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March 5, 2013 The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read

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This Tidbits examines where and when marching bands originated and other trivial matters to help us stay in step with the bands.

• The first marching bands started many centuries ago with military organizations. The needs of military groups to get thousands of troops moving in the same direction quickly, without mishaps, were best met if everyone stayed in rows, the same distance apart. Orderly movement was easiest if it was done in an organized manner. Because many groups did not have musical instruments, chants of, “Left – left, left, right, left,” giving instruction on which foot should be down helped accomplish the tasks. As military troops grew around the world, choruses of encouragement and sometimes humor were added.

• When available, drums were added to help troops stay together as they progressed along the way. Musical instruments were added through the years and melodies were great for keeping soldiers encouraged and giving them a sense of pride.

• During the Revolutionary War in America, soldiers marched to fifes and drums. The Civil War brought the development of drum and bugle corps. During the big wars: World War I and II, full brass, percussion and woodwind bands formed.

• Early military troops in Scotland and some places in Canada marched to drums and bagpipes. Some still use this style.

• Military traditions are still used by modern marching bands. Bands usually march in formation and use orders of “attention”, “about face” and “forward march.” Most marching band uniforms resemble military uniforms.

• The marching bands that most people think of are university, college, and high school bands that perform at football games and in parades. Halftime shows can be quite elaborate and require hours of training.

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Vol 2 Issue 10of the River Region

TIDBITS® KEEPS THE BEAT WITH

MARCHING BANDSby Patricia L. Cook

Page 2 Tidbits® of the River Region

MARCHING BANDS (continued):• The marching band credited with the first modern halftime show at a football game was the Marching Illini of the University of Illinois in 1907. It occurred at a game against the University of Chicago.

• The first band to break the tradition of military ranks and form a letter on the football field was Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The letter, of course, was the “Block P” for Purdue. The first time it was on the field was in 1907 under the direction of Paul Spotts Emrick who was the first band director and served the university band for 49 years, from 1905-1954.

• Emrick came up with the plan for the “Block P” after seeing a flock of birds flying in a “V” formation. He decided that if birds could make a letter a band surely could replicate the action in a formation on a football field. The Purdue “All American” Marching Band still forms the P before every home game.

• Purdue is also known for what is considered to be the “World’s Largest Bass Drum.” The original drum built by Leedy Corporation in Indianapolis in 1921 is still used today.

• The large drum is about eight feet (2.4 m) in diameter, nearly four feet (1.22 m) wide between the drum heads and more than 10 feet (3 m) high when mounted on the field carriage built for rolling it around. A crew of four bandsmen handling the drum must have accurate timing and placement for the two beaters to keep accurate time with the band.

• Now, in case you have heard about “Big Bertha” and wonder where she fits in with the above story about the “World’s Largest Bass Drum,” read on.

• Big Bertha is the large drum that belongs to the University of Texas. Created for the University of Chicago, Bertha’s first game was when Chicago played Princeton on October 23, 1922. When Chicago stopped its football program, band at the university was also discontinued. At that time, the large drum was put in storage.

• Colonel D. Harold Byrd, a Texas Longhorn band supporter purchased Bertha from the University of Chicago in 1955. Bertha’s dimensions are eight feet (2.4 m) in diameter, 54 inches (1.37 m) wide and more than 10 feet (3 m) high when mounted on her trailer. Called the “sweetheart of the Longhorn band,” Big Bertha is escorted

by the “Bertha Crew.” • Members of the Kappa Kappa Psi fraternity of Purdue challenged their Texas fraternity brothers to a drum showdown in 1961 to settle the question of which band had the largest bass drum. They planned the showdown at the fraternity’s national convention in Wichita, Kansas. Purdue kept its side of the promise and loaded their drum on a truck and headed west. They stopped in Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City and Topeka, pushing their drum through the streets showing off.

• When the Purdue students and their drum arrived in Wichita, they discovered that their Texas fraternity brothers didn’t bring their drum. By default, Purdue declared their drum as the “World’s Largest Drum.” Since then, the exact measurements of the Purdue Big Bass Drum have been kept secret, preserving the mystique of its existence.

• Marching bands exist in universities, colleges, senior and junior high schools for more than just football games. They also perform at other school events and parades. Many large parades across the country are magnificent venues for marching bands.

