One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season is going to several different craft shows. The first Saturday of December, there was a big craft show at Richwoods High School. When my mom and I arrived at the high school, there was hardly any parking spaces. We actually had to park in the back of the building. Thankfully, there was a door in the back that we used to get in. The inside of the school was full of people and craft booths (which is the space the vendors use to display their crafts). There must have been over 100 craft booths. Vendors were sent up in the gym, cafeteria, and several hallways. There was a wide variety of things at the craft show. There was a lot of Christmas decorations ranging from snowmen to green wreaths to Santas and more. A majority of the booths were hand-crafted items. There were several booths that had jewelry. You could find handmade earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. One vendor made jewelry out of old silverware. Several jewelry booths had glass pendants with matching glass earrings. One jeweler talked with us about how she made the 3D-like glass pendants. It is almost like there were two surfaces; one on top of the other. Mom ended up buying a 3D-like black glass pendant with snowflakes and a 3D-like fall tree pendant. One of the vendors was a friend from church. Their booth had several different handmade things. The main table had all kinds of scented soaps. The daughter was selling jewelry she makes. And they were selling fun crocheted hats that my friend’s dad makes. It was truly a family affair. Not all the booths were handmade by the vendor. One of the booths had handmade items from Ecuador and Peru. Several of their items we saw when we visited Peru this summer; llama backpacks, scarves, bracelets, and orange peel jewelry. One of the most interesting booths was pictures made out of wool. We had a chance to meet and talk with the artist. She told us how she began working with wool. She now dyes her own wool in order to achieve a specific blend of color for each project. Talking with the artist gave us more understanding to the intricate work it takes to finish a picture. Mom ended up buying a small picture of a pumpkin. One of fun parts of a craft show is the homemade food. There was cinnamon roasted pecans, different flavored popcorn, and homemade toffee. We had the chance to sample the toffee, and it was amazing. Usually, I’m not a fan of toffee because it can be hard to break apart, but this toffee very thin and really easy to eat. We bought several bags before we left the craft show.
I love going to craft shows because it is really interesting to see what people can make. This weekend I’m going to the 8th Annual Kristkindlmarkt at the Lindenhof on Sunday. There will be handmade ornaments, custom jewelry, and numerous one of a kind art and craft items. There will also be live entertainment and traditional German food. And maybe I will get to meet Kristkindl and Santa Claus!!!! :)
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No one day is the same and some days are designated as special. Sometimes it's a holiday, birthday, or a party. Today, it is the Itoo Supper. One day out of the year, our friends invite us to the Lebanon Lunch. Every year we make sure we are free the first Sunday of November. The Itoo Society was founded in 1914 in Peoria, Illinois, by immigrants from Aytou, Lebanon. The immigrants were three cousins that arrived in Peoria Illinois in 1887 and 1889. The Itoo Society was made as a support group to help pay for any kind of unexpected tragedy. The main reason they began this Society was when an immigrant from Aytou was on an excursion boat, and he fell overboard and drowned. The immigrant's family struggled to pay for the burial expenses. The Itoo Reform and Progress Society, now known as the Men's Branch, was founded by 46 men in 1914. The Ladies Branch was later founded in 1916. The Itoo Supper was started in November 1928, by a group of Lebanese women who were a part of the Ladies' Itoo Society. The women decided to cook a meal for their family and friends; about 18-20 ladies made food for about 100 residents of Peoria. The women cooked all the food from their own homes. As the dinners became more popular, the ladies eventually donated their recipes to the Society in order to continue the tradition.The Itoo Supper was held at different locations around Peoria until 1976 when the suppers were permanently held in the Itoo Hall on Farmington Road. This year’s dinner is extra special because it marks the 90th anniversary of the Itoo Suppers. Fall is many people’s favorite season, because of the cooler weather and the beautiful colors the trees display this time of year. Because I have gone to so many Itoo Suppers, I have begun to affiliate Fall with the Lebanese meal. It is a time that I have a chance to taste an authentic meal from Lebanon without the long travel. This Sunday’s meal is my favorite because they serve fried chicken! They also serve cabbage rolls, green beans, pita bread, real mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken with rice, baked kibba, and salad with a minty Lebanese dressing. Baked kibba is ground lamb or beef combined with rice in a patty form. It is kind of like a hard meatloaf consistency. My second favorite are the cabbage rolls which are cabbage leaves rolled with a stuffing of ground meat and rice. To end the meal, they hand out small containers of orange sherbert. One of the neat things about this meal is how they seat people. Since this is at a hall and they can serve anywhere to 1,600 to 2,200 people in a day, space is limited. They have long tables pushed together that seat 36 people. Because they are so busy, everyone sits next to someone they don’t know. There is never an empty seat and you become quick friends with your neighbors. Once the table is full, the food starts rolling out. The meal is served family style which is when each entree is placed on a platter or bowl and the diners serve themselves. I particular like this because if I only want a taste of something I take a small amount. Also, if I would like more, they bring out another platter of that item. It is amazing how many people come and help out at the Itoo Supper. There is small army of children to grandparents helping out from clearing tables, to serving the meal or refilling water, to selling tickets. The parking lot is always crammed with cars as people continually walking in and out of the building. It is truly a community event and sometimes you’ll see neighbors, friends, classmates, or even teachers from school.
