Halloween during a pandemic

This past weekend was Halloween and it was a very different experience from years past.  Since the coronavirus arrived this winter communities around the globe have had to take precautions to prevent the illness from spreading.  While it has been a long time since our I Spy a Friend blog spot has shared news the arrival of the virus which has no borders seemed like a good time to share what our experiences have been these last months.

Large gatherings and spending time with folks outside our immediate family have been stopped to help contain the spread of the virus.  Non-essential workers have been working from home and many children are not able to return to the classroom but relying on distance learning.  The isolation in some ways has taught us to be more creative.  As an example, the fact that we not be gathering for Halloween parties and walking through our neighborhoods to enjoy the collecting of treats to enjoy for days or weeks to come meant this year we needed to approach it differently.  In our home the Halloween candy usually lasted up to Thanksgiving when we had lots of special foods including special desserts to enjoy.  

One of the ways in which Wilmington families celebrated included organizing an outdoor Halloween parade and party at one of the many parks in the county.  Cars were decorated with orange and black streamers, bats, skeletons, cats and fantasy figures of all types.  After a parade where anyone who wanted to walk a mile (exercise is important while we are waiting for regular activities to resume), wearing masks of course, could collect bags of wrapped candy from the rear trunks of the cars which were left open.   In neighborhoods around town some households placed tables in their front yard with bags of treats for anyone to come and pick up.  One of the families in my neighborhood crafted a very cool device where you walk up to the front gate and from the sidewalk you catch a trick or treat as it slid down a long pipe (see photo below). Other families shared that they stayed home and watched scary movies, made papier mache masks, played charades and organized a scavenger hunt. 

The other interesting thing over Halloween weekend was the arrival of the blue moon which happens every 2-3 years.  Technically it is a moon that occurs in a year that has 13 full moons instead of 12.  Have you heard the expression "once in a blue moon" well it's referring to something that doesn't happen on a frequent basis and supposedly is considered modern folklore since it started with an editor of the Old Farmers Almanac sometime in the mid-twentieth century.  The moon will not look blue unless you use a blue filter.  The "blue" color reference comes the from phenomenon caused by the eruption of a volcano in Indonesia in 1883. Plumes of ash rose to the top of the earth's atmosphere and the moon turned blue.     

There is an important election happening this week in the United States and this month is the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from England to America.  I will speak more about the Mayflower voyage in my next post and hopefully have some of our Doncaster friends post news about how they are celebrating the occasion.

Remember to wear your mask, wash your hands and socially distance.  We want everyone in every community to be safe.  

Marilyn Cantarella

Sister Cities Association of Wilmington   

Time for reflections & celebrations

The month of December is usually reserved for observing holidays linked to our beliefs and ethnic backgrounds.  If you haven't visited the Christmas page on our website this may be a good time to take a look at how this holiday is celebrated in our sister cities around the world - www.scawilmington.org - there is a link from the home page. 

In my November post I mentioned we held our national elections and President Obama won a second term.  There are a large number of individuals in government, business, academia, science and the arts who play a very important role in a country's history. In America presidents are among those who have shaped the building of a nation that became a leader on the world stage despite it being one of the youngest.  December is the birth month of three American presidents that governed during unique periods in our history- Martin Van Buren (5th president); Andrew Johnson (17th president); and Woodrow Wilson (28th president).    One of these men had to deal with an economic crisis and a fear that the nation would fall into insolvency. Sound familiar?  In response to the crisis he created an independent treasury.  One was born in North Carolina and became president without having won an election for that seat.  How is that possible in American democracy you might ask.  One became known for his international leadership and created the League of Nations.  You may know the answers already but if not you can find them by visiting the white house in our nation's capital - www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents.

Did you know that North Carolina is the second largest producer of pine trees in the United States? Thirty million trees annually.  Can you identify the location of the tree in the photograph to the left?  Hint - it's not in North Carolina.  North Carolinians are proud to note that this year's Christmas tree in the White House came from a farm in the western region of our state, which thousands of people will get to view this holiday season.