• The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is one of the famous parades that marching bands love to participate in. There are usually about a dozen bands that are chosen from entries received from the band directors. Having a unique feature helps a band get chosen. Participants have come from all 50 states and even as far away as Guatemala. A band that always performs and is a crowd favorite represents New York’s own police department (NYPD).

• Independence Day (Fourth of July) parades across the nation are filled with patriotic floats and marching bands playing patriotic music. One of the largest parades is, naturally, the National Independence Day Parade in Washington, D. C. The 2012 parade had 28 bands mostly from military units and high schools. There were also marching platoons from all of the military services: Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.

• Marching bands put in many hours of practice and training to get their steps and tunes right. Many dedicated musicians get as much of a thrill by participating in marching drills as they do in hearing the music.

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Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional Irish dish, and a favorite meal on St. Patrick’s Day. While the flavor combinations are delicious, some may want to cut back on the fat and calories. By using my tips for preparing the brisket, and my recipe for Slow Cooked Brisket and Cabbage, you can have all the flavors of this Irish dish with far less calories.Brisket is a fat-marbled cut of beef from the front of the cow in the lower chest area. Slow cook-ing tenderizes this tough cut of meat. According to Bowes and Church’s Food Values of Portions Commonly Used, the lowest calorie brisket is the one in which all the fat is trimmed. The type of brisket also makes a difference. The flat half brisket would have 191 calories and 6 grams of fat per 3.5-ounce serving. The same amount of the point half brisket prepared the same way has 244 calories and nearly 14 grams of fat. Whole brisket has 218 calories and 10 grams of fat. Leaving 1/4-inch trim of fat almost doubles the calories in all of the brisket cuts. “Trimmed” brisket has almost all of the outer fat removed, while “packer-trimmed” brisket has a thick outer layer of fat. Using a few tips, you can reduce some of the fat in the less expensive, pack-er-trimmed cuts of brisket while saving money. Cook the meat a day ahead of time and put the pot in the refrigerator. Once the meat cools, the fat will harden and can be skimmed off. Market-trimmed brisket is a little more expen-sive, but saves time because it has already been prepped for you. This type of brisket is ideal for using in a slow cooker. The meat will cook in its own juices and come out moist and tender.Potatoes are another favorite Irish food. Potatoes are not that high in calories and have no fat, but making them with lots of butter and high-fat milk adds calories. This Slow Cooked Brisket and

Cabbage recipe uses traditional ingredients in a flavorful, lower-fat Irish meal.

SLOW-COOKED BRISKET AND CABBAGE

1 (3-pound) trimmed, boneless beef brisket2 tablespoons Dijon or stone ground mustard1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon black pepper2 large baking potatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds), peeled and cut into 4-inch pieces1 large onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges4 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half3 large carrots, cut into 4-inch pieces1 small head green cabbage (about a pound), cut into 8 wedges1 teaspoon ground ginger1 teaspoon ground cloves1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes2 whole bay leaves1/4 cup apple cider vinegar4 to 5 cups hot water, to cover the meat by at least 1 inch

1. Rub the brisket on both sides with the mustard and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the black pepper. Set aside on a plate. 2. Place the potatoes, onions, garlic cloves, carrots and cabbage in the bottom of the slow cooker. Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and pepper, the ginger, cloves and red pepper flakes. Place bay leaves in the pot. Stir to combine. Place brisket on top of the vegetables.3. Pour in the apple cider vinegar, and the hot water to cover the meat by at least 1 inch. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours, or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the meat is fork tender.4. Remove the brisket from the slow cooker to a cutting board and let it stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Thinly slice brisket across the grain and put on a serving platter. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and put them on a platter. Pour the juices from the cooker into a gravy boat and serve with brisket.

Angela Shelf Medearis is an award-winning children’s author, culinary historian and author of seven cookbooks. Her new cookbook is “The Kitchen Diva’s Diabetic Cookbook.” Her web-site is www.divapro.com. To see how-to videos, recipes and much, much more, Like Angela Shelf Medearis, The Kitchen Diva!, on Face-book and go to Hulu.com. Recipes may not be reprinted without permission from Angela Shelf Medearis.

