into insolvency. Platinum founder Eyal Levy was elated yesterday when he learned from a Trib reporter that Carlow and Jones had been charged.
"That's fantastic!" said Levy. "They stole from us. It is about time."
Levy estimated that Platinum lost more than $1 million in the deal the venture capital firm made with Jones that was brokered through Carlow.
Richard Waddell, founder of Waddell Construction, said Carlow snookered him, too.
"I really don't want to talk about it," he said. "But everyone needs to understand that he took me for $1.5 million."
Downtown attorney Richard J. Parks said Florida-based Utica Leasco, an equipment rental company, is in for nearly $3 million with Jones for the former Neville Island cement plant, and his clients have not been paid anything by Jones in 30 months. The company wants either its money back or the property to be sold in a sheriff's sale.
"We've been trying to get a solution for 2 1/2 years for this, and Carlow is still there," said Parks. "That's how slowly the system works."
Hearing that Carlow was selling parts of the plant for scrap, Utica Leasco sent a crew to inspect the 11-acre site. The crew discovered that much of the salvage had indeed been trucked away, Parks said.
A court order allows Neville Island Supply, another Carlow company, to grind slag aggregate to make cement, but the stainless steel flails inside the drum that do the grinding were sold for scrap and so was the copper wiring needed to power the equipment, according to Parks.
Carlow first came to Pittsburgh's attention in 1991 when he bought the D.L. Clark Co. and seemingly rescued its trademark Clark Bar from extinction. The next year, he bought Pittsburgh Brewing, which made Iron City Beer. His stated intent was to turn the floundering companies around, and civic leaders hailed him as a savior of the hometown brands.
At the same time, Geiger and his colleagues had City Pride bakery up and running. While the company was not perfect, Geiger doesn't believe its financial condition was as bad as press stories at the time made it sound. He doesn't know directly because he was in charge of shipping and receiving rather than finances, but he knows they were busy and their customers were happy.
Their efforts attracted national attention, and Geiger ended up traveling to Chicago and New York to talk with other bakery employees trying to save their companies, and he was interviewed by ABC News anchor Peter Jennings.
"As far as I'm concerned, we were doing pretty good," Geiger said.
When Carlow gained control of the company, he brought in his own people, and sales fell when the bakery started producing inferior bread, Geiger said. Carlow said at the time that the company had lost $4 million over the 11 months he owned it.
Read more: Indicted capitalist Carlow crushed businesses, spirits - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_732403.html#ixzz1JZFiWufM
In the past 20 years, Carlow has gone from the heights of the Frick Building, Downtown, to a federal prison in Morgantown, W.Va., to the drab office near Neville Island's southeastern tip.
Along the way, he went from being called a savior of several struggling companies to the man responsible for their corpses, including the D.L. Clark Co. of Clark Bar fame, Pittsburgh Brewing and its Iron City Beer, and City Pride Bakery -- viewed as the model for a rebirth of manufacturing in Pittsburgh.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted Carlow, 60, of Upper St. Clair and his housemate, Elizabeth G. Jones, 50, on charges of tax evasion and conspiracy. The nine-count indictment claims the pair used a series of companies to hide Carlow's assets to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from seizing his money and properties to satisfy the $6.4 million he still owes in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest from his 1990s business dealings.
The news elated some and dredged up bitter memories for others.
Chuck Geiger, 67, of Brighton Heights is still angry about Carlow's role in the demise of City Pride, an employee-owned Lawrenceville business that grew out of the closure of 100-year-old Braun bakery.
Geiger and 43 other former Braun employees had pooled their money and their sweat to line up public and private investors, get letters of intent from Giant Eagle, Shop 'n Save and other potential customers, and build the bakery from the ground up. Investors included the state, which kicked in about $1.1 million, and a group of nuns, he said.
"We spent a couple of years working around the clock to build it up," he said.
Then, almost overnight, Carlow gained control of the company in 1993, Geiger said. Eleven months later, Carlow shut it down.
"He ruined everything," Geiger said.
Carlow spent six years in prison after he pleaded guilty in May 1996 to eight charges, including bank fraud, tax evasion, wire fraud and embezzling from an employee benefit fund. The charges came out of a $31 million check-kiting scheme Carlow used to fuel his purchases.
Sitting in a paper-strewn office powered by a portable generator, Carlow on Thursday declined to talk on the record. Wearing a long-sleeved Ralph Lauren polo shirt, bluejeans and running shoes, he politely fended off questions while sitting at a worn meeting table.
The office lies a couple of hundred yards from a padlocked double gate watched by a security guard. The guard and Carlow were the only two people in evidence at the plant that GMI Land Co. bought from Kosmos Cement Co. in June 2007.
