Sunday, October 31, 2010
Happy Halloween!
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils.
As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. Because of the rigid Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited there. It was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups, as well as the American Indians, meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included "play parties," public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition.
taken from http://www.history.com
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils.
As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. Because of the rigid Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited there. It was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups, as well as the American Indians, meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included "play parties," public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition.
taken from http://www.history.com
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Two More Seventeen Magazine Contests!
“Seventeen Style Pros” Sweepstakes: Five (5) winners will each receive a $100 American Express gift card!!!
Go online to Seventeen Magazine to enter. Sweepstakes ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on November 22, 2010. Odds of winning will depend upon the total number of eligible entries received. Must be female, ages 13 – 24 and a legal resident of the 50 United States or District of Columbia. Void where prohibited by law. Sweepstakes subject to complete official rules available at the website.
"Seventeen Magazine Make Me Chic" Giveaway:
Ten thousand (10,000) free studded bracelets will be given away, while supplies last. A notice will be posted when they have received 10,000 entries. Once all bracelets are distributed, there will be no substitute product given away.
Giveaway Rules: One bracelet per person. Must be female, between the ages of 13 and 29, and a resident of the 48 contiguous states within the United States. Void in Canada, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and where prohibited by law. The giveaway ends November 22, 2010, so get your entry in fast at the Make Me Chic site!
Go online to Seventeen Magazine to enter. Sweepstakes ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on November 22, 2010. Odds of winning will depend upon the total number of eligible entries received. Must be female, ages 13 – 24 and a legal resident of the 50 United States or District of Columbia. Void where prohibited by law. Sweepstakes subject to complete official rules available at the website.
"Seventeen Magazine Make Me Chic" Giveaway:
Ten thousand (10,000) free studded bracelets will be given away, while supplies last. A notice will be posted when they have received 10,000 entries. Once all bracelets are distributed, there will be no substitute product given away.
Giveaway Rules: One bracelet per person. Must be female, between the ages of 13 and 29, and a resident of the 48 contiguous states within the United States. Void in Canada, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and where prohibited by law. The giveaway ends November 22, 2010, so get your entry in fast at the Make Me Chic site!
New Fiction in the Teen Room!
To find out more information on one of the books below, just click on the cover!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Mary Kay’s Your Path to Beauty Sweepstakes
Ladies, get your chance to win a $5,000 college scholarship!
To Enter: Go to the website before the November 22 deadline. This contest is open only to females, 13 - 24 years of age who are legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia and who are currently enrolled as full or part-time students in a U.S. educational institution. Limit one entry per person/email/household address per day.
To view the complete rules, go here.
To Enter: Go to the website before the November 22 deadline. This contest is open only to females, 13 - 24 years of age who are legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia and who are currently enrolled as full or part-time students in a U.S. educational institution. Limit one entry per person/email/household address per day.
To view the complete rules, go here.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Seventeen's Ke$ha Meet and Greet Sweepstakes
Seventeen Magazine is sponsoring a contest where you can have a chance to win concert tickets and meet Ke$ha!
The contest ends November 22, so get your entries in before then! To enter, go to the website and submit an entry form.
Five (5) Grand prize winners will one pair (two tickets) tickets to see Ke$ha live in concert in 2011 in one of the following cities: New York, NY ; Los Angeles, CA ; Seattle, WA; Boston, MA; or Chicago, IL and meet Ke$ha. (Transportation not provided.) Fifty (50) first prize winners will win a Ke$ha fan pack which includes an autographed issue of the November 2010 issue of Seventeen magazine, a t-shirt and Animal CD.
Limit (1) one entry per household for The Ke$ha Meet and Greet Sweepstakes. Multiple entries from the same household will be disqualified. The contest is open to females between the ages of 13 and 29 who are legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.
Visit the official rules site for more information!
The contest ends November 22, so get your entries in before then! To enter, go to the website and submit an entry form.
Five (5) Grand prize winners will one pair (two tickets) tickets to see Ke$ha live in concert in 2011 in one of the following cities: New York, NY ; Los Angeles, CA ; Seattle, WA; Boston, MA; or Chicago, IL and meet Ke$ha. (Transportation not provided.) Fifty (50) first prize winners will win a Ke$ha fan pack which includes an autographed issue of the November 2010 issue of Seventeen magazine, a t-shirt and Animal CD.