(c) 2013 King Features Synd., Inc., and Angela Shelf Medearis

A Healthier Irish Holiday

Tidbits® of the River Region Page 4

* On March 24, 1603, after 44 years of rule, Queen Elizabeth I of England dies, and King James VI of Scotland ascends to the throne, uniting England and Scotland under a single British monarch. Queen Elizabeth I passed into history as one of England’s greatest monarchs.

* On March 23, 1839, the initials “O.K.” are first published in The Boston Morning Post. Meant as an abbreviation for “oll correct,” a popular slang misspelling of “all correct” at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans.

* On March 22, 1908, Louis L’Amour, the author of scores of bestselling Western novels, is born in Jamestown, N.D. After returning from World War II, L’Amour be-gan writing short stories and novels. His big break came when a novel he wrote at the age of 46 became the basis for the popular John Wayne movie “Hondo.”

* On March 19, 1916, the First Aero Squad-ron flies a support mission for the 7,000 U.S. troops who had invaded Mexico on Presi-dent Woodrow Wilson’s orders to capture Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa dead or alive.

* On March 18, 1937, nearly 300 students in Texas are killed by an explosion of natural gas at their school. Eleven oil and natural-gas derricks stood in the schoolyard as a means of saving the school money. The blast killed most victims instantly and was felt 40 miles away.

* On March 20, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson sends a telegram to Gov. George Wallace of Alabama in which he agrees to send federal troops to supervise a planned civil-rights march in Wallace’s home state. Earlier that month, civil-rights activist Mar-tin Luther King Jr. had led two attempts to march to Montgomery.

* On March 21, 1980, President Jimmy Carter informs a group of U.S. athletes that, in response to the December 1979 Soviet incursion into Afghanistan, the United States would boycott the 1980 Olympics in Mos-cow. It marked the first and only time that the United States has boycotted the Olym-pics.

(c) 2013 King Features Synd., Inc.

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Register to win at www.riverregiontidbits.com and click on “Tommy Tidbits”. Fill out the registration information and tell us how many times Tommy appears in ads in the paper for this week. From the correct entries, a winner will be selected. You must be 18 years of age to qualify. The gift certificates will range in value from $25 to $50 each week. Entries must be received at the website by midnight each Saturday evening or at PTK Corp, PO Box 264, Wetumpka, AL 36092.

This week’s winner receives 1 Month Unlimited Tanning from Tropical Tans, Eclectic, AL

Last Week’s Ads where Tommy was hiding:1. Young’s Cleaning, p.2

Tommy Tidbits Winners Circle

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Issue 2/5/2013 Issue 2/12/2013 Issue 2/19/2013 Issue 2/26/2016

Tidbits® of the River Region Page 6

1. Is the book of Lamentations in the Old or New Testament or neither?2. There’s only one scene in the Bible (Gen. 29:11) of a man kissing a wom-an, and that was when Jacob kissed whom? Leah, Rachel, Rebekah, Sarah3. In Genesis 41:41-42, what Hebrew became prime minister of Egypt? Da-vid, Joseph, Nehemiah, Joel4. From 1 Timothy 5:23, what did Paul suggest to Timothy for his frequent ailments? Water, Wine, Bread, Honey5. Where did Jesus spend his youth, as found in Luke 4:16? Smyrna, Tar-sus, Antioch, Nazareth6. In Matthew 14:29, Jesus and who else walked on water? Thomas, An-drew, Peter, James

1. Who was the last Texas Rangers pitcher before Yu Darvish in 2012 to have five straight starts of at least seven strikeouts?2. In 2012, Carlos Beltran became the eighth member of the career 300 steals/300 homers club. Name four of the first seven to do it.3. Coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady have made five Super Bowl appearances together. Name three coach/QB pairs to have made four trips.4. When was the last time before 2012 that Creighton won an NCAA men’s bas-ketball tournament game?5. How many times was Montreal’s Steve Shutt on a Stanley Cup-winning team? 6. Who was the last Ameri-can soccer player before Abby Wambach in 2012 to win the FIFA women’s World Player of the Year award?7. Who was the first boxer to have been featured on a Wheaties box?