This will probably be my last post for 2012 and on behalf of Sister Cities Association in Wilmington -
 we wish all of our friends peace and joy during this beautiful season! 

Smiles,
Marilyn

Sister Cities Association of Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina (USA)  

Do we dare hope for world peace?

It has been a challenging year in several ways from struggling economies and natural disasters to politics in America and abroad. We began 2012 on the head winds of a presidential election as rising tensions in the Middle East resulted in violence and disruptions to the lives of millions of people. Sister Cities continued its efforts to work toward a more peaceful world and held a concert as part of  Daniel Pearl World Music Days last month.  It was an amazing evening of dance, song, music and words that brought us all together.  This year we also paid tribute to the journalists who died doing their job in 2012 and told the story of Malala Yousafzai the young girl from the Swat Valley in Pakistan who was shot by the Taliban for her education activism for all girls and women.  Malala may in fact be one of the youngest journalists in modern times since she was not even 12 years old when she was asked by the highly respected British news organization BBC to write about education and conditions in her homeland.  She had to hand write her news and pass it along to a reporter that would scan and email her comments to be posted on a BBC blog.  Malala survived her injuries and is now recovering in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the UK.  We wish her well. If you go to our website you can find more information on the peace concert and even a cookie recipe.   If you are interested in journalism and global affairs check out the Taking It Global web site and hear what others are doing.  It may inspire you to share your stories and report on items of interest in your part of the world.

I am happy to say not everything was so challenging this year. Wilmington hosted its first sister city symposium this spring and it was a good start.  Many individuals dedicated to expanding global learning opportunities and cross-cultural programs participated in several sessions over 3 days of meetings and special events.  The result is new connections were made that have already led to some exciting exchanges between Wilmington and partner cities.  Teacher candidates from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington completed another field assignment in San Pedro, Belize during that same time period and we were able to learn about their work via skype at the conference.  The exciting news is that teachers from San Pedro will have the opportunity to spend time in North Carolina classrooms to continue their professional development; and a short documentary covering the field assignment in San Pedro has completed production  and can be viewed online through the Watson School of Education (UNCW) portal.

A delegation from our sister city in Dandong arrived in May and were able to tour our junior college and port in addition to sharing a meal with some local Chinese American community members and elected officials. 

Americans went to the polls and re-elected President Obama for a second term, and the  People's Republic of China convened its Congress in Beijing this November completing a reorganization to lead the country going forward.


Barbados will be celebrating its independence this Friday. Wilmington sends its congratulations and our wishes for all your citizens to enjoy the festivities!



Smiles,
Marilyn
Sister Cities Association of Wilmington USA

2011 Top News Stories from Wilmington

Having just finished celebrating the lunar New Year I thought it was time to take a look back at 2011 for notable events that happened in our corner of the world.  Of course, it would  be impossible to document everything that made the news so I am paring it down to a few topics touching on  historical events, marine life, and democracy.

The end of May we thought was the last filming of a long running and popular television series, 'One Tree Hill'.  The producer learned that the network picked up a ninth and final season, making it the longest running TV series.  'One Tree Hill' continued shooting through the summer and an evening with 'One Tree Hill' was held at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington as a tribute to the cast and crew in late October. The film industry is very important to the local economy and many people who are not professional actors often get to be hired as extras, which is quite fun.  Can you imagine yourself on television being viewed by millions of people? 

Weather events are always big news stories.  We all know hurricane season runs from June through November.  Scientists using technology combined with historical records help us anticipate these potentially damaging weather events early enough to warn people and keep us safe.  We had a single hurricane, Irene, that made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 1 on August 27.  The categories let us know what to expect in terms of wind speeds and possible damage.  Wilmington was more fortunate than our neighbors to the north in the Outerbanks where 2,500 people were cut off from the mainland due to storm surge closing off the only roadway.   