Limit (1) one entry per household for The Ke$ha Meet and Greet Sweepstakes. Multiple entries from the same household will be disqualified. The contest is open to females between the ages of 13 and 29 who are legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.
Visit the official rules site for more information!
VOYA Teen Poetry Contest
Librarians, teachers, and other professionals working with youth aged twelve to eighteen are invited to sponsor teens in VOYA's (Voice of Youth Advocates, a library magazine) our annual poetry contest.
Note: Poems must be submitted by an adult sponsor. We DO NOT accept entries submitted directly from teens.
Only one poem per teen, please.
Contest Deadline: December 31, 2010.
VOYA judges will select the top five winningest poems. When notified, sponsors must return the Publication Authorization form which gives parental permission to print the work of the winning poets. Each winner will receive a $20 cash prize and a copy of the April 2011 issue of VOYA.
For more information on how to submit your poem, visit the website.
Note: Poems must be submitted by an adult sponsor. We DO NOT accept entries submitted directly from teens.
Only one poem per teen, please.
Contest Deadline: December 31, 2010.
VOYA judges will select the top five winningest poems. When notified, sponsors must return the Publication Authorization form which gives parental permission to print the work of the winning poets. Each winner will receive a $20 cash prize and a copy of the April 2011 issue of VOYA.
For more information on how to submit your poem, visit the website.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Harry Potter Preview
Advance tickets are now on sale at your local theatres! I already have mine. Are you planning on going opening weekend?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Teen Ink Cover Photo Contest
Want to put your friends on the cover of a national magazine? Got some great photos of your friends at home, at school or just hanging out? Send Teen Ink your snapshots now!
Every month at least one winning image is selected to appear on the cover of Teen Ink magazine. Monthly contest winners receive a copy of Teen Ink magazine featuring their cover photo. Plus, you'll have the opportunity to choose from an exciting selection of Teen Ink merchandise - apparel and other items - available exclusively from Teen Ink. Selected entries are also published daily at TeenInk.com.
Teen Ink will only consider photographs taken by teen photographers. You can submit as many photographs as you like. There are no deadlines; photographs are accepted and published throughout the year.
For more information, check out http://www.teenink.com/Contests/CoverPhotoC.php.
Every month at least one winning image is selected to appear on the cover of Teen Ink magazine. Monthly contest winners receive a copy of Teen Ink magazine featuring their cover photo. Plus, you'll have the opportunity to choose from an exciting selection of Teen Ink merchandise - apparel and other items - available exclusively from Teen Ink. Selected entries are also published daily at TeenInk.com.
Teen Ink will only consider photographs taken by teen photographers. You can submit as many photographs as you like. There are no deadlines; photographs are accepted and published throughout the year.
For more information, check out http://www.teenink.com/Contests/CoverPhotoC.php.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Fall Festival at the Old Fort
The "ghosts" from the area extend an invitation to join them at the Old Fort for a time of family fun on Saturday, October 23rd, from 12:00 noon until 8:00 p.m.
Attempt games of skill and hear tales from the past, among a variety of other activities. Maybe Old Fort´s resident ghost , Lt. Ostrander, will welcome you!
For more information call (260) 460-4763.
Admission is a freewill donation - donate what you can to support the Old Fort!
Attempt games of skill and hear tales from the past, among a variety of other activities. Maybe Old Fort´s resident ghost , Lt. Ostrander, will welcome you!
For more information call (260) 460-4763.
Admission is a freewill donation - donate what you can to support the Old Fort!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Cake Decorating Program
We had a special Saturday cake decorating program for age 8-18. Everyone got to practice with different frosting tips on wax paper, then on graham crackers, and then on a piece of cake. The room smelled like frosting - YUM! Take a look at pictures from the event!
Downtown Fright Night
All of downtown comes alive for a frightfully good time at Downtown Fright Night, so grab your super(natural) friends and come enjoy the best thing to happen to Halloween since free candy.
The Zombie Walk. The silent movie. The haunted bus tours. The old City jail. And of course, lots of spooky activities for your little monsters too! With more organizations and venues involved than ever before, you can limp and hobble your way through downtown all night long while enjoying one ghoulish activity after another because this event has all the gory details you crave! 
Date: Oct 23, 2010
Location: All over downtown Fort Wayne!
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