DO I EAT IN A TRANCE?I am sure you have seen or experienced eating a plate of chicken wings, and the next thing you know, it is just a pile of bones. It happens with popcorn, potatoe chips, or candy. It’s like we get triggered into a trance because we are focused on pleasant feelings or memo-ries. If we are watching a movie with popcorn, the eating speed is increased when something emotional occurs. Many people eat for companionship or when they feel lonely. If we eat when stressed, bored, sad or happy, the next time these feelings occur the appetite is triggered. Of course this can destroy a diet and re-lapse someone who had bypass surgery. The ultimate solution is behavior modifcation and hypnotherapy. FREE Consultations at hypnosisworksnow.com.

334-213-0054

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1. Bobby Witt, in 1987.2. Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds, Andre Dawson, Steve Finley, Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez and Reggie Sanders.3. Tom Landry and Roger Staubach, Marv Levy and Jim Kelly, and Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw.4. It was 2002, when the Bluejays beat Florida.5. Five.6. Mia Hamm, in 2002.7. Muhammad Ali.

BIBLE TRIVIA ANSWERS:

1) Old; 2) Rachel; 3) Joseph; 4) Wine; 5) Nazareth, 6) Peter

Welcome feathered friends to snack at feeders that you and your kids can make in minutes ... no saw, hammer or woodworking equipment required. Hang one or more of them from a post or tree branch and enjoy the reward of seeing birds peck-peck-pecking away at the treats you’ve left for them. In the wild, birds typically thrive on a menu of seeds, nuts and fruits. Here are some ideas for making simple tweet treats. --String peanuts in their shells using a plastic needle and about 24 inches of yarn. Tie the loose ends together and loop over the branch of a tree or bush. Peanut shells are soft enough for many birds to crack, so that they can get the nutmeat inside.--Make kebabs on a string or stick with chunks of stale bagels, apple halves and dates. --Create a natural seed basket by cutting off the top third of a large fresh orange. Scoop out the fruit and eat it for a snack while you work. Poke three holes equidistant from each other below the rim. Slide three pieces of twine or string through the holes and knot in place. Bring the loose ends together and tie to a tree branch. Fill the hanging orange feeder with birdseed. You also may wish to offer birds a convenient place to perch while they eat. For a perch, find a thin stick a few inches longer than the width of the orange. Cut slits on opposite sides of the orange. Slide the stick through.Birds have hearty appetites, so fill the feeder regularly and enjoy their spirited songs as they come and go. Extra idea: Observing, identifying and describ-ing the faithful feathered friends is fascinating for children, so set out a pair of binoculars by your window and teach them how to hold and focus them: It’s one thing to spot a bird, and quite another to really look at it. ***Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative fam-ily recipes and activities, visit www.donnas-day.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”

(c) 2013 Donna EricksonDistributed by King Features Synd.

Tweet Treats Attract Birds to Your Yard

1 (about 4 1/2 pounds) corned-beef brisket, trimmed of excess fat20 whole black peppercorns5 whole allspice5 clove garlic, unpeeled2 bay leaves4 pound all-purpose potatoes, peeled and each cut into quarters1 pound parsnips, peeled1 medium (about 3 pounds) head green cabbage, cut into 8 wedges, with core attachedChopped parsley for garnish

Horseradish-Mustard Sauce1/2 cup grainy Dijon mustard2 tablespoons pure maple syrup1 tablespoon prepared white horseradish

1. Prepare Corned Beef and Vegetables: In 8-quart Dutch oven or saucepot, place brisket, peppercorns, all-spice, garlic, bay leaves and enough water to cover; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 2 hours 30 minutes.2. Add quartered potatoes, whole carrots and whole parsnips to Dutch oven; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 30 minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender. With tongs and slotted spoon, transfer meat and vegetables to platter; cover and keep warm.3. Add cabbage to liquid in Dutch oven; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 5 minutes or until cabbage is tender.4. Meanwhile, prepare Horseradish-Mustard Sauce: In small bowl, with fork, mix mustard, maple syrup and horseradish until smooth; set sauce aside.5. Drain cabbage and add to platter with meat. Thinly slice meat and serve with vegetables and mustard sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serves 8.

¥ Each serving: About 520 calories, 12g total fat (4g saturated), 105mg cholesterol, 1,450mg sodium, 64g total carbs, 10g dietary fiber, 41g protein.

For thousands of triple-tested recipes, visit our website at www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/.

Corned Beef with Cabbage and Potatoes

Tidbits® of the River Region Page 8