Irene leaves 2 new channels on the barrier islands (Outerbanks NC)

On September 15 the nearby North Carolina Aquarium at Ft. Fisher announced the arrival of 8 bonnethead shark pups - 7 females and 1 male.  Bonnetheads are part of the hammerhead family with rounded rather than rectangle heads. The pups are about 1 foot long and will grow to 4-5 feet adults.  They can live up to 10 years and eat crustaceans.  What are crustaceans?  This was only the second time that the aquarium had sharks born in captivity.  They were isolated initially to make sure they were healthy and to keep them safe from predators in the tank where they were born.

October 2 marked the scene of an exciting 50th anniversary of the USS North Carolina battleship arriving in Wilmington.  The ship was launched in June 1940 and earned 15 battle stars in World War II.  Over the years it has become a major tourist attraction in the area attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.  On its anniversary celebration the entrance fees were slashed back to 1961 prices - 50 cents for an adult and 25 cents for a child - with concerts and living history demonstrations it was a spectacular day.

October was a busy month here.  Chef Keith Rhodes, owner of 'Catch' a popular local restaurant was honored with a nomination for the James Beard Southeast Chef of the Year for his winning Carolina crab cakes with Texas Pete Aioli.  You can find his recipe on the Internet.  Chef Rhodes is a strong believer in the science based management of fish stock which ensures a sustainable supply and supports local fisherman. He also pairs his fish with locally grown organic produce making sure his customers have a 'healthy' meal.  He is also known for being selected as a 'Top Chef' contestant on Bravo's reality show.

In November we hold general elections and 2011 was the year that our current mayor was running for re-election along with two town council members - one council member was not seeking another term .  Mayor Saffo won re-election and the council seats went to incumbent Laura Padgett, and two new members, Margaret Haynes and Neil Anderson.   They will sometimes face difficult decisions and we have to trust their leadership to keep our neighborhoods safe and allow our community to continue to grow and prosper.

What were your top stories from 2011?

Smiles,
Marilyn
Sister Cities Association of Wilmington (US)

Holiday Greetings

December is the month for holidays that delight children around the world.  In the Jewish community Hanukkah is celebrated on the eve of the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kisler and lasts 8 days. Normally it falls in December but it can begin in November. The story of this holiday represents the Jews in Judea defeat of the Syrian tyrant Antiochus.  The Jewish people held festivities in the Temple of Jerusalem and rededicated it to God.  After removing all the Syrian idols from the Temple, the Jews found one small cruse of oil to light the holy lamps. It was declared a festival to be observed by Jews by the Jewish Leader, Judas Maccabaeus.  During the holiday a candle is lit on the menorah each evening and gifts are exchanged.

Generally Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25. Some celebrate it on January 6.  Over time this holiday has grown to include pre-Christian, Christian, and secular themes. The bringing of gifts to children is included in almost all celebrations.  Children everywhere wait for Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas or Kris Kringle to arrive with something special for them.  The celebrations also represent families coming together, special holiday foods, and acts of charity for the less fortunate in our communities.  Did you show kindness through your actions or give a gift to someone where you live during December?

Kwanzaa begins on December 26 and lasts until January 1.  This holiday was established in 1966 in the United States for Americans of African descent to celebrate their heritage. The word Kwanzaa is derived from Swahili and means "first fruits." Each day of the 7 days is dedicated to one of the principles of Kwanzaa.  A candle is lit each day and placed on a mat with husks of corn.  The house is decorated using the colors red, green, and black. Can you guess why these particular colors are used during this celebration?  There is a feast on the last day and gifts are given.

This December families with a child enrolled in the Pre-K2 class at Cape Fear Community College's Child Development Center have a special guest to share either their Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa celebration. Dr. Emily is a bear that arrived from Willow Primary School in Doncaster, England in October.  She is visiting with each Wilmington family in Ms. Nicole's class on her journey to the United States and her adventures are being recorded in a journal, which will be returned to the Pre-K class in England next spring.  I have heard that Dr. Emily has already traveled to a beach in another state - South Carolina during our celebration of Thanksgiving.  I wonder how far she will travel and how many experiences she will have during her stay in America.