Can’t wait till next year! Wednesday October 4th at 5:30 am the adventure begins! The six varsity players all meet at Dunlap High School to pack all the golf bags and carts into the small white activity bus. The bus exits the Dunlap campus at 6:30 am to drive the Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley. On the way, we all are quiet, tired, nervous, and excited for the day. The bus ride is about an hour and 45 minutes so most of us are all taking a nap or getting ahead on homework (which was only Ellyn). Thankfully, the four out of six of us had already seen the golf course. We went on Sunday to check out the golf course because it is really nerve racking when you have not seen a course before playing it (specially if it is conference or regionals). Coach Meiss took this picture of the girls varsity golf team. Coach Meiss and Coach Wyssman, who are my mom and grandpa, enjoy getting to any golfing event early. But we have never, until Wednesday, beaten all the golf teams to the country club. Us players were very confused, we didn't know if it was postponed because of the rain or what. Right when we said that 3 buses pulled into the parking lot. Oakwood Country Club is a gorgeous private golf course. Their women's locker room was absolutely breathtaking; there was at least 50 wood lockers inside and a separate basement for golf clubs and carts. The clubhouse was just awesome and the overall golf course was challenging but fun! My least favorite thing about Regionals is that they do not do a shotgun start. A shotgun start is when all the golfing groups go to a different hole and everyone starts the 18 holes at about the same time. Unfortunately that does not happen, every group starts a hole one which means it was going to take a long time to get done. And the worst thing is waiting to get started, because you become nervous. It is scary when the top teams and coaches are watching you tee off. Coach Meiss took this picture of Emma Meiss teeing off on hole one at Oakwood Country Club. I was very fortunate to have very fun and nice girls to golf with. We were a three some and the two schools were Galesburg and Quincy. We were the number three players on our teams, so we were one of the last few to tee off. The golf course had officials at every three holes to collect our score to make sure there was no confusion on that when it came to the end of the tournament. Sadly, on one of the holes I had to correct one of many players scores because she had miscounted. Thankfully, it was all figured out in no time. Golf is an emotionally challenging sport because we can't let our emotions get the better of us. First reason, is that you will not be able to play at the best of your ability. Second, it is no fun being upset for five hours straight. Besides that golf is a very social sport. You get to know your golf players and it is exciting when you find out that they have the same interests as you. In my opinion, the best feeling of golf is when you are on your last hole. You know that you are about 10 minutes away from being able to sit down and relax with your teammates. At Regionals, as a team we placed third and are doing on to Sectionals. We made a new team record for us which was a 358 (the team score takes the top 4 scores). As a team we were 3 strokes from second place and 7 shots away from winning Regionals.
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About Me
My name is Emma Meiss, and I am a senior at Dunlap High School. I have a twin sister, Tessa, who also goes to Dunlap High School. My older sister, Elsa, is in her sophomore year of college. I have been on the girls varsity golf team for four years now. Everyday is a mystery, even if you have it planned to the max. For example golf, you may have the ability to hit the perfect drive that goes straight down the middle of the fairway, but how do you plan or prepare for the wind? Or prepare for the length of the hole? It also may be for the short game like putting. There may be an impossible putt that you may think you can not make until you make it. Golf is a game that has physically and mentally challenged me for all four years of my golf career. The plan will not always end up the way you think it might. My parents told me that the hike up the mountain would not take too long. In reality, the hike was two hours up and one and a half down the mountain. My body was dying twenty minutes into the hike. Have you ever walked up a steep, rocky, death defying hill for two hours? I wish I could say no. I don't really remember the hike up, but I do remember wishing there was a water slide at the top of the mountain. You cannot really plan for the day, but you can always make the most of it. |