Several of Carlow's more recent business ventures, allegedly orchestrated through Jones, have suffered similar fates.
In 2008, Platinum Funding Group of New York funneled $25 million to Jones for the purchase of Cumberland Valley Fabricators, a metal shop in Maryland, and Waddell Construction, a Northern Virginia contractor -- two firms that annually combined for more than $20 million in revenues, records show.
Both companies soon plummeted into insolvency. Platinum founder Eyal Levy was elated yesterday when he learned from a Trib reporter that Carlow and Jones had been charged.
"That's fantastic!" said Levy. "They stole from us. It is about time."
Levy estimated that Platinum lost more than $1 million in the deal the venture capital firm made with Jones that was brokered through Carlow.
Richard Waddell, founder of Waddell Construction, said Carlow snookered him, too.
"I really don't want to talk about it," he said. "But everyone needs to understand that he took me for $1.5 million."
Downtown attorney Richard J. Parks said Florida-based Utica Leasco, an equipment rental company, is in for nearly $3 million with Jones for the former Neville Island cement plant, and his clients have not been paid anything by Jones in 30 months. The company wants either its money back or the property to be sold in a sheriff's sale.
"We've been trying to get a solution for 2 1/2 years for this, and Carlow is still there," said Parks. "That's how slowly the system works."
Hearing that Carlow was selling parts of the plant for scrap, Utica Leasco sent a crew to inspect the 11-acre site. The crew discovered that much of the salvage had indeed been trucked away, Parks said.
A court order allows Neville Island Supply, another Carlow company, to grind slag aggregate to make cement, but the stainless steel flails inside the drum that do the grinding were sold for scrap and so was the copper wiring needed to power the equipment, according to Parks.
Carlow first came to Pittsburgh's attention in 1991 when he bought the D.L. Clark Co. and seemingly rescued its trademark Clark Bar from extinction. The next year, he bought Pittsburgh Brewing, which made Iron City Beer. His stated intent was to turn the floundering companies around, and civic leaders hailed him as a savior of the hometown brands.
At the same time, Geiger and his colleagues had City Pride bakery up and running. While the company was not perfect, Geiger doesn't believe its financial condition was as bad as press stories at the time made it sound. He doesn't know directly because he was in charge of shipping and receiving rather than finances, but he knows they were busy and their customers were happy.
Their efforts attracted national attention, and Geiger ended up traveling to Chicago and New York to talk with other bakery employees trying to save their companies, and he was interviewed by ABC News anchor Peter Jennings.
"As far as I'm concerned, we were doing pretty good," Geiger said.
When Carlow gained control of the company, he brought in his own people, and sales fell when the bakery started producing inferior bread, Geiger said. Carlow said at the time that the company had lost $4 million over the 11 months he owned it.
Read more: Indicted capitalist Carlow crushed businesses, spirits - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_732403.html#ixzz1JZFiWufM
500 Bright Easter Eggs Up for Grabs
There is nothing quite like 500 brightly colored Easter Eggs, 50 of them containing prizes other than chocolate, to take the edge off the stress surrounding finals and the end of the semester.
Residence Life will be hosting the Owen "Eggs"treme Hunt Monday, April 18 through Friday, April 22, or until the last egg is found. The hunt is open to all NGCSU on-campus residents
Eggs will be hidden throughout Owen Hall and scattered all around the outside of the building.
With a FREE iPod Touch as the grand prize, participants should consider a few strategies to ensure success:
Good running shoes are a must. It will be necessary to outrun competitors and sprint to the next egg.
A large, sturdy basket for hoarding eggs is another must. Make sure there are absolutely no holes. It would be beyond disappointing for the prize egg to fall through a massive hole.
For all of the vertically challenged people out there, a small portable step ladder so you can reach any and all eggs above your head.
A Wiffle bat for protection from greedy, dangerous hunters. These light, plastic bats can be quite useful to protect your prized eggs against one and all.
Happy hunting to everyone who plans to participate.
Residence Life will be hosting the Owen "Eggs"treme Hunt Monday, April 18 through Friday, April 22, or until the last egg is found. The hunt is open to all NGCSU on-campus residents
Eggs will be hidden throughout Owen Hall and scattered all around the outside of the building.
With a FREE iPod Touch as the grand prize, participants should consider a few strategies to ensure success:
Good running shoes are a must. It will be necessary to outrun competitors and sprint to the next egg.
A large, sturdy basket for hoarding eggs is another must. Make sure there are absolutely no holes. It would be beyond disappointing for the prize egg to fall through a massive hole.
For all of the vertically challenged people out there, a small portable step ladder so you can reach any and all eggs above your head.
A Wiffle bat for protection from greedy, dangerous hunters. These light, plastic bats can be quite useful to protect your prized eggs against one and all.