The Sister Cities web site has a link for children to discover how Christmas is celebrated in Wilmington and its four sister cities - Bridgetown, Barbados, San Pedro, Belize, Dandong, China, and Doncaster, England.

Happy Holidays and Peace to All  

Smiles,
Marilyn
Sister Cities Association of Wilmington (USA) 

Wilmington Celebrates Independent Film

"Always Popping" is the Cucalorus Film Festival logo (www.cucalorus.org) and that was certainly true for the 17th annual festival of independent film.  The festival screens roughly 100 films, including feature films, narratives, documentaries and shorts from all over the world.  There were about 300 filmmakers at this year's festival and more than 10,000 artists and film fans attending screenings and events around town over four days.  Sister Cities hosted a lunch for several international filmmakers in town for the festival representing Canada, England, Germany, Italy and Spain following the Global Perspectives program for area high school students. Over lunch we talked about the use of media in the classroom and whether it can be a useful tool in a learning environment.  Mostly we all had a good time and enjoyed the art created by a diverse group of filmmakers where fiction and non-fiction intersected across a wide range of themes.

Wilmington is sometimes referred to as Hollywood East because of EUE/Screen Gems Film Studios which has been around in various forms since the 1980's.  Cinema tourism has grown over the past decade mostly because of popular television shows appealing to teens and young adults that have been filmed in Wilmington.  Iron Man 3 based on the well-known Marvel Comic characters will be filmed here next year.  In the photo above are festival goers attending a down home Southern style barbecue in Studio 3.

Wilmington is working on a short film of its sister cities in 2012 - watch for coming attractions since you might be in the movies!

We hope all the international filmmakers who trekked to Wilmington for the festival enjoyed their time here. Bravo Cucalorus.... for an awesome festival.

Smiles,
Marilyn
Sister Cities Association of Wilmington (USA)

All Saint's Fair in San Pedro

Last month I blogged about things we celebrate in October and today I read an article in the San Pedro Daily newspaper about the 6th annual All Saint's Fair organized by San Pedro R.C. Primary School and held on November 4.  The students dressed as saints and angels marched in a parade through San Pedro Town ending at the school site where many festivities were taking place.  Children and adults played games including tombola, fish pond, slaying Goliath and St. John's Bosco bowling.  I was not familiar with "tombola" and was curious about what kind of game this might be.  I learned that it is a form of bingo of Italian origin and a very popular family game played during the Christmas holidays. I imagine our sister schools in England and Poland know the game since it is popular in Europe.  I now have tombola on my Christmas shopping list so we can enjoy it at family gatherings.  We speak some Italian, French and Spanish in our family so it would be an interesting game to help us expand our language skills.  The Fair helps to raise money for the San Pedro R.C. Primary School's building fund and other needs.  This year it raised more than $8,000 to help with construction costs for a shade building at the school. Congratulations to Mrs. Kay, the teachers and students for a super day enjoyed by the entire community while benefiting the school!  The photograph above and to the right that displays the school logo painted on the exterior (upper level) of the building is one that I took while visiting this past spring. The colorful buildings and murals were truly a visual feast that dotted the landscape along San Pedro's beachfront. Both the library and municipal building boasted paintings by local artists.   You can learn more about this San Pedro tradition by going to www.ambergristoday.com and view additional photographs from the fair. I am doing my post today because the rest of the week is busy with the Cucalorus International Film Festival.  I will upload a few photographs of some of our visiting filmmakers from around the world in a future post.  I heard that the Child Development Center at Cape Fear Community College's pre-kindergarten class received its culture box from Doncaster this week.  I will encourage the class teachers to talk about their project on I Spy a Friend since this is the youngest exchange we have ever had in Wilmington.

Smiles,

Marilyn

Sister Cities Association of Wilmington (USA)