Happy hunting to everyone who plans to participate.
2011年4月13日星期三
Downsizing mission
It took a year of looking, planning, simplifying and consulting a design expert, but life is prime living in smaller quarters for the Spillings
Karen and Rob Spilling did everything right when it came to downsizing and now they are smiling with a high view over the city.
For 25 happy years, they lived in a 3,000-square-foot home in the Hunt Club area. Then with retirement a reality, they started to explore the idea of moving to a smaller place.
Before their home had been put up for sale, a friend who was a real estate agent phoned to say she had some eager clients. A viewing led to a sale and suddenly the Spillings had to act.
Their transition — from a four-bedroom, two-storey detached suburban home with a backyard pool to a compact two-bedroom highrise condo — is a textbook case of how to successfully downsize. And it's an example for the thousands of homeowners who, as the population ages, can be expected to follow their lead in the coming years.
Over coffee in their new home, an 1,800-square-foot condo they decorated with the help of Ottawa designer Sheila Evans, the couple explains how they did it.
First, they kept a level head.
Though shocked to sell their home so quickly, the couple insisted on being given a full year before the deal closed. They used the time to find a new place to live and prepare for the move.
After considering various options, including adult bungalows, they settled on a highrise condo close to their old neighbourhood. This offered several advantages, not the least of which was being able to keep socializing with old neighbours. And because the condo was still being built, they were able to customize finishes and do things like wire it for sound — something husband Rob is particularly pleased with.
But the condo was still quite a bit smaller than their old home. So the next step was to get rid of as much of their stuff as they could.
"I spent every minute I had de-cluttering," says Karen, adding that the process took a full six months. Just going through boxes of old photos and slides took her a month.
"I enjoyed every minute of it because I was already in a de-cluttering state of mind, and now I could really let loose," she says.
Not everyone is as enthusiastic. Evans says some people find decluttering overwhelming because they feel they are throwing out memories. So they end up moving way too many things to their new home.
"This is the worst mistake you can make because you end up buried," she says.
Karen, however, was merciless. They originally thought they might rent storage space for items they weren't sure about, but in the end, they found they didn't have to.
They threw very little into the garbage; instead they found new homes for as many things as they could, and things that weren't taken by friends and family were donated to charity.
The next step — one that often must be done in tandem with the decluttering — is to measure the new space to see what furniture will fit. The furniture must not only fit in the room, it must also — if the building is a highrise — fit in the elevator.
"If you have an idea of where you are going, it helps you focus on what you need and what you don't," notes Evans.
"We realized we were going to have to get new furniture because a lot wasn't going to fit," adds Karen.
This is when they called in Evans, who measured, drew up plans and helped them plan. "We needed somebody to reassure us," says Karen.
Evans says she tries to find out what downsizers are passionate about, and why. She will try to build a design scheme around their passion. "I have an expression: In downsizing, the end result is upsizing your own living. I feel my job is to help people focus on this ultimate goal."
The Spillings kept a lot of artwork, and a very unique dining room table — a rectangular piece of glass on a mermaid pedestal.
The table now occupies a place of pride in their dining room. What's more, the mermaid, with her curved shapes, provides inspiration for many elements, from the swirling, curved designs in the rugs to the curly shapes of the table lamps in the living room.
"I was in reality designing for Karen, Rob and the mermaid," jokes Evans.
It can be hard to leave things behind, adds Evans, particularly when people are moving from a home in which they brought up a family.
But you can get creative.
She recalls one client who was reluctant to part with the door frame on which the couple's children's heights had been notched.
So the husband took the notched section of the door frame, replaced it with a new un-notched one, and the couple took the memory with them to their new home
Particularly if downsizing coincides with retirement, you also need to plan for a changed way of life.
"Life moves on, and you change and your styles change," says Evans
The Spillings, for example, used to have a house with a garden and a yard. Now their only outside space is a balcony
Being retired, they travel a lot, so there was trade-off: No yard? Yes, but also no yard work in summer or snow shovelling in winter. That means they can turn the key on their condo and leave on a trip at a moment's notice.
And to compensate for the loss of flowers and greenery, many elements of decor — fabrics and artwork, for example — have floral themes.
Because the space was smaller, Rob decided it couldn't be ho-hum. "I wanted to walk in the door every day and go, 'Wow,' " he says.
The couple decided that Karen would have the bigger say on the dining room/living area, while Rob would be responsible for the den — "my man-cave."
Downsizing ends up being all about compromises and trade- offs. To compensate for the loss of her garden, Karen opted for fabrics and artwork with floral motifs in her part of the house
Rob chose a jungle theme for the den, and Evans made sure the two themes — floral and jungle — worked together.
"We spent a lot of time planning every square inch," says Karen, adding that they are thrilled to have done so because they ended up with a space they like. And a new, simplified lifestyle to boot.
Karen and Rob Spilling did everything right when it came to downsizing and now they are smiling with a high view over the city.
For 25 happy years, they lived in a 3,000-square-foot home in the Hunt Club area. Then with retirement a reality, they started to explore the idea of moving to a smaller place.
Before their home had been put up for sale, a friend who was a real estate agent phoned to say she had some eager clients. A viewing led to a sale and suddenly the Spillings had to act.
Their transition — from a four-bedroom, two-storey detached suburban home with a backyard pool to a compact two-bedroom highrise condo — is a textbook case of how to successfully downsize. And it's an example for the thousands of homeowners who, as the population ages, can be expected to follow their lead in the coming years.
Over coffee in their new home, an 1,800-square-foot condo they decorated with the help of Ottawa designer Sheila Evans, the couple explains how they did it.
First, they kept a level head.
Though shocked to sell their home so quickly, the couple insisted on being given a full year before the deal closed. They used the time to find a new place to live and prepare for the move.
After considering various options, including adult bungalows, they settled on a highrise condo close to their old neighbourhood. This offered several advantages, not the least of which was being able to keep socializing with old neighbours. And because the condo was still being built, they were able to customize finishes and do things like wire it for sound — something husband Rob is particularly pleased with.
But the condo was still quite a bit smaller than their old home. So the next step was to get rid of as much of their stuff as they could.
"I spent every minute I had de-cluttering," says Karen, adding that the process took a full six months. Just going through boxes of old photos and slides took her a month.
"I enjoyed every minute of it because I was already in a de-cluttering state of mind, and now I could really let loose," she says.
Not everyone is as enthusiastic. Evans says some people find decluttering overwhelming because they feel they are throwing out memories. So they end up moving way too many things to their new home.
"This is the worst mistake you can make because you end up buried," she says.
Karen, however, was merciless. They originally thought they might rent storage space for items they weren't sure about, but in the end, they found they didn't have to.
They threw very little into the garbage; instead they found new homes for as many things as they could, and things that weren't taken by friends and family were donated to charity.
The next step — one that often must be done in tandem with the decluttering — is to measure the new space to see what furniture will fit. The furniture must not only fit in the room, it must also — if the building is a highrise — fit in the elevator.
"If you have an idea of where you are going, it helps you focus on what you need and what you don't," notes Evans.
"We realized we were going to have to get new furniture because a lot wasn't going to fit," adds Karen.
This is when they called in Evans, who measured, drew up plans and helped them plan. "We needed somebody to reassure us," says Karen.
Evans says she tries to find out what downsizers are passionate about, and why. She will try to build a design scheme around their passion. "I have an expression: In downsizing, the end result is upsizing your own living. I feel my job is to help people focus on this ultimate goal."
The Spillings kept a lot of artwork, and a very unique dining room table — a rectangular piece of glass on a mermaid pedestal.
The table now occupies a place of pride in their dining room. What's more, the mermaid, with her curved shapes, provides inspiration for many elements, from the swirling, curved designs in the rugs to the curly shapes of the table lamps in the living room.
"I was in reality designing for Karen, Rob and the mermaid," jokes Evans.
It can be hard to leave things behind, adds Evans, particularly when people are moving from a home in which they brought up a family.
But you can get creative.
She recalls one client who was reluctant to part with the door frame on which the couple's children's heights had been notched.
So the husband took the notched section of the door frame, replaced it with a new un-notched one, and the couple took the memory with them to their new home
Particularly if downsizing coincides with retirement, you also need to plan for a changed way of life.
"Life moves on, and you change and your styles change," says Evans
The Spillings, for example, used to have a house with a garden and a yard. Now their only outside space is a balcony
Being retired, they travel a lot, so there was trade-off: No yard? Yes, but also no yard work in summer or snow shovelling in winter. That means they can turn the key on their condo and leave on a trip at a moment's notice.
And to compensate for the loss of flowers and greenery, many elements of decor — fabrics and artwork, for example — have floral themes.
Because the space was smaller, Rob decided it couldn't be ho-hum. "I wanted to walk in the door every day and go, 'Wow,' " he says.
The couple decided that Karen would have the bigger say on the dining room/living area, while Rob would be responsible for the den — "my man-cave."
Downsizing ends up being all about compromises and trade- offs. To compensate for the loss of her garden, Karen opted for fabrics and artwork with floral motifs in her part of the house
Rob chose a jungle theme for the den, and Evans made sure the two themes — floral and jungle — worked together.
"We spent a lot of time planning every square inch," says Karen, adding that they are thrilled to have done so because they ended up with a space they like. And a new, simplified lifestyle to boot.
订阅：
博文 (